Dunnock two or three adjacent female territories overlap one male territory, and so polygyny is favored, with the male monopolising several females. Polygynandry also exists, in which two males jointly defend a territory containing several females. Polyandry, though, is the most common mating system of dunnocks found in nature. Depending on the population, males generally have the best reproductive success in polygynous populations, while females have the advantage during polyandry. Studies have illustrated the fluidity of dunnock mating systems. When given food in abundance, female territory size is reduced drastically. Consequently, males can more easily monopolise the females. Thus, the mating
The Bird 'Grip' ever after. While the hero in these stories is normally aided by a talking animal, for it to be a ghost is unusual. This is the grateful dead, a common folklore motif, found also in "Fair Brow". The Bird 'Grip' The Bird 'Grip' is a Swedish fairy tale. Andrew Lang included it "The Pink Fairy Book". It is Aarne-Thompson type 550, the quest for the golden bird/firebird; other tales of this type include "The Golden Bird", "The Greek Princess and the Young Gardener", "How Ian Direach got the Blue Falcon", "The Nunda, Eater of People", and "Tsarevitch Ivan, the Fire