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In fall 2021, they studied common redstart, chaffinch and dunnock on Helgoland, an island off the German coast along the North Sea that is a popular stopover for birds on the move each autumn.

We have a pair of dunnock, two robins and at least one wren.

Once called the hedge sparrow, the dunnock is dark greyish-purple and brown, with a thin bill.

Stephen Moss unveils the often surprising roots of avian etymology and offers insight into fierce, long-standing debates such as that over Prunella modularis, variously known as the dunnock and hedge sparrow.

The dunnock, known to some as the hedge sparrow, is a European bird.