The blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) is a distinctive greyish warbler. The male has a black cap, and the female a chestnut one. Its delightful fluting song has earned it the name 'northern nightingale'. The blackcap breeds in much of Europe, western Asia and northwestern Africa, and its preferred habitat is mature deciduous woodland. It spends its winter in Spain and Africa, arriving in Britain in April and departing in October. It is unusual in the Warbler world as it is happy to eat fruit as well as insects. This enables a small proportion to spend the winter in Britain when insects are hard to find.
