The Nightingale

The Nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) is a small, brown, unremarkable-looking bird, but they possess one of nature’s finest singing voices. The English population winters in Sub-Saharan Africa in the western countries like Sierra Leon and Senegal, returning to the very same thicket they were born in arriving in early to mid-April. They spend April to the end of May mating and nesting where we can encounter the extraordinary display of the males’ courtship song, famous for his all-night broadcast. Worldwide, the population is reasonably stable but the numbers visiting England have declined so sharply that they are now on the UK’s Red List of species of the greatest conservation concern. In this age of perilous biodiversity crisis and regular species extinctions, with habitats in the UK being threatened and eroded, the Nightingale has become representative of all that we have to lose culturally as well as ecologically.

The name ‘Nightingale’ comes from the Old English ‘Night wind or voice’ or the night songstress – reflecting the long-held belief that they were female birds that sang. In fact, the singers are the males – trying either to attract a mate or to protect territory.

One of the most memorable features of Nightingale’s song is his rich variety – taking in mellow tones, flute-like sequences and a wide array of jugs, chatters, rattles and whistles. A typical singer may use 180 different riffs while a truly accomplished performer may incorporate around 250 with over 1500 sounds. They are famous for never repeating a phrase and most notably for us, their ability to accept and incorporate human-made sounds or songs into their performance. A remarkable and virtuosic bird, Nightingales have long been the muse of poets, singers, folk artists, musicians, writers, composers and myth makers. For an extensive biography of this extraordinary creature please see Sam Lee’s book ‘The Nightingale, notes on a song bird’.