First-year survival probability of migratory passerines during the period between fledging and first reproduction is a highly variable parameter having a major effect on population dynamics. We used a long-term mark–recapture dataset (2002–2018) to examine first-year survival of three passerine species breeding in abandoned agricultural fields of northwestern Russia: the Booted Warbler Iduna caligata, the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra and the Western Yellow Wagtail Motacilla flava. We banded 3457 nestlings including 1363 Booted Warblers, 1699 Whinchats and 395 Yellow Wagtails and resighted 12 Booted Warblers, 29 Whinchats and 13 Yellow Wagtails in the year after fledging. We evaluated first-year apparent survival rates using Cormack-Jolly-Seber models in MARK within the multispecies approach. We tested effect of fledge date on the first-year apparent survival. In all focal species first-year apparent survival rates were extremely low and reached the lower limits known for migratory passerines. We found no differences in first-year survival rates among the three species: estimated average first-year apparent survival rate of all species was 0.05±0.01. The fledge date had a considerable impact on first-year survival rate: later fledge dates negatively affected first-year survival. We suggest that first-year apparent survival rates in our study were low due to low natal philopatry and high mortality in the postfledging period. Low apparent first-year survival may be a specific feature of open-nesting birds breeding in abandoned fields that are low-quality habitats because of high predation pressure.