Nightingale
77288
226088324
2008-07-16T19:46:50Z
Mlewan
201657
Restored uncommented removal
{{otheruses1|the bird}}
{{Taxobox
| name = Nightingale
| status = LC
| image = Luscinia megarhynchos Istria 01.jpg
| image_width = 204px
| regnum = [[Animal]]ia
| phylum = [[Chordate|Chordata]]
| classis = [[bird|Aves]]
| ordo = [[Passerine|Passeriformes]]
| familia = [[Muscicapidae]]
| genus = ''[[Luscinia]]''
| species = '''''L. megarhynchos'''''
| binomial = ''Luscinia megarhynchos''
| binomial_authority = ([[Christian Ludwig Brehm|Brehm]], [[1831]])
}}
The '''Nightingale''' (''Luscinia megarhynchos''), also known as '''Rufous ''' and '''Common Nightingale''', is a small [[passerine]] [[bird]] that was formerly classed as a member of the [[Thrush (bird)|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 [[chat (bird)|chat]]s.
It is a [[bird migration|migratory]] insectivorous species breeding in forest and scrub in [[Europe]] and south-west [[Asia]]. The distribution is more southerly than the very closely related [[Thrush Nightingale]] ''Luscinia luscinia''. It nests on the ground within or next to dense bushes. It winters in southern [[Africa]]. At least in the [[Rhineland]] ([[Germany]]), the breeding [[Habitat (ecology)|habitat]] of nightingales is known to agree with a number of [[geography|geographical]] parameters (Wink 1973):
* less than 200 meters [[above mean sea level]]
* mean [[air temperature]] during the [[growing season]] above 14°C
* more than 20 days/year on which temperatures exceed 25°C
* annual [[Precipitation (meteorology)|precipitation]] less than 750mm
* [[aridity index]] lower than 0.35
* no closed [[Canopy (forest)|canopy]].
The Nightingale is slightly larger than the [[European Robin]], at 15-16.5 cm length. It is plain brown above except for the reddish tail. It is buff to white below. Sexes are similar.
Nightingales are named so because they frequently sing at night as well as during the day. The name has been used for well over 1,000 years, being highly recognizable even in its Anglo-Saxon form - 'nihtingale'. It means 'night songstress'. Early writers assumed the female sang; in fact, it is the male. The male nightingale is known for his singing, to the extent that human [[singer]]s are sometimes admiringly referred to as nightingales; the song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles. Its song is particularly noticeable at night because few other birds are singing. This is why its name (in several languages) includes "night". Only unpaired males sing regularly at night, and nocturnal song is likely to serve attracting a mate. Singing at dawn, during the hour before sunrise, is assumed to be important in defending the bird's territory. Nightingales 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, absent from the song of Thrush Nightingale. It has a frog-like alarm call.
The eastern [[subspecies]] ''L. m. hafizi'' and ''L. m. africana'' have paler upperparts and a stronger face-pattern, including a pale [[supercilium]].
==Culture==
* The Nightingale is the [[national bird]] of [[Iran]].
* The love of the nightingale to the rose is also widely used, often metaphorically, in [[Turkish literature]] (especially in poems of the Ottoman period) as well as in [[Persian literature]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.iranica.com/articles/v11f1/v11f1034.html| title=The Rose and nightingale in Persian literature |}}</ref>
*[[John Keats]]' poem "[[Ode to a Nightingale]]" responds to the beauty of the nightingale's song.
*"Know Why the Nightingale Sings" is a song by [[Nightwish]].
*"[[The Nightingale]]" is a poem by [[Samuel Taylor Coleridge]].
*"[[The Frog and the Nightingale]]" is a poem by [[Vikram Seth]].
*"[[The Nightingale]]" is a story by [[Hans Christian Andersen]]
* ''[[The Nightingale (opera)|Le rossignol]]'' is an opera by [[Igor Stravinsky]] based on the Andersen tale. Stravinsky then adapted the opera into a [[symphonic poem]] called ''[[Le Chant du rossignol]]''.
* The soprano [[Jenny Lind]] was nicknamed the Swedish Nightingale.
*In Oscar Wilde's short story "[[The Nightingale and the Rose]]", a Nightingale sacrifices itself to create a red rose for a student.
* [[Ottorino Respighi]] included a recording of the nightingale's song in the third movement of his [[symphonic poem]] ''[[Pini di Roma|The Pines of Rome]].''
* A [[Provençal]] folk song, "[http://mtcn.free.fr/lyrics/roussignou-vola.php The Nightingale Which Flies]", inspired [[Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky|Tchaikovsky]] when composing his ''Humoresque'' opus 10-2.
* ''[[A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square]]'' is the name of a popular song and film.
* "[[Bianca Among the Nightingales]]" is a poem by [[Elizabeth Barrett Browning]]
* "The Three Nightingales" was a vaudeville singing trio with the [[Marx Brothers|Groucho and Gummo Marx]] and Mabel O'Donnell.
* "[[Sweet Nightingale]]" is a Cornish folk song which probably dates from the Seventeenth Century, and is said to be a translation from the ancient [[Cornish language]].
* "[[Persephone]]" has a song named "[[the Nightingale's Lament]]" .
* "[[Sarojini Devi Naidu]]" was referred to as "[[the Nightingale of India]]" for her melliflous voice.
==References==
* {{IUCN2006|assessors='''BirdLife International'''|year=2004|id=51738|title=Luscinia megarhynchos|downloaded=12 May 2006}} Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
* '''Wink''', Michael (1973): Die Verbreitung der Nachtigall (''Luscinia megarhynchos'') im Rheinland. ''Charadrius'' '''9'''(2/3): 65-80. [Article in German] [http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/ipmb/phazb/pubwink/1967-79/28.%201973.pdf PDF fulltext]
==External links==
{{commons|Luscinia megarhynchos|Luscinia megarhynchos}}
* Internet Bird Collection: [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=6549 Nightingale videos]. Retrieved 2006-DEC-09.
* The Freesound Project: [http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=17185 Uncompressed high-quality Nightingale sound file] (requires free account to download). Retrieved 2006-DEC-09.
* The Freesound Project: [http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=19662 High-quality Nightingale sound file] (requires free account to download). Retrieved 2006-DEC-09.
* [[RSPB|Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]] (British)- Nightingale [http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/n/nightingale/]. Retrieved 2007-JUN-11.
* Rose and nightingale in Persian art [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/10/wai/hod_1993.98.htm]
* Rose and nightingale in Persian literature [http://www.iranica.com/articles/v11f1/v11f1034.html]
* Nightingale song and behavioural ecology [http://www.camargue.unibas.ch/luscinia_megarhynchos.html]
*[http://www.ibercajalav.net/img/329_NightingaleLmegarhynchos.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta]
[[Category:Luscinia]]
[[Category:National symbols of Iran]]
[[Category:Birds of Turkey]]
[[Category:Birds of Pakistan]]
[[ar:بلبل]]
[[az:Bülbül (quş)]]
[[br:Eostig]]
[[bg:Южен славей]]
[[ca:Rossinyol]]
[[cs:Slavík obecný]]
[[da:Sydlig nattergal]]
[[de:Nachtigall]]
[[es:Luscinia megarhynchos]]
[[eo:Najtingalo]]
[[fr:Rossignol philomèle]]
[[gl:Rousinol]]
[[ko:나이팅게일]]
[[io:Naktigalo]]
[[it:Luscinia megarhynchos]]
[[he:זמיר הירדן]]
[[ku:Bilbil (Ajal)]]
[[lt:Vakarinė lakštingala]]
[[hu:Csalogány]]
[[nl:Nachtegaal]]
[[ja:サヨナキドリ]]
[[no:Sørnattergal]]
[[oc:Luscinia megarhynchos]]
[[pl:Słowik rdzawy]]
[[pt:Rouxinol]]
[[ro:Privighetoare]]
[[ru:Соловьи]]
[[qu:Ruysiñur]]
[[fi:Etelänsatakieli]]
[[sv:Sydnäktergal]]
[[tr:Bülbül]]
[[bat-smg:Lakštėngala]]
[[zh:夜鶯]]