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Concept
Common nightingale
Summary
The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It 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 belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats.
"Nightingale" is derived from "night" and the Old English galan, "to sing". The genus name Luscinia is Latin for "nightingale" and megarhynchos is from Ancient Greek megas, "great" and rhunkhos "bill".
western nightingale (L. m. megarhynchos) - Western Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor, wintering in tropical Africa
Caucasian nightingale (L. m. africana) - The Caucasus and eastern Turkey to southwestern Iran and Iraq, wintering in East Africa
eastern nightingale (L. m. golzii) - The Aral Sea to Mongolia, wintering in coastal East Africa
The common nightingale is slightly larger than the European robin, at length. It is plain brown above except for the reddish tail. It is buff to white below. The sexes are similar. The eastern subspecies (L. m. golzi) and the Caucasian subspecies (L. m. africana) have paler upper parts and a stronger face-pattern, including a pale supercilium. The song of the male nightingale has been described as one of the most beautiful sounds in nature, inspiring songs, fairy tales, opera, books, and a great deal of poetry. However, historically most people were not aware that female nightingales do not sing.
It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forest and scrub in Europe and the Palearctic, and wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is not found naturally in the Americas. The distribution is more southerly than the very closely related thrush nightingale Luscinia luscinia. It nests on or near the ground in dense vegetation. Research in Germany found that favoured breeding habitat of nightingales was defined by a number of geographical factors.
Official source
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