Dunnock system can be shifted from one that favours female success (polyandry), to one that promotes male success (monogamy, polygynandry, or polygyny). The dunnock builds a neat nest (predominantly from twigs and moss and lined with soft materials such as wool or feathers), low in a bush or conifer, where adults typically lay three to five unspotted blue eggs. Broods, depending on the population, can be raised by a lone female, multiple females with the part-time help of a male, multiple females with full-time help by a male, or by multiple females and multiple males. In pairs, the male and the
Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary have been recorded and the common species include the striated heron and western reef heron. Other species that have been recorded include the little bittern, black bittern, red knot, jack snipe and pied avocet (on transient sandbanks). The sanctuary is also host to mudskippers, fiddler crabs and other mangrove habitat specialists. A species of crustacean "Teleotanais indianis" was described based on specimens obtained in the sanctuary. Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary is an estuarine mangrove habitat, which is declared as the bird sanctuary, and located on western tip of the Island of Chorão along the Mandovi River,