Basic Principles

The dozen species of accentor form an interesting group. Somewhat intermediate between sparrows and warblers or chats, they are exclusively Palearctic and largely montane, the distribution of many centred on the high mountains of Asia. Nevertheless, three species are on the British list, one being among our commonest birds, the others both belonging in the ‘dream rarity’ category.

Dunnock

This species has an almost exclusively European distribution. It is largely a resident in Britain, although there are also some arrivals from the Continent. It is a familiar sight in parks, gardens and woodland throughout the country. Dunnock needs little introduction. It is shy, unobtrusive and a little skulking and its flight is typically low and jerky into thick cover. Structurally, it is short winged and slightly long tailed. As with all the accentors, the sexes are alike and, though usually regarded as somewhat drab, brown and ‘sparrow like’, it is in fact a rather subtly beautiful bird with soft grey hues in the head contrasting with rich dark russet brown in the body. The upperparts and flanks are well streaked and, at a distance, the whole bird appears rather dark. The song is a sequence of quite loud and clear notes, the call a rather discordant piping.

Alpine Accentor

A more typical accentor in that it is a high mountain specialist, Alpine Accentor occurs in boulder fields with only short plant cover. Its range extends from Iberia and North Africa in the west to Japan in the east and it is almost always encountered at high altitude, although it descends a little in winter. It rarely wanders away from the mountains, however, and is therefore very rare in Britain, with just 39 records to date and only half of these since 1950. April and May are the best months to find one here, but there are also records in autumn and winter. Unsurprisingly, the distribution of British occurrences is heavily skewed towards coastal locations in the south and southeast, where rocky habitats, or at least the closest approximation, are favoured. This is a big, chunky accentor, larger and heavier than Dunnock, with a rather fat body, longer wings and a short tail. Its flight is confident and rather lark-like on long, triangular wings. The bill has extensive yellow at the base. Further eye-catching features include prominent rusty flanks, a narrowly white-tipped tail, dark markings in the undertail coverts, pale grey hues in the head and well-streaked upperparts, a pale throat patch and blackish greater coverts which form a dark panel between whitish tips to the median and greater coverts. Vagrant Alpine Accentors are likely to be quiet, but on the breeding grounds they give a bubbling, trilling call.

Siberian Accentor

As indicated by its name, this species breeds f rom just west of the Urals eastward across the whole width of Siberia to the Pacific coast. It is not a montane species, frequenting the pine and birch forests of the tundra zone, particularly favouring the edges of bogs. It is more of a migrant than the previous two species, withdrawing from northern latitudes to winter further south in China and Korea. After a long period of sporadic occurrences as near as Scandinavia, this was for many years a dream bird for British birders. These dreams finally became reality in the extraordinary influx of the species to northern Europe in the late autumn of 2016. This irruption saw no fewer than 14 reach Britain, all on the Northern Isles and down the east coast south to Yorkshire. Since that heady autumn, though, the trail has gone cold again and it might be some time before this species graces our shores again. Siberian Accentor is a beautiful bird, every inch the classic ‘Sibe’, with long mustard-coloured supercilia and underparts, dark ear coverts with a pale area in the rear, dark crown sides and rusty-hued upperparts. It is easy to identify, requiring separation only f rom the next species. The call is a high-pitched ringing, almost Waxwinglike ti ti ti.

Black-throated Accentor

This species is mainly confined to the mountains of Central Asia and the western Himalayas, but there is also an outlier population in the Urals. It favours mature conifer forests on the upper slopes. The Urals population is doubtless responsible for a handful of Scandinavian occurrences but, as yet, none have reached Britain. However, now that Siberian Accentor has occurred here, this is certainly among the most sought-after new birds for Britain. The Northern Isles and the east coast clearly represent the best bet, but some Scandinavian birds have been in winter so a surprise occurrence underneath an inland bird table is not an impossibility. Black-throated Accentor looks similar to Siberian, but is duller, less rufous and more cold brown above, with a whiter supercilium and more streaked flanks. Most have an obvious clearly demarcated blackish throat patch, but on young birds (particularly females) this can be partially obscured by pale feather tips and can therefore, on a quick view, invite confusion with Siberian. The call is a high-pitched ti ti ti.

THREE: Autumn adult Alpine Accentor (Alquezar, Spain, 19 November 2016). The grey hues around the head of this Alpine Accentor resemble those of a Dunnock, but the rest of the bird is very different. As well as a rather stocky and short-tailed structure, note the extensive yellow in the bill base, lots of rusty striping in the flanks, heavy dark arrowhead markings in the undertail coverts and solid dark centres to the wing coverts which accentuate the white wing-bars.

TWO: Autumn adult Dunnock (Pisa, Italy, 6 November 2009). Dunnock’s distinctive grey and brown hues, which make it resemble a sparrow species, are shown to good effect here. The head is a beautiful soft grey, while the streaking in the upperparts and flanks is a distinctive rich brown. The ‘dotted’ patterning formed by white tips to the greater coverts is common to all the accentors. Note also the rather short-winged and long-tailed structure.

FOUR: Autumn adult Siberian Accentor (Hanko, Finland, 18 October 2016). In addition to the mustard-hued supercilia, throat and breast and dark ear coverts and crown sides, look also for the ‘rare bunting’ pale ear covert spot, very weakly marked flanks and strong rusty hues in the upperparts.

SIX: Spring adult Alpine Accentor (Caucasus Mountains, Georgia, May 2019). Most obvious here are the cold grey hues in the upperparts and the extensive rusty striping in the flanks. However, note also the extensive yellow in the bill base, the solidly blackish greater coverts which form a noticeably dark panel and some pale stippling in the chin and throat. The longwinged and short-tailed structure is also evident.

SEVEN: Spring adult Black-throated Accentor (Kazakhstan, 15 May 2014). The solidly black chin and throat readily identify this as a Blackthroated Accentor, an identification confirmed by the narrow creamy supercilia, particularly before the eye, and the solidly dark lores and ear coverts. The upperparts are rather cold in colour lacking the warm, rusty hues shown by Siberian Accentor.

FIVE: Autumn adult Black-throated Accentor (Pangot, India, 17 December 2007). The long creamy supercilia and breast recall Siberian Accentor, but the fore-supercilia are strikingly narrow and, most obviously, the dark ear coverts extend forward below the lores to cover the entire chin and throat. The cold, pale straw hues in the upperparts are a further distinction from Siberian Accentor, as is the contrast between the creamy breast and whiter belly.

EIGHT: Spring adult Black-throated Accentor (Ural Mountains, Russia, 11 June 2014). On this bird, the supercilium is effectively absent, the whole of the ‘face’ being solidly black. This bird belongs to the outlying Urals population, but its black-faced appearance is due to individual variation, not to any consistent feature of this subspecies. The creamy breast contrasting with a whiter belly and the pale straw hues in the upperparts are also shown to good effect here.

NINE: Juvenile Dunnock (Hadleigh, Suffolk, 21 July 2005). Juvenile Dunnocks look even more ‘brown and streaky’ than adults! Here the head is heavily suffused with brown and the whole plumage looks rather loose and fluffy.

TEN: Juvenile Alpine Accentor (Switzerland, 3 September 2011). This youngster looks very like a Dunnock, but the stout structure, long wings and short tail should ring alarm bells. Note also the rather stout bill with extensive pale in the base and, very obvious here, the dark greater covert panel in the closed wing enclosed by white ‘dotted’ wing-bars. Full juvenile plumage would never be seen in Britain, but could be encountered within the breeding range.

ELEVEN: First-winter Siberian Accentor (Holy Island, Northumberland, 18 October 2016). Siberian Accentors are difficult to age after the post-juvenile moult, with adults and firstwinters being almost inseparable on field views. However, this bird shows a typical firstwinter pattern in the greater coverts, the dark centres of which reach the feather tip between two elongated white spots.

TWELVE: First-winter Black-throated Accentor (Nativale, Israel, 8 November 2010). This bird might superficially resemble a Siberian Accentor, but note the paleness of the supercilia and the underlying extensive dark feathering in the lores, chin and throat. The latter patterning is partially hidden by pale feather tips, but its presence is confirmation that this is a Black-throated Accentor. Other features include the rather dull-looking upperparts and a contrast between the creamy breast and whiter belly.