ID of dead bird, please.

[Jennie]

Could someone please confirm that this is a female Blackcap.

I think it is because of the chestnut cap, but pictures online seem to show a lighter band between the cap and the body. Also the main body colour was khaki rather than brown.



I was fascinated to discover that the undercolour of every feather was black!

[sleipnerofasgard]

Indeed it is, female Blackcap, perhaps an old bird, let's hope she had a productive life, doesn't look like it died of anything but natural causes

Frank

[Tracey.A]

Looks like a female Blackcap to me as well.

Tracey

[big bill]

so sad how long do they normaly live?

[FUDGEY]

Bill, I'm sure I've read that most smallish birds of this size only live about 4 years. I also read that kingfishers and crossbills only avg 2 years, can anyone tell me if this is correct? I also read birds like Tawny Owls, Herring Gulls avg 15 years. Shame about the Blackcap, where was it found? Near a road?

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by big bill

so sad how long do they normaly live?

Most warblers have a life span of about 2 years

[FUDGEY]

Is that an average age? Ie is that average worked out including birds that are predated etc or is that a life span age?

[Jennie]

Thanks for all your replies.

The bird was found on a footpath close to a farm track (the other side of the hedge) so I suppose she could have been on a collision course with a tractor or other machinery.

She was nice and plump, so hopefully had a good life!

[Nightranger]

Originally Posted by FUDGEY

Is that an average age? Ie is that average worked out including birds that are predated etc or is that a life span age?

It depends on what criteria are used. If we take this as from all young produced, the figure is less than one year for pretty much all species. However, the average is usually calculated on the basis of annual mortality of adults and comes out at around two years for small birds, three-five years for medium sized songbirds like the blackbird and five-eight years for most others. This is slightly misleading because it is calculated across an entire population and individual birds can live much longer.

Annual mortality is variable but usually falls somewhere within a range of 45% - 65% but can be lower and rarely, higher. It often is much more complicated than this because the ratio of mortality in first-time breeding birds still within their first year will be higher than more experienced adults. A typical population will lose 20% of its older adults per year but the numbers are (in a stable population) made up by surviving recruits from last year's young. Yet, 80% of the younger birds (as an index of the overall population) will also die in this same period. Incidentally, a declining population does not usually mean increased mortality rates (except in cases like the wren and Dartford warbler in bad winters) but is often the result of poor breeding success so that new adults are not recruited to the population in the form of surviving and maturing young from the previous year.