Common Nightingale, Famous Songster
A Bird of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and of Folklore and Art
Jul 16, 2008 Rosemary Drisdelle
Luscinia megarhynchos is a small bird with a wingspan of 25cm (10 in). Historically grouped with the thrushes (Family Turdidae), which also include robins and bluebirds, some authorities now place the species with the Old World Flycatchers (Family Muscicapidae). Common Nightingales breed in southern and western Europe and southwest Asia, and migrate to sub-Saharan Africa for the winter months. To spot one during the day, look for:
- a bird that usually forages for insects on or near the ground, often in dense bushes.
- a reddish-brown back with a pale throat and grey-brown breast.
- a pale ring around the eye (a feature that distinguishes it from the similar Thrush Nightingale).
- a low, flitting flight pattern
The Famous Song of the Common Nightingale
Many people recognize the nightingale's song, most often heard at night. Here are other facts about the song:
- The name nightingale means “night songstress."
- Though the female is often credited with the beautiful song, it’s the male nightingale that sings.
- Like some other species of thrushes, the nightingale is able to produce two notes at the same time.
- The song isn’t always the same—the extensive repertoire is divided into “whistle” songs and “non-whistle” songs.
- The species sings by day as well as by night—it seems to sing less during the day because other birdsong and noises drown it out.
- In urban areas, where the birds compete with traffic and other noises, they sing louder.
- Common Nightingales, like many other species, sing actively at dawn, a behavior thought to be connected with defense of nesting territory.
Other Interesting Facts About the Common Nightingale
Often heard but seldom seen, the Common Nightingale isn’t just a singer:
- The species migrates 2500 to 5500 km (1600 to 3400 miles) between its breeding and wintering ranges.
- Though Common Nightingales stop along the north coast of Africa on their way north, it’s believed that most fly across the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara Desert in one nonstop flight on their southern migration.
- The present population of Luscinia megarhynchos in Europe is thought to be between 8.5 and 23 million birds.
Nightingales in Folklore and Literature
Nightingales have often appeared in traditional lore and the arts—again, usually because of their song. The poet John Keats thought of the bird as a carefree spirit, free to sing in “full-throated ease.” In “Ode to a Nightingale,” he wrote that he longed to:
Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret,
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Persian poets did not see the nightingale as a happy spirit, but believed it pressed its breast against a rose thorn while singing, to ease heartache. Similarly, in Sophocles' tragic Greek play Tereus, Tereus rapes Philomela and cuts out her tongue - the main characters are ultimately transformed into a hoopoe, a swallow, and a nightingale, with the nightingale singing a sad lament forevermore.
A charming Christian tale has the nightingale singing in turns all night with Saint Francis. When the saint’s voice finally fails, he acknowledges the bird a better singer and rewards it with bread.
Sources:
Atlas of Bird Migration. Elphick, Jonathan ed. Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2007.
Birds in Legend Fable and Folklore. Ingersoll, Ernest. New York: Longmans, Green and Co.; 1923
Firefly Encyclopedia of Birds. Perrins, Christopher ed. Buffalo: Firefly Books, 2003
“Nightingale.” Avibirds: Online Bird Guide to Europe
Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North AmericaFloyd, Ted. New York: HarperCollins; 2008.
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