Dunnock Prunella modularis Scientific name definitions

Prunella modularis hebridium R. Meinertzhagen, 1934, Ibis (13)4:57.—South Uist, Outer Hebrides.

The holotype, an adult male collected on 17 November 1920 by Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), is held in the Natural History Museum, Tring (NHMUK 1965.M.50) (10 Warren, R. L. M., and C. J. O. Harrison (1971). Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume 2: Passerines. British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom. Close ).

Synonymized with P. m. occidentalis by Dickinson and Christidis (11 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis, Editors (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 4th edition. Volume 2: Passerines. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ) and Shirihai and Svensson (12 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2: Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Synonym:
Prunella modularis hibernicus R. Meinertzhagen, 1934, Ibis (13)4:57.—Curragh, Ireland. The holotype, an adult male collected on 6 January 1907 by Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), is held in the Natural History Museum, Tring (NHMUK 1965.M.37) (10 Warren, R. L. M., and C. J. O. Harrison (1971). Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume 2: Passerines. British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom. Close ). Synonymized by Vaurie (7 Vaurie, C. (1955). Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. 16. Troglodytinae, Cinclidae, and Prunellidae. American Museum Novitates 1751:1–25. Close ).

Hebridean Islands (off western Scotland) and Ireland.

Subspecies hebridium is much darker than the nominate, with a darker gray head and breast, belly less white, a more rufous tone to the upper­parts, and more extensive streaking.

Accentor modularis occidentalis E. Hartert, 1910, British Birds 3:313.—Tring, Hertfordshire, southern England.

The holotype, an adult male collected on 10 April 1893 by Nathaniel Charles Rothschild (1877–1923), is held in the Natural History Museum, Tring (NHMUK 1936.10.15.10) (13 Hartert, E. J. O. (1920). Types of birds in the Tring Museum. B. Types in the general collection. Nectariniidae to Troglodytidae. Novitates Zoologicae 27:425–505. Close , 10 Warren, R. L. M., and C. J. O. Harrison (1971). Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume 2: Passerines. British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom. Close ).

Synonym:
Prunella modularis interposita Clancey, 1943, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 64:14.—Dornoch, Sutherland, northern Scotland. The holotype, a first-winter male collected on 1 September 1938 by Dr Phillip Alexander Clancey (1917–2001), is held in the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh (NMSZ 1956-065.4683); seven paratypes are also present in the same collection (14 Herman, J. S., R. Y. McGowan, and G. N. Swinney (1990). Catalogue of the type specimens of recent vertebrates in the National Museums of Scotland. National Museums of Scotland Information Series 4:1–34. Close ). Two additional paratypes, both females collected at the type locality on 2 September 1938 and 22 June 1942, are held in the Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change, Museum Koenig, Bonn (ZFMK 50.7–50.8) (15 Rheinwald, G., and R. van den Elzen (1984). Die Wirbeltiersammlungen des Museums Alexander Koenig und ihre Typusexemplare. II. Vögel. Bonner Zoologische Monographien 19:49–150. Close ); they are not paralectotypes, as incorrectly claimed by van den Elzen (16 van den Elzen, R. (2010). Type specimens in the bird collections of the Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Bonn. Bonn Zoological Bulletin 59:29–77. Close ). Synonymized by Vaurie (7 Vaurie, C. (1955). Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. 16. Troglodytinae, Cinclidae, and Prunellidae. American Museum Novitates 1751:1–25. Close ).

Britain (except the Hebrides) and western France.

Intermediate between hebridium and the nominate, with more extensive brown on the hindneck and crown, no white on the belly, and darker brown flanks than the nominate.

[Motacilla] modularis Linnaeus 1758, Systema Naturae, tenth edition, Tomus 1, p. 184.—“Europa” [= Sweden].

None of the specimens used by Linnaeus is known to survive.

Synonyms:
Prunella modularis meinertzhageni Harrison and Pateff, 1937, Ibis 79:612.—Beglik and Rila, Bulgaria. The holotype, a male collected at Beglika in the Rhodope Mountains on 9 June 1933 by James Maurice Harrison (1892–1971), was deposited in the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia, but could not be found there in 2025 (17 Mlíkovský, J., and Z. N. Boev (2025). Type specimens of recent birds in the National Museum of Natural History, Sofia, Bulgaria. Acta Zoologica Bulgarica 77(3):415–418. Close ). The sole paratype designated, a male collected at Rila on 6 May 1932, might be expected to be in the Harrison Institute, Sevenoaks (HZM) but is not listed among the type material said to have been held there, all of which is now on permanent loan to the Naturhistorischen Museums Wien. Synonymized by Vaurie (7 Vaurie, C. (1955). Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. 16. Troglodytinae, Cinclidae, and Prunellidae. American Museum Novitates 1751:1–25. Close ), Dickinson and Christidis (11 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis, Editors (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 4th edition. Volume 2: Passerines. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ), and Shirihai and Svensson (12 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2: Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ), but not by Cramp (18 Cramp, S., Editor (1988). The Birds of the Western Palearctic. Volume 5. Tyrant Flycatchers to Thrushes. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK. Close ) or by del Hoyo and Collar (2 del Hoyo, J., and N. J. Collar (2016). HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ).
Prunella modularis arduennus Verheyen, 1941, Bulletin du Musée royal d’histoire naturelle de Belgique 17(51):5.—Brumagne, Belgium. Original description not seen. The holotype, a first-year individual collected on 6 April 1934, is held in the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels (RBINS 11051). Synonymized by Vaurie (7 Vaurie, C. (1955). Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. 16. Troglodytinae, Cinclidae, and Prunellidae. American Museum Novitates 1751:1–25. Close ).
Prunella modularis belousovi Uvarova, 1950, [Avifauna of the high mountain range Basseg, its ecological and zoogeographical relationships], p. ?.—northern Urals. Original description not seen.

Northern and central Europe to Balkans and Bulgaria, east to Urals; winters to southern Europe, northern Africa, and Türkiye.

Described under Identification.

Prunella modularis mabbotti Harper, 1919, Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 32:243.—3 km south of Saillagouse, 1,700 m, Pyrenées-Orientales, France.

The holotype, an adult male collected on 24 April 1919 by Francis Harper (1886–1972), is held in the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC (USNM 256755) (19 Deignan, H. G. (1961). Type specimens of birds in the United States National Museum. Bulletin of the United States National Museum 221:1–718. Close ).

Synonymized with P. m. modularis by Dickinson and Christidis (11 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis, Editors (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 4th edition. Volume 2: Passerines. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ) and Shirihai and Svensson (12 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2: Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Synonym:
Prunella modularis lusitanica Stresemann, 1928, Journal für Ornithologie 76:389; new name for (Tharrhaleus) Prunella modularis obscura Tratz, 1914, Ornithologische Monatsberichte 22:50.—Oporto, Portugal; preoccupied by Motacilla obscura Hablizl. Tratz based his new name on two syntypes, a male and female collected on 14 and 15 March 1913 on Max Hugo Weigold (1886–1973), which are held in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB). Synonymized by Vaurie (7 Vaurie, C. (1955). Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. 16. Troglodytinae, Cinclidae, and Prunellidae. American Museum Novitates 1751:1–25. Close ).

South-central France, Iberian Peninsula, Italy, and Greece.

Close to nominate in the appearance but darker and grayer, and like occiden­talis except for the paler underparts.

Prunella modularis fuscata Mauersberger, 1971, Journal für Ornithologie 112:442.—Ai-Petri, Crimea. (20 Mauersberger, G. (1971). Über die östlichen Formen von Prunella modularis (L.). Journal für Ornithologie 112(4):438–450. Close )

The holotype, a male collected on 13 June 1958 by W. Berger, is held in the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin (ZMB 70.566), along with two paratypes (ZMB 70.567 and ZMB 70.568); in addition, four paratypes, all males collected at the type locality on 12 June 1958 by Mykhaylo Anatolievich Voinstvensky (1916–1996), are held in the National Museum of Natural History, National Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev (ZIK 19688/63, ZIK 19689/64, ZIK 19689/65, and ZIK ZIK 19689/66) (20 Mauersberger, G. (1971). Über die östlichen Formen von Prunella modularis (L.). Journal für Ornithologie 112(4):438–450. Close , 21 Mlíkovský, J., and A. M. Peklo (2012). Type specimens of birds in the collection of the National Museum of Natural History, National Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, Kiev, Ukraine. Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series 181(2):5–13. Close ).

Synonymized with P. m. obscura by Dickinson and Christidis (11 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis, Editors (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 4th edition. Volume 2: Passerines. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ) and Shirihai and Svensson (12 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2: Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Mountains of southern Crimea.

Similar to euxina but darker, with better-defined mantle streaks, although still grayer than nominate, and gray of underparts more extensive with just a little white on the vent.

Prunella modularis euxina Watson, 1961, Postilla 52:9.—Ulu Dağ [= Asiatic Mount Olympus], Bursa, northwest Turkey. (22 Watson, G. E. (1961). Aegean bird notes I. Descriptions of new subspecies from Turkey. Postilla 52:1–15. Close )

The holotype, an adult male collected on 29 April 1960 by George Elder Watson (1931–), held in the Yale Peabody Museum, New Haven, CT (YPM 59297) (22 Watson, G. E. (1961). Aegean bird notes I. Descriptions of new subspecies from Turkey. Postilla 52:1–15. Close , 20 Mauersberger, G. (1971). Über die östlichen Formen von Prunella modularis (L.). Journal für Ornithologie 112(4):438–450. Close ).

Synonymized with P. m. modularis by Dickinson and Christidis (11 Dickinson, E. C., and L. Christidis, Editors (2014). The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 4th edition. Volume 2: Passerines. Aves Press, Eastbourne, UK. Close ) and Shirihai and Svensson (12 Shirihai, H., and L. Svensson (2018). Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds. Volume 2: Passerines: Flycatchers to Buntings. Bloomsbury, London, UK. Close ).

Northwestern and northern Türkiye.

Relatively pale above, with a lighter gray crown streaked pale brown, brown (rather than black) streaks on the mantle, underparts more extensively gray, and flanks less streaked.

Motacilla obscura Hablizl, 1783, Neue nordische Beyträge zur physikalischen und geographischen Erd- und Völkerbeschreibung 4:56.—Gilan; restricted to Javaher Dasht, Iran, by Mlíkovský (23 Mlíkovský, J. (2011). Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of birds (Aves) collected during the Gmelin Expedition to the Caspian Sea in 1768–1774. Journal of the National Museum Prague Natural History Series 180:81–121. Close ).

The specimens collected by Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin (1745‒1774) and Carl Ludwig von Hablitz (1752–1821) during their late 1760s and early 1770s expedition to the southern parts of the Russian empire were sent to what is now the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, but none is known to survive (24 Steinheimer, F. D. (2005). The whereabouts of pre-nineteenth century bird specimens. Zoologische Mededelingen Leiden 79(3):45–67. Close , 23 Mlíkovský, J. (2011). Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of birds (Aves) collected during the Gmelin Expedition to the Caspian Sea in 1768–1774. Journal of the National Museum Prague Natural History Series 180:81–121. Close ). In relation to this Dunnock, Hablizl’s holotype was collected sometime during 31 July–3 August 1774 at Javaher Dasht, on the northern slopes of Kuh-e Somamus, at ca. 2,000 m (23 Mlíkovský, J. (2011). Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of birds (Aves) collected during the Gmelin Expedition to the Caspian Sea in 1768–1774. Journal of the National Museum Prague Natural History Series 180:81–121. Close ). Mlíkovský (23 Mlíkovský, J. (2011). Nomenclatural and taxonomic status of birds (Aves) collected during the Gmelin Expedition to the Caspian Sea in 1768–1774. Journal of the National Museum Prague Natural History Series 180:81–121. Close ) argued that Motacilla obscura Hablizl, 1783, is a nomen dubium, because the description does not match a Prunella modularis (e.g., said to have a yellow iris, not brown; blackish legs, which are unknown in the genus; and tips of its wings said to reach halfway along the tail, rather just reaching its base), and that the Caucasian-Elburz subspecies of this species should therefore take the next available name applied to it, namely Prunella modularis orientalis Sharpe, 1883.

Synonyms:
Accentor orientalis Sharpe, 1883, Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum, Volume 7, p. 652.—Batumi, Black Sea. The holotype, an adult collected on an unknown date by Alfred Huet du Pavillon (1829–1907), is held in the Natural History Museum, Tring (NHMUK 1881.5.1.2163) (10 Warren, R. L. M., and C. J. O. Harrison (1971). Type-specimens of Birds in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume 2: Passerines. British Museum (Natural History), London, United Kingdom. Close ).
Accentor modularis blanfordi Zarudny, 1904, Ornithologische Monatsberichte 12:164.—mountain oak forest southwest of Isfahan [= Naghan-Kharaji area, Bakhtiari, per 25 Khaleghizadeh, A., K. Roselaar, D. A. Scott, M. Tohidifar, J. Mlíkovský, M. Blair, and P. Kvartalnov (2017). Birds of Iran: Annotated Checklist of the Species and Subspecies. Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, Tehran, Iran. Close ], Iran. Described from two male syntypes collected in April 1904 by Nikolai Alekseyvich Zarudny (1859–1919), but their whereabouts do not appear to have been published; they were not mentioned by Balan (26 Balan, L. M. (1966). [Types of birds in the collection of N.A. Zarudny]. In [Vertebrate Animals of Central Asia. Collection of papers, dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the academician of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbek SSR] (G. S. Sultanov, Editor), T. Z. Zakhidov, Tashkent, Uzbekistan. pp. 107–121. (In Russian.) Close ) as being in the National University of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. Named for William Thomas Blanford (1832–1905). Synonymized by Marien (27 Marien, D. (1951). Notes on the bird family Prunellidae in southern Eurasia. American Museum Novitates 1482:1–28. Close ) and Vaurie (7 Vaurie, C. (1955). Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. 16. Troglodytinae, Cinclidae, and Prunellidae. American Museum Novitates 1751:1–25. Close ).
Prunella modularis enigmatica Dunajewski, 1948, Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 68:131.—Yalta, Crimea. The holotype, a male collected by Vladimir Nikolaevič Šnitnikov (1873‒1957) on 4 March 1899, is held in the Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw (MIZ 6635) (20 Mauersberger, G. (1971). Über die östlichen Formen von Prunella modularis (L.). Journal für Ornithologie 112(4):438–450. Close , 28 Mlíkovský, J. (2010). Types of birds in the collections of the Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland. Part 4: Varia, addenda and conclusions. Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series 179(6):47–92. Close ). Four paratypes, all collected by Šnitnikov, are held in the same collection: a female collected on 12 December 1897 (MIZ 6631), a male collected on 13 March 1899 (MIZ 6632), a female collected on 4 April 1899 (MIZ 6638), and an unsexed specimen collected on 5 April 1899 (MIZ 6643) (20 Mauersberger, G. (1971). Über die östlichen Formen von Prunella modularis (L.). Journal für Ornithologie 112(4):438–450. Close , 28 Mlíkovský, J. (2010). Types of birds in the collections of the Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland. Part 4: Varia, addenda and conclusions. Journal of the National Museum (Prague), Natural History Series 179(6):47–92. Close ). Synonymized by Vaurie (7 Vaurie, C. (1955). Systematic notes on Palearctic birds. 16. Troglodytinae, Cinclidae, and Prunellidae. American Museum Novitates 1751:1–25. Close ).

Caucasus region, northeastern Türkiye, and northern Iran; winters to Middle East.

The brownest subspecies, with a buff wash on the head, neck and belly, paler brown ground color and streaks on the upperparts, and slight white scaling on the throat and breast.