Blackcap
Sylvia atricapilla
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Distribution Britain 2,048 (+6.5%) Ireland 357 (+39.5%)
Numbers breeding: Britain 580,000 + Ireland 40,000 European status: 21,000,000 (3% in Britain and Ireland) British population trend: long-term increase (+54% CBC){+155%} How likely are you to record it? 2291 squares (51.0%) Ranked 20 [50=] |
A hundred years ago the Blackcap was very common in the Southern two thirds of England and over most of Wales except the far West. There were fewer birds in the rest of England and north to the Highland fringe and, in Ireland, there were scattered groups of birds in several areas. They may have withdrawn from many areas in Ireland earlier this century but by 1970 they were found to breed widely over the eastern half of the country and there was further consolidation and expansion west. In Scotland the birds spread North and now breed down the Great Glen and have even been recorded nesting a few times on Orkney and Shetland. British Blackcaps generally winter in the Mediterranean and escape the ravages of local cold winters and the effects of Sahel droughts. The CBC shows consistent increases which are clearly continuing as the 1994-98 BBS increased by 42%! A species on the up and up.
The following Bird On! sketch is available:
Blackcap
From
The
State of the Nations Birds
Copyright © 2000 by Chris Mead