Blackcap (4 Questions) (1 Viewer)

This is the third winter I have spent in this house, and each year in the first week of March a Blackcap has arrived in the garden. The first year a female came and 3 days later a male arrived, last year a male came but the female failed to turn up and the male disappeared after about a month. Again this year a male turned up 4 days ago.

Question 1. = Is it the same male do you think.
Question 2. = Do they come from Europe for the summer.
Question 3. = Do they stay together year after year.
Question 4. = If they come back to the same place each year how the heck do they find the same garden each time.

I await your answers.
Jim

Good questions Jim. Funnily enough we normally get a female Blackcap in our garden each winter - four years on the trot now - though this year from 1st Feb we've had a female visiting each day and a male every few days, I'm not sure for how much longe though as previous years it's always been January one turned up and then just for a day or two.

We do have Blackcaps over wintering on my local patch, more so this year than I've previously seen. They're in two areas where they breed also which makes me think they're probably resident birds.

I'd always assumed the ones we see in winter are ones that may breed further north, say Scotland and moved here for winter whilst ours moved further south, but perhaps that's not the case. Like many warblers I think we do have an influx in summer of of breeding birds, but there are some species that stay as residents - such as the Chiffchaff. To be sure which is which though then I suppose it's one of those areas where bird ringing returns are very useful. I've not seen any Blackcap in my area with rings, though birds are ringed very regularly.

As regards Question 4 then I strongly suspect the same birds return to the same breeding areas each year - many species have been re-trapped from previous years in the same nest sites.

JimMorris said:

This is the third winter I have spent in this house, and each year in the first week of March a Blackcap has arrived in the garden. The first year a female came and 3 days later a male arrived, last year a male came but the female failed to turn up and the male disappeared after about a month. Again this year a male turned up 4 days ago.

Question 1. = Is it the same male do you think.
Question 2. = Do they come from Europe for the summer.
Question 3. = Do they stay together year after year.
Question 4. = If they come back to the same place each year how the heck do they find the same garden each time.

I await your answers.
Jim

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Hi Jim,

Hope you are well,

Most Blackcap do not arrive on the shores of north-west Europe until April or even early May. Twelve years ago it was still one of the earliest visitors to arrive back on its breeding grounds.

Although most warblers breeding in northern parts of Europe migrate to Africa for winter, Blackcaps can be found through the entire winter in Britain and Ireland. These wintering birds at one point were rapidly increasing in number, most of them in suburban gardens. Your garden is also close to fields and woodland.

They like mature deciduous or mixed woodland with a well developed shrub layer.

Blackcaps staying here in winter indicates that they are improving their survival chances and can enjoy an easier life in what are now quite mild winters. They have learned that there is ample food at bird tables. Your garden is a supermarket for birds. When they arrive overhead they say there it is, it's Forsebrook and there's Jims house !!!

The vast majority of Blackcaps are not British or even Scandinavian breeders, but in fact come from central Europe, from an area around Western Austria.

It may be that your Blackcaps are early spring migrants arriving in March. they have arrived to preare for breeding.

Chiffchaffs, Sand Martins and Wheatears are already being seen. Migrating Blackcaps used to be part of the second wave and used to arrive in the first week of April along with Swallows and other warbler species.

March dates for Blackcap probably include records of over wintering birds but it could be the case that migrating Blackcap these days are arriving earlier. Climate Change may play a part.

So are the Blackcaps early Spring migrants or over wintering birds? It is interesting that you only see them at the time you state and not throughout the winter at the feeding tables.

Do you know if there is any nest building going on in your garden or nearby. The male may be establishing a territory. It will have to build a nest or even several to show a prospective mate.

Blackcaps are largely monogamous and bigamy has also been observed.

An interesting point is that Blackcaps can drive away other species from bird tables including Blackbirds.

On the issue of how do Blackcaps find your garden every time. It is like House Martins who arrive every year and often use the same nest or nest site. They are very good navigators. There has been a lot of research done in relation to this.

Cheers

Dean

Cheadle Birder

Dean Powell said:

An interesting point is that Blackcaps can drive away other species from bird tables including Blackbirds.

Click to expand...

Yes, the last few winters the Blackcaps in our garden have become quite aggressive. We have one or two each winter, male and female, from November through to mid-March or April. I´ve always assumed they were the same individuals throughout the winter, but this thread makes me wonder. From November to February, this last three years, they are mild-mannered and unassuming, feeding on berries and apples. But from February on, a female (or juvenile male??) each year has become Robo-Blackcap, claiming sovereignty over a birch tree and all peanut feeders on it. She (or he?) takes on all comers except corvids and woodpigeons. I even saw her put two robins to flight, and she thinks nothing of having a go at bluetits, greenfinches, etc. I had assumed it was the same individual female as had been there from November, becoming more aggressive as the berry crop ran out. But now I wonder if perhaps the earlier ones are different birds altogether i.e. overwintering natives, and the aggressive female is a passage migrant. No way of knowing, I suppose, but it´s a nice one to ponder.