Discreet, invisible to many, this little bird is very common. It is often confused with the house sparrow. Its coloring could be described as similar, but one detail should allow you to differentiate them: its beak. This bird has a sharp, thin bill, while that of sparrows is shorter, triangular in shape and stronger. So who is he? It is called Accenteur mouchet. It is a small bird of about fifteen centimeters for a weight of about 20 grams. Singer, slender, with dark brown plumage, streaked darker brown on the back and sides. The blackish bill is thin and pointed, the iris of adults is reddish-brown and the legs orange-brown.
It feeds on tiny arthropods
Part of the confusion comes from the nickname given to this bird: the hedgehog sparrow. He owes it in part to his environment. It nests in hedges, bushes and on the edge of woods. Moving with a jerky, irregular gait, it feeds on tiny arthropods found on the ground.
The bird participates in common displays in spring
In spring, the speckled accentuator participates in joint displays in which two or more birds hopping in vegetation or on the ground, flapping their wings and uttering sharp calls.
Females can solicit copulations from several males and receive sperm once or twice an hour during their 10-day mating period. A real genetic selection program for an ever stronger species.
Do you know this discreet bird that is the Corebreaker Grosbeak?
Ten days of mating
The nest, well hidden for three to six bluish eggs, is built on the ground or slightly high. Never more than five feet. Both sexes feed the naked and helpless young. Sometimes several males cooperate to help raise a single brood.
Did you know ? Old references indicate that the bird has been a popular host species for the cuckoo. Shakespeare wrote in King Lear in 1606 about how “The hedge sparrow fed the cuckoo so long”. It was just an anecdote for sharing and your future social dinners …
With the arrival of spring, and despite the opening of a third period of confinement in Eure-et-Loir, as everywhere in France, take the time to look at nature around you and perhaps you will be lucky. observe the courtship display of the Bird Accentor.
In Eure-et-Loir, the variable nozzle has come a long way
Emmanuel Tardy
– .
