Blackcap
Sylvia atricapilla
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilySylviidae (Sylviid Warblers and Allies)
- GenusSylvia
- SpeciesSylvia atricapilla (Blackcap)
The Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) is a bird usually known simply as the blackcap. It is a common and widespread warbler. It has mainly olive-grey upperparts and pale grey underparts, and differences across the five subspecies are small. Both sexes have a neat coloured cap to the head, black in the male and reddish-brown in the female. The male's typical song is a rich musical warbling, often ending in a loud high-pitched crescendo, but a simpler song is given in some isolated areas, such as valleys in the Alps. The blackcap's closest relative is the garden warbler, which looks quite different but has a similar song. Wikipedia →
<5% of wildlife watchers report a Blackcap sighting in Tarangire National Park, based on 10 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
Closest Relatives at Tarangire National Park
Banded Warbler
Sylvia boehmi
Whitethroat
Sylvia communis
Pseudoalcippe abyssinica
Pseudoalcippe abyssinica
Superb Starling
Lamprotornis superbus
Ashy Starling
Lamprotornis unicolor
White-headed Buffalo-Weaver
Dinemellia dinemelli
Northern White-crowned Shrike
Eurocephalus ruppelli
Magpie Shrike
Urolestes melanoleucus
Fork-tailed Drongo
Dicrurus adsimilis
Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver
Bubalornis niger
Rufous-tailed Weaver
Histurgops ruficauda
Red-billed Oxpecker
Buphagus erythrorhynchus
📅 Monthly Probability
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Blackcap in Tarangire National Park?
About 1% of wildlife watchers report a Blackcap sighting in Tarangire National Park, based on 10 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Blackcap in Tarangire National Park?
December has the highest sighting rate for Blackcap in Tarangire National Park in our monthly data.