LC
Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla



Taxonomy

Taxonomic note

Taxonomic source(s)
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
AERC TAC. 2003. AERC TAC Checklist of bird taxa occurring in Western Palearctic region, 15th Draft. Available at: http://www.aerc.eu/DOCS/Bird_taxa_of_the_WP15.xls.
Cramp, S. and Perrins, C.M. 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Cramp, S.; Perrins, C. M. 1977-1994. Handbook of the birds of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The birds of the western Palearctic. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

IUCN Red List criteria met and history
Red List criteria met
Critically Endangered Endangered Vulnerable
- - -

Red List history
Year Category Criteria
2016 Least Concern
2012 Least Concern
2009 Least Concern
2008 Least Concern
2004 Least Concern
2000 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1994 Lower Risk/Least Concern
1988 Lower Risk/Least Concern
Species attributes

Migratory status full migrant Forest dependency medium
Land-mass type Average mass -
Range

Estimate Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident) 27,800,000 km2 medium
Extent of Occurrence (non-breeding) 36,700,000 km2 medium
Severely fragmented? no -
Population
Estimate Data quality Derivation Year of estimate
Population size 100000000-165000000 mature individuals poor estimated 2012
Population trend increasing - suspected -
Generation length 4 years - - -

Population justification: Shirihai et al. (2001) estimated the population to exceed 10 million individuals, but in Europe, the breeding population is estimated to number 40,500,000-64,500,000 pairs, which equates to 81,000,000-129,000,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015). Europe forms c.80% of the global range, so a very preliminary estimate of the global population size is 101,000,000-161,000,000 mature individuals, although further validation of this estimate is needed.

Trend justification: The population is suspected to be increasing owing to afforestation and land use changes leading to increased shrubby growth in parts of its range (del Hoyo et al. 2006). In Europe, trends between 1980 and 2013 show that populations have undergone a moderate increase (EBCC 2015).


Country/territory distribution
Country/Territory Presence Origin Resident Breeding visitor Non-breeding visitor Passage migrant
Albania extant native yes yes
Algeria extant native
Andorra extant native yes
Armenia extant native yes
Austria extant native yes
Azerbaijan extant native yes
Bahrain extant native yes
Belarus extant native yes
Belgium extant native yes
Benin extant vagrant
Bosnia and Herzegovina extant native yes
Bulgaria extant native yes yes
Burkina Faso extant native
Burundi extant native
Cameroon extant vagrant
Cape Verde extant native
Chad extant vagrant
Congo, The Democratic Republic of the extant native
Côte d'Ivoire extant native
Croatia extant native yes
Cyprus extant native yes
Czechia extant native yes
Denmark extant native yes yes
Djibouti extant native
Egypt extant native
Eritrea extant native
Estonia extant native yes
Ethiopia extant native
Faroe Islands (to Denmark) extant native yes
Finland extant native yes yes
France extant native yes
Gambia extant native
Georgia extant native yes
Germany extant native yes yes
Ghana extant native
Gibraltar (to UK) extant native yes
Greece extant native yes yes
Greenland (to Denmark) extant vagrant
Guinea extant native
Guinea-Bissau extant native
Hungary extant native yes
Iceland extant native
Iran, Islamic Republic of extant native yes yes
Iraq extant native yes
Ireland extant native yes
Israel extant native
Italy extant native yes yes
Jordan extant native yes yes
Kazakhstan extant native yes
Kenya extant native
Kuwait extant native yes
Latvia extant native yes
Lebanon extant native yes yes
Liberia extant native
Libya extant native
Liechtenstein extant native yes
Lithuania extant native yes
Luxembourg extant native yes
Malawi extant native
Mali extant native
Malta extant native yes
Mauritania extant native
Moldova extant native yes
Mongolia extant vagrant
Montenegro extant native yes
Morocco extant native
Netherlands extant native yes
Niger extant native
Nigeria extant native
North Macedonia extant native yes
Norway extant native yes
Oman extant native yes
Palestine extant native yes
Poland extant native yes
Portugal extant native yes
Qatar extant native yes
Romania extant native yes
Russia extant native yes
Russia (Central Asian) extant native yes
Russia (European) extant native yes
Rwanda extant vagrant
Saudi Arabia extant native yes
Senegal extant native
Serbia extant native yes
Seychelles extant vagrant
Sierra Leone extant native
Slovakia extant native yes
Slovenia extant native yes
Somalia extant native
South Africa extant vagrant
South Sudan extant native yes
Spain extant native yes
Sudan extant native
Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands (to Norway) extant vagrant
Sweden extant native yes
Switzerland extant native yes
Syria extant native yes yes
Tanzania extant native
Tunisia extant native
Türkiye extant native yes
Uganda extant native
Ukraine extant native yes
United Arab Emirates extant native yes
United Kingdom extant native yes
Uzbekistan extant native
Yemen extant native yes
Zambia extant native
Zimbabwe extant vagrant

Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBA)
Country/Territory IBA Name
Bulgaria Central Balkan
Bulgaria Rila
Bulgaria Western Rhodopes
Serbia Derdap gorge
Serbia Golija
Serbia Kucaj-Beljanica
Serbia Stara mountains
Serbia Valjevske mountains

Habitats & altitude
Habitat (level 1) Habitat (level 2) Importance Occurrence
Artificial/Terrestrial Arable Land suitable breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Plantations suitable breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Plantations suitable non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Rural Gardens suitable breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Rural Gardens suitable non-breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Urban Areas suitable breeding
Artificial/Terrestrial Urban Areas suitable non-breeding
Forest Boreal suitable breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Mangrove Vegetation Above High Tide Level suitable non-breeding
Forest Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane suitable non-breeding
Forest Temperate major breeding
Savanna Dry suitable non-breeding
Shrubland Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation suitable non-breeding
Shrubland Mediterranean-type Shrubby Vegetation suitable breeding
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable breeding
Shrubland Subtropical/Tropical Dry suitable non-breeding
Altitude 0 - 2200 m Occasional altitudinal limits  

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Eurasian Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/eurasian-blackcap-sylvia-atricapilla on 23/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 23/12/2024.