BIRDWALKERMONDAY: EURASIAN BLACKCAP (MALE) (Sylvia atricapilla)

Showing posts with label EURASIAN BLACKCAP (MALE) (Sylvia atricapilla). Show all posts

Monday, 23 December 2024

23-12-2024 POTRIES, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKCAP (MALE) (Sylvia atricapilla)

The Eurasian blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla, is a common and widespread typical warbler known for its distinctive cap and melodious song. The species exhibits sexual dimorphism with males sporting a black cap and females a chestnut one. The upperparts are generally olive-grey, while the underparts are pale grey. This bird is small and agile, measuring around 13 cm in length with a wingspan of 7–8 cm.

Males can be identified by their black caps and light grey underparts, while females have a reddish-brown cap and a slightly browner hue to their grey upperparts. Juveniles resemble females but have a rufous tinge to their upperparts and a more olive tone on the breast and flanks. The blackcap's tail is dark grey with an olive edge to each feather, and it has a grey bill and legs with a reddish-brown iris.

The blackcap favors mature deciduous woodlands with a well-developed understory. It also occupies parks, large gardens, and overgrown hedges, provided there are tall trees for songposts and dense shrubs for nesting.

This warbler breeds across much of Europe, western Asia, and northwestern Africa. It is a partial migrant, with northern populations wintering in northwestern Europe, around the Mediterranean, and in tropical Africa. Some have adapted to wintering in British and Irish gardens.

Blackcaps are territorial during the breeding season, with males establishing and defending their territories through song and display. They are mainly monogamous and may raise one to two broods per season. The species is known for its leap-frog migration pattern, where northern populations migrate further south than those from the Mediterranean.

The male blackcap's song is a rich musical warble, often ending in a high-pitched crescendo. In isolated areas, a simpler song may be heard. Calls include a hard "tac-tac" and various squeaks and trills. The song is sometimes confused with that of the garden warbler but is slightly higher-pitched and more broken.

Blackcaps typically build a neat cup-shaped nest in brambles or scrub, laying a clutch of 4–6 buff eggs with grey and brown markings. Both parents incubate the eggs and care for the altricial chicks, which fledge in about 11–12 days.

The blackcap can be confused with other dark-headed Sylvia species, such as the Sardinian and Orphean warblers, but these have more extensive black on the head and are larger with white tail edges.

During the breeding season, blackcaps feed mainly on insects, switching to fruit in late summer. In winter, they consume small fruits and may rely on food provided in gardens, such as bread, fat, and peanuts.

Despite pressures from hunting in the Mediterranean and natural predation, the blackcap has been expanding its range for decades and is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Least Concern. Its population is estimated to be between 101 and 161 million individuals globally.

Tuesday, 17 December 2024

17-12-2024 POTRIES, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKCAP (MALE) (Sylvia atricapilla)

Saturday, 17 February 2024

16-2-2024 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKCAP (MALE) (Sylvia atricapilla)

The Blackcap is a distinctive greyish warbler. The top of the male's head is black (its black cap) while the female's is chestnut brown. Its delightful fluting song has earned it the name 'northern nightingale'. Although primarily a summer visiting bird from Germany and north-east Europe, Blackcaps are increasingly spending the winter in the UK.

Monday, 8 January 2024

8-1-2024 VILLALONGA TUNNELS, VALENCIA - EURASIAN BLACKCAP (MALE) (Sylvia atricapilla)

The Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), usually known simply as the blackcap, is a common and widespread typical warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences between the five subspecies are small. Both sexes have a neat coloured cap to the head, black in the male and reddish-brown in the female. The male's typical song is a rich musical warbling, often ending in a loud high-pitched crescendo, but a simpler song is given in some isolated areas, such as valleys in the Alps. The blackcap's closest relative is the garden warbler, which looks quite different but has a similar song.

The blackcap breeds in much of Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa, and its preferred habitat is mature deciduous woodland. The male holds a territory when breeding, which is defended against garden warblers as well as other blackcaps. The nest is a neat cup, built low in brambles or scrub, and the clutch is typically 4–6 mainly buff eggs, which hatch in about 11 days. The chicks fledge in 11–12 days, but are cared for by both adults for some time after leaving the nest. The blackcap is a partial migrant; birds from the colder areas of its range winter in scrub or trees in northwestern Europe, around the Mediterranean and in tropical Africa. Some birds from Germany and western continental Europe have adapted to spending the winter in gardens in Great Britain and Ireland. Insects are the main food in the breeding season, but, for the rest of the year, blackcaps survive primarily on small fruit. Garden birds also eat bread, fat and peanuts in winter.

Despite extensive hunting in Mediterranean countries and the natural hazards of predation and disease, the blackcap has been extending its range for several decades, and is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as least concern. Its rich and varied song has led to it being described as the "mock nightingale" and it has featured in literature, films and music. In Messiaen's opera Saint François d'Assise, the saint is represented by themes based on the blackcap's song.

The blackcap is a mainly grey warbler with distinct male and female plumages. The nominate subspecies is about 13 cm (5.1 in) long with a 7–8 cm (2.8–3.1 in) wing length. The weight is typically 16–25 g (0.56–0.88 oz), but can be up to 31 g (1.1 oz) for birds preparing to migrate. The adult male has olive-grey upperparts, other than a paler grey nape and a neat black cap on the head. The underparts are light grey, becoming silvery white on the chin, throat and upper breast. The tail is dark grey, with an olive tint to the outer edge of each feather. The bill and long legs are grey, and the iris is reddish brown. The female resembles the male, but has a reddish-brown cap and a slightly browner tone to the grey of the upperparts. Juveniles are similar to the female, but their upperparts have a slight rufous tinge, and the breast and flanks have a more olive tone; young males have a darker brown cap than their female counterparts. This species is unmistakable; other dark-headed Sylvia species, such Sardinian and Orphean warblers have extensive black on the head instead of a small cap. They are also larger and have white edges on the tail.

Blackcaps have a complete moult in their breeding areas in August and September prior to migration. Some birds, typically those migrating the greatest distances, have a further partial moult between December and March. Juveniles replace their loosely structured body feathers with adult plumage, starting earlier, but taking longer to complete, than the adults. Blackcaps breeding in the north of the range have an earlier and shorter post-juvenile moult than those further south, and cross-breeding of captive birds shows that the timing is genetically controlled.