Wood Accentor: “House-2” in the world of birds. Their marriage life is oversaturated with emotions, shocks and deceit (9 photos)

There are devils in still waters, you say? Oh-ho-ho, you have no idea how right you are! Wood Accentors, small and inconspicuous birds, manage to set up branches of “House-2” from Spain to the Urals and Turkey.





The vast majority of our readers have seen the Accentor. But none of you paid attention to the nondescript bird the size of a sparrow. Meanwhile, our heroine settled in large parks, orchards and dense undergrowth.



However, our society has not given in to the birds either - the dunnocks are too busy looking for food. They quickly prowl in search of invertebrates (in summer) and seeds (in autumn). Birds eat 24/7, because during the breeding season every calorie counts.





It all starts in mid-spring. The males, having climbed higher into the tree, produce loud and melodic trills. After a week or two, females will join them. By this time, the ladies have already chosen a place for nesting and invite brave, strong and handsome men to help in building the nest. From 1 to 3 guys fly to the call of a damsel in distress.



A house built in 4 beaks will turn out to be solid: a frame made of twigs, facing with stalks of cereals, a view of a dense wall of greenery. After construction is completed, the female will give her love to only one man. But this does not mean that the rest will leave their home. They will follow a hottie, only getting distracted to follow another hottie!



Each male courtes at least 3 females. Don't worry, he has enough strength for everyone. The testes, the organs that produce sperm, are simply huge in dunnocks - up to 3% of their body weight. If human cajonas reached this size, they would weigh between 2 and 3 kilos. This is 60 times more than now!



If Don Juan is lucky enough to win the favor of several ladies, he will gather them in one nest. But this does not mean that the females will refuse other suitors - each of the girls will take her own admirers. It turns out to be an extremely interesting situation: the females have a harem of admirers, the males have a harem of ladies in his care.



In this mess, it is extremely difficult to figure out who is sleeping with whom. Therefore, paranoia awakens in males. If the birds are not sure that the babies are from him, he will refuse to feed them and will even try to kill them on occasion. This is where the female comes in handy with her fans. To protect their own blood, mothers enter into an alliance with other males: access to the body in exchange for protection and supplies.



Fortunately, you won’t have to protect the kids for long: the female incubates 3 to 6 eggs for 14 days. Another 2 weeks, and the chicks leave the nest, going about their youth business. And the heroine mother will lay another clutch. And one more. Each time this whole whirlwind will be repeated again. Madness, and that's all!



Behind the love games and intrigues, it is no wonder that the dunnocks do not notice the truly alien character - the cuckoos. They love to throw their eggs at the dunnocks, because there their chicks are guaranteed to be fed and hatched.

Conclusion: If birds could create talk shows, Santa Barbara Accentorians would be guaranteed to get millions of views!