Male. Taken at Farmoor, Oxon., on May 9th 2021. (© David Hastings)
(1/2500th sec at f/9. Click image for larger version)

Description

L: 13.5 - 15 cm

The Blackcap is a medium-sized warbler, about the size of a Great Tit. The male has a black cap on its head, and the female's is rufous-brown. Both have greyish plumage.

Blackcaps can be found in most of the British Isles in the summer. In winter birds are mostly found in England and southern Ireland.

Its breeding habitat is shady woodland with dense understory, and also in parks and gardens.

Blackcaps that breed in Britain are migratory, spending the winter in Africa. Birds from Germany and northern Europe increasingly spend the winter in the British Isles.

There are about 1.2 million breeding territories in the UK, and about 3000 birds spend the winter here.

Sightings