Nightingale

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This article is about the bird. For other uses, see Nightingale (disambiguation).

The Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It, and similar small European species, are often called chats.

It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forest in Europe and Asia. The distribution is more southerly than the very closely related Thrush Nightingale Luscinia luscinia. It nests low in dense bushes. It winters in southern Africa.

The Nightingale is similar in size to the European Robin, at 15-16.5 cm length. It is plain brown above except for the red-sided tail with red side patches. It is buff to white below. Sexes are similar.

The male Nightingale is known for his singing, to the extent that human singers are sometimes admiringly referred to as nightingales; the birdsong is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles. Although it also sings during the day, the nightingale is unusual in singing late in the evening; its song is particularly noticeable at that time because few other birds are singing. This is why its name (in several languages) includes "night". Recent research has shown that the birds sing even more loudly in urban or near-urban environments, in order to overcome the background noise. The most characteristic feature of the song is a loud whistling crescendo. It has a frog-like alarm call.

Eastern races have paler upperparts and a stronger face-pattern, including a pale supercilium. In Iran it is officially considered as the national bird of the country.

Symbols

In the popular traditions, the Nightingale announces spring, and it is the bird of May, but it is also and especially the symbol of love. The county of Nice (France) preserved its [The Nightingale Which Flies] in the traditional songs and rounds of May, whose topic inspired Tchaikovsky for his Humoresque opus 10-2.

References

BirdLife International (2004). [Luscinia megarhynchos]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

[Nightingale videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

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