Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla Scientific name definitions

The Eurasian Blackcap is one of Europe's most abundant birds, with an estimated population of 25–50 million breeding pairs. However, due to its preference for dense vegetation and general avoidance of intensive urban areas, it is not among Europe's most familiar birds. The species breeds in various forest and scrub habitats, including broadleaf forest and plantations, riparian forest, montane coniferous forest, orchards, and gardens. During the nonbreeding season, it frequents more open habitats, such as maquis and garrigue, olive groves, and savanna, and during migration can be found in any vegetated habitat. The species' diet consists of both arthropods and fruit. While it primarily forages for insects, spiders, and other small creatures during the breeding season, it diversifies its diet during migration and nonbreeding periods to include both small and large soft fruits, whether native or human-provided.

Across the breeding range of the Eurasian Blackcap, five subspecies are recognized, though their geographic plumage variation is very slight and largely clinal, and subspecies boundaries are poorly marked. Most noteworthy are the subspecies present on Atlantic islands: S. a. gularis, which breeds on the Azores and Cape Verde islands, and S. a. heineken, which breeds on Madeira and the Canary Islands, as well as across Iberia and northwestern Africa. In the Atlantic islands breeding population, a unique dark morph appears in higher frequency.

The plumage of the Eurasian Blackcap is predominantly olive-tinged brownish gray, becoming slightly paler on the underparts. The species exhibits clear sexual dimorphism: males sport a black cap, while females have a brown one. Beyond this distinction, male and female plumages are identical, though males are typically slightly larger. The species is known for its rich song, often delivered from within dense vegetation, consisting of scratchy notes culminating in a lovely finale of vivid, fluty tunes.

About 75% of the global breeding range of the Eurasian Blackcap falls within Europe, extending to most Atlantic islands of the Western Palearctic, North Africa, and western Asia. While southern populations are largely sedentary, those in southern and central Europe are partially migratory, and northern populations typically undertake long-distance migrations to winter in sub-Saharan Africa. In recent decades, the species' breeding range has expanded northward in Europe, with increased population density in some areas. This expansion may be attributed to improved nonbreeding season survival, linked to climate change and greater winter food availability in urban areas through artificial feeding. Although classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, widespread illegal hunting across the Mediterranean basin (1 Brochet, A. L., W. van den Bossche, S. Jbour, P. K. Ndang’ang’a, V. Jones, I. Abdou, A. R. Al-Hmoud, N. G. Asswad, J. C. Atienza, I. Atrash, N. Barbara, K. Bensusan, T. Bino, C. Celada, S. I. Cherkaoui, J. Costa, B. Deceuninck, K. S. Etayeb, C. Feltrup-Azafzaf, J. Figelj, M. Gustin, P. Kmecl, M. Korbeti, D. Kotrošan, J. Mula Laguna, M. Lattuada, D. Leitẩo, P. Lopes, N. López, V. Lucic, T. Micol, A. Moali, Y. Perlman, N. Piludu, K. Putulin, G. Quaintenne, G. Ramadan-Jaradi, M. Ružić, A. Sandor, N. Sarajlić, D. Saveljic, R. D. Sheldon., T. Shialis, C. Thompson, A. Brunner, R. Grimmett, and S. Butchart (2016). Preliminary assessment of the scope and scale of illegal killing and taking of birds in the Mediterranean. Bird Conservation International 26(1):1‒28. Close ) and Middle East may affect future populations.