Blackcaps rare ?

tommmy1979

Hi,

First time poster to this forum..

I'm pretty sure i saw a single male blackcap in my garden today.. how rare are they?.. i'm new to birdwatching an i've never heard of them before.

T

P.S: I'm in cork

Kess73

I get them on a daily basis in my garden throughout the winter/spring. Normally two males and a female.

The majority of blackcaps both here and in the UK are birds that migrate here, with some that migrate here for the summer, and others that migrate here for the winter months depending on where they are migrating from.

But there is also have a resident population of them in Ireland too, and they are thriving with no reported falls in their numbers.

In answer to your question, they would not be a rare bird, and are a species that are being seen on a much more regular basis in gardens where birdfeed is put out.

Half-cocked

Not rare, but they spend a lot of time skulking in hedges so aren't very visible. They like apples, so stick a few halved apples onto sharpened sticks in your hedge to attract them. Sweet red apples work best, not cookers or granny smiths.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Not rare as such but a good one to get in any garden. I see them regualrly but they only visit the garden a few times a year. Nice one!

boneless

I have at least two visiting the feeders and the fruit at the moment. Both male. I am sure I have read somewhere that we get Scandinavian birds which overwinter here. Can someone confirm this?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

"Blackcaps are predominantly summer visitors from Iberia and West Africa, however, there are an increasing number over-wintering in Britain and Ireland, but many of these are birds that bred in northern or central Europe, e.g. Scandinavia and Germany."

Rancid

I saw my first Blackcap in the garden last year, one sighting and that was it.
Almost sure I noticed one at the water dish right under the hedge about 2 days ago, but despite persistent watching since then, I've not seen him.
I'll try the apple trick and hope it works.

As an aside, I never had goldfinches until I provided an nyjer seed feeder, and now I have a minimum of 4 from about 8am every day!

Alun

Rancid wrote: »

As an aside, I never had goldfinches until I provided an nyjer seed feeder, and now I have a minimum of 4 from about 8am every day!

Ditto! Got one of those recently as well, and suddenly there's goldfinches everywhere. They seem to attract the redpolls as well. I'm amazed at how they manage to get the seeds out of those tiny holes on the feeder, although they do spill a lot on the tray at the bottom. The local robin seems to keep that nice and tidy though.

Rancid

Alun wrote: »

Ditto! Got one of those recently as well, and suddenly there's goldfinches everywhere. They seem to attract the redpolls as well. I'm amazed at how they manage to get the seeds out of those tiny holes on the feeder, although they do spill a lot on the tray at the bottom. The local robin seems to keep that nice and tidy though.

Yes, Redpols too!
They're such gorgeous little birds, aren't they?
They spill lots, but the robins here don't seem to clean up after them, occasionally I see the pigeons hanging around underneath but lots of the seed just stays on the ground and in the summer it even sprouts, too.

tommmy1979

Thanks Guys..

I like the sound of the nyger seed feeders.. i'll get myself one of them at the weekend.

I think i've seen a goldfinch already... red face ya?

T