Blackcap female

Description:

The Eurasian Blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) usually known simply as the Blackcap, is a common and widespread sylviid warbler which breeds throughout temperate Europe, western Asia (east to about 85°E) and northwestern Africa, and winters from northwestern Europe south to tropical Africa. Its colour pattern is unique in the genus Sylvia; the Eurasian Blackcap's closest living relative is the Garden Warbler which looks different but has a fairly similar song. These two, whose ranges extend farther northeastwards than most other Sylvia species (except for Lesser Whitethroat and Common Whitethroat), seem to form sister species well distinct from the other typical warblers. It is a robust typical warbler, mainly grey in plumage. Like most Sylvia species, it has distinct male and female plumages: The male has the small black cap from which the species gets its name, whereas in the female the cap is brown. It is a bird of shady woodlands with ground cover for nesting. The nest is built in a low shrub, and 3–6 eggs are laid. The song is a pleasant chattering with some clearer notes; it can be confused with that of the Garden Warbler, but in the Eurasian Blackcap, it is slightly higher pitched, more broken into discrete individual songs (more continuous rambling song in Garden Warbler) and characteristically ends with an emphatic fluting warble. (wiki)

Notes:

Female