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The UK Bird Atlas

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)Where and when to see it in the UK

Status not yet classified · reporting peaks April to May · Sylviid Warblers and Allies · BOU category AF

Records to 2026-08-16 · build 2026-08-31

Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla)
Jac. Janssen from Baarlo lb, NL, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Peak months
Blackcap: relative reporting rate by 10 km square, September

Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (grid squares, place names from OS Open Names). Northern Ireland place names: OSNI Open Data, OGL v3.0. County and country boundaries: Office for National Statistics, Open Government Licence v3.0. Coastline: Natural Earth. Bird records from the data partners listed here.

Blackcap has been recorded in 2,555 of the 2,971 10 km squares covering UK land (86%) in records to 2026. Its strongest squares are in England, Scotland and Wales. Reporting peaks in April to May.

Conservation status: Least Concern (IUCN Red List, LC)
View on the IUCN Red List
Relative to this species' best squares (how classes are calculated)
Very high
44% or more of visits
High
23% to 44%
Moderate
10% to 23%
Low
under 10%
Surveyed, not recorded
at least 20 qualifying visits, no record
Insufficient records
too few visits to say
Lighter fill
Few visits, lower confidence
Small dot
Occasional: a single record, or out of season

Seasonality

Reporting rate by month, relative to the peak month
MonthRelative to peakShare of visitsTypical class
January 6%3%Low
February 7%3%Low
March 18%7%Low
April 97%40%Very high
May 100%41%Very high
June 83%34%Very high
July 57%23%High
August 37%15%Moderate
September 34%14%Low
October 19%8%Low
November 5%2%Low
December 6%2%Low

Squares with the highest reporting rate in April

SquareWhereShare of visitsClass
C60Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C81Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
C83Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D21Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D23Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D30Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
D31Mid and East Antrim, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H06Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H14Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high
H47Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland100%Very high

Spotted an error in a square? Report it and it goes into the review queue. Read the methodology for how classes, flags and sensitive-species rules work. Data to 2026.