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The UK Bird Atlas

Dunnock (Prunella modularis)Where and when to see it in the UK

Resident · reporting peaks February to April · Accentors · BOU category AF

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Dunnock (Prunella modularis)
Åsa Berndtsson, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Dunnock: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Dunnock has been recorded in 2,723 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (92%) in records to 2026. Resident in the UK. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in February to April.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
49% or more of visits
High
33% to 49%
Moderate
20% to 33%
Low
under 20%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 78%38%Very high
February 90%44%Very high
March 100%48%Very high
April 95%46%Very high
May 78%38%Very high
June 68%33%Moderate
July 57%28%Low
August 47%23%Low
September 58%28%Low
October 75%36%Very high
November 79%38%Very high
December 80%39%Very high

Squares with the highest reporting rate in February

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
C62Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C84Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H24Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H96Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Northern Ireland100%Very high
HP61Shetland Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HY40Orkney Islands, Scotland100%Very high
HY50Orkney Islands, Scotland100%Very high
J05Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J19Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland100%Very high
J38Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.