Nightingales are small songbirds famous for their sweet, rich, loud and melodious songs. Nightingales are named so because they frequently sing at night as well as during the day. The name has been used for over 1,000 years and the name means ‘night song stress’. Their song is particularly heard at night because few other birds are singing. This might be the reason that their name includes the word ‘night’.

Nightingales are plain brown with cream-coloured chest and belly. They have a reddish tail and large black eyes with a pale eye-ring. The bill is dark brown and the legs are flesh coloured. They are about 6-7 inches long and weigh 15-23 grams. Males and females are difficult to distinguish, as they both look similar. Male nightingales are known for their singing.

Favourite food

Nightingales feed on insects, insect larvae, worms, spiders, berries and fruit. Their favourite diet includes insects that they find mostly on the ground. In the autumn, they will eat berries.

Their home

Nightingales have a shy nature so they are usually found hidden in thickets and dense bushes. They are more often heard than seen. They live in deciduous forests and thickets in much of Europe and central Asia. They spend the winters in north and central Africa. Nightingales are usually regarded as an English bird, and it is abundant in many parts of the midland, eastern and western counties of England.

Female nightingales built the nest from dead leaves and twigs and are lined with fine grasses and hair. Their cup-like nests are placed on or near the ground of dense shrubbery in woods, thickets and gardens.

Their nests have a deep, cut-like hollow, neatly lined with fibrous roots. But the nests are constructed so loosely that a very slight touch destroys the arrangement of nest.

Young ones

Females lay about 4-5 smooth, glossy eggs that are olive-brown. The eggs are incubated for a period of 13-14 days. Both parents feed their young ones.

Nightingales cannot bear captivity and are found dying within a month or so. Only some pairs kept as pets have lived longer and have seemed comfortable, singing the songs of sadness and joy.