The dunnock has no need of social media

Suzanna Fitzpatrick

stays at ground level, feathers speckled
the brown of last year’s leaf litter,
a hedge its citadel: no hawk can plunge
through hawthorn. And when it has
something to say – that it’s desirous
of a mate, or as a reminder
to rivals of its territory –
it will find a twig, sing
its precipitous chirrup
so the world
understands.

The Science

The dunnock, Prunella modularis, is an unassuming bird. Described as “quiet and shy” on the RSPB website, it prefers to forage at ground level. I’ve always appreciated its circumspection, in sharp contrast to our fairly new human habit of making ourselves vulnerable on social media. Nonetheless, when necessary, it is quite capable of making itself heard with its loud, rapid song – for a demonstration, see Maurice Baker’s excellent video. Interestingly, dunnocks are polyamorous and can have very complicated love lives.

The Poet

Suzanna Fitzpatrick (she/her) is a bisexual poet with poems on BBC Radio 4 and widely published in magazines and anthologies in the UK and worldwide. She has been placed in numerous competitions, including receiving the Poetry Society Hamish Canham Prize, the Edward Thomas Prize, and winning the Newcastle University Chancellor’s Prize two years running. Her debut pamphlet, Fledglings, was published by Red Squirrel Press in 2016, and her first collection, Crippled, in 2025. She holds the Poetry School/Newcastle University MA in Writing Poetry with Distinction.

Next poem: To Be A Bird by Sarah Telford