According to recent research by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), blackcaps have been migrating to the UK for winter over the past few years and might be spending a lot more time around our garden bird feeders.
Scientists from the BTO found that these blackcaps have been migrating to the UK from a few different countries from both the west and the east, such as Poland and Spain. To make this discovery, 600 blackcaps were fitted with colour-coded leg rings for tracking, while an extra 30 blackcaps were attached with tracking devices that recorded the birds’ paths and routes.
While the behaviour isn’t fully understood, scientists from the BTO believe that warmer UK winters could be a contributing factor, as well as more and more gardens in the UK being bird friendly by being full of food, water and shelter.
According to the BTO’s Garden BirdWatch Supporter Development Officer, the blackcaps arrive first in the countryside and then make their way into gardens as the winter goes on. The BTO network of Garden BirdWatchers keep a record of the birds visiting their gardens but need more people to help so they can cover more ground and understand the new behaviour of the birds.
Blackcaps are about the size of a robin, and slightly smaller than a chaffinch. Adult males have a black cap, hence the name, and the BTO has all of the details on their website on how to join in with the behaviour tracking.
