Thursday, 27 December 2012

BTO Blackcap Survey

Male Blackcap



Step up with the BTO!
I’ve had both male and female Blackcaps in the garden this month, a female just this afternoon. They like my homemade fat cake at the moment!


Garden Blackcap Survey - welcome!
Blackcaps are becoming increasingly regular visitors to garden feeding stations during winter, their numbers having risen remakeably since the 1970's  Our garden offerings seem to be supporting a change in the migratory behaviour of those Blackcaps that breed in central Europe and traditionally wintered around the Mediterranean. If you spot a Blackcap in your garden during January 2013, please let us know what it's eating, if it's male or female and whether it's chasing off other birds.


**THIS SURVEY WILL RUN DURING JANUARY 2013**
Blackcaps are an increasingly common sight at garden feeding stations during winter and are spotted most often early in the New Year. The foods that we provide seem to be having a profound effect on the ecology of these birds, changing their migratory patterns and subsequent nesting habits.
With your help, we want to find out more about the behaviour of Blackcaps in winter gardens. Choose one day this January to help us answer these three key questions:
1  1)      Which foods are Blackcaps eating?
2)  Are there equal numbers of male and female Blackcaps?
3)  Are the Blackcaps aggressive with other, similar sized birds?

LAURA