Scientific name: Prunella collaris (Scopoli, 1769)
Bird group: Accentors
Field characters. 18 cm. Looks like a large and more colourful Dunnock. Black-and-white barred throat often difficult to see in the field. Rufous streaks on flanks, and black wing coverts with white spots are better field characters. Upperparts brownish-grey with dark spots, head grey, tips of tail buffish. Bill pointed, yellow with dark tip. Has same unobtrusive habits and shuffling gait as Dunnock. In breeding season alone or in family parties, in winter often in small flocks.
Voice. Call 'tsjirrup' like Common Skylark and 'druui'. Song has similarities to Northern Wheatear and Black Redstart, given in song flight or from ground.
Distribution. Scarce, locally common in mountains.
Habitat. In summer above tree-line in areas with open scrub and scattered rocks, at a lower altitude in winter.
Food. Mainly seeds and invertebrates, taken from between vegetation or rocks or in short pursuit flight.