In an ARTE documentary series, the blackcap - one of the lesser-known heroes of migration - was the main character in one of four episodes.

It was extremely interesting, great fun and a great honour that the outstanding ARTE crew dedicated a large part of their documentary series to our work. One focus of the documentary was our work using geolocator technology, a technology that helps us characterise the fascinating variability of the phenotype across the entire breeding range of the blackcap. One focus is on the hybrid zone along the Central European migratory divide, and a second focus is on the increasing number of blackcaps that spend the winter in the British Isles and follow a newly established north-westerly direction.

Thank you, ARTE, for the wonderful story and the beautiful images.

Contribution: ARTE documentary series, episode „Die Mönchsgrasmücke“, first broadcast in 2019, German.

Note: The full contribution is currently no longer available in the ARTE Mediathek. Further information about the episode can be found in external programme archives.