The word "accentor" is from post-classical
Latin and means a person who sings with another.[6] The genus name Prunella is from the German Braunelle, "dunnock", a diminutive of braun, "brown".[7]
This is a
robin-sized bird at 15–17.5 cm (5.9–6.9 in) in length, slightly larger than its relative, the
dunnock. It has a streaked brown back, somewhat resembling a
house sparrow, but adults have a grey head and red-brown spotting on the underparts. It has an insectivore's fine pointed bill.
Sexes are similar, although the male may be contrasted in appearance. Young birds have browner heads and underparts.
Distribution and habitat
It is found throughout the mountains of southern temperate Europe,
Lebanon[9] and
Asia at heights above 2,000 m (6,600 ft).[10] It is mainly resident, wintering more widely at lower latitudes, but some
birdswander as rare vagrants as far as
Great Britain.
It is a bird of bare mountain areas with some low vegetation.
Breeding
It builds a neat nest low in a bush or rock crevice, laying 3–5 unspotted sky-blue eggs.
The mating system is of particular interest. Home ranges are occupied by breeding groups of 3 or 4 males with 3 or 4 females. These are unrelated birds which have a socially
polygynandrous mating system. Males have a dominance hierarchy, with the alpha males being generally older than subordinates. Females seek matings with all the males, although the alpha male may defend her against matings from lower ranking males. In turn, males seek matings with all the females. DNA fingerprinting has been used to show that, within broods, there is often mixed paternity, although the female is always the true mother of the nestlings raised within her nest. Males will provide food to chicks at several nests within the group, depending on whether they have mated with the female or not – males only provide care when they are likely to be the true fathers of the chicks.
^Jobling, J.A. (2019). del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, J.; Christie, D.A.; de Juana, E. (eds.).
"Key to Scientific Names in Ornithology". Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions. Retrieved 11 March 2019.
Cramp, Stanley; et al., eds. (1988). "Prunella collaris Alpine Accentor". Handbook of the Birds of Europe the Middle East and North Africa. The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume V: Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 574–585.
ISBN978-0-19-857508-5.
Davies, N.B.; Hartley, I.R.; Hatchwell, B.J.; Desrochers, A.; Skeer, J.; Nebel, D. (1995). "The polygynandrous mating system of the alpine accentor Prunella collaris. I. Ecological causes and reproductive conflicts". Animal Behaviour. 49 (3): 769–788.
doi:
10.1016/0003-3472(95)80209-6.
S2CID53146123.
Hartley, I.R.; Davies, N.B.; Hatchwell, B.J.; Desrochers, A.; Nebel, D.; Burke, T. (1995). "The polygynandrous mating system of the alpine accentor Prunella collaris. II. Multiple paternity and parental effort". Animal Behaviour. 49 (3): 789–803.
doi:
10.1016/0003-3472(95)80210-X.
S2CID53259972.