One of the most famous feathered singers is the common nightingale, also known as the eastern nightingale. If you had to walk at night or in the morning along the lush trees and shrubs, then you probably heard the sonorous and charming singing of this boy.
Description of the nightingale
All kinds of nightingales belong to the thrush family. Females and males do not differ from each other externally. The common nightingale is a small bird, slightly larger than a sparrow. Its color is also inconspicuous, mostly monophonic, brown-olive. Part of the abdomen and neck of the bird is white. On the sides and on the chest, the color is slightly darker than the main color. The top of the tail has a slight reddish tint. The color of nightingales practically does not change all year round.
Juveniles can be distinguished by their scaly underside and light streaks above. Round eyes appear almost black. The length of the nightingale does not exceed 20 cm, and its average weight is 25 grams. The wings of a bird are about 9 cm, and the wingspan can be 29 cm. These birds have a straight tail. But there are individuals with rounded ends. When the nightingalesits, the tail goes up and down.
Distribution
The Eastern Nightingale is a fairly common bird that settles in the east of Europe. It can also be found in the west of Siberia. These birds are migratory, so North Africa, South Iran and Arabia are chosen for wintering.
Habitats
But where do nightingales live when they return home after wintering? Since these are moisture-loving birds, they choose juicy areas, such as marshy thickets, shrub plantings in parks and gardens. They also love forest edges, which are found in forest and forest-steppe regions. Some individuals may settle in dry areas, but usually they do not return to these areas next year.
Lifestyle
This bird is in no hurry to return from the wintering place. The nightingale arrives in the spring, when the trees are already covered with greenery, and insects lead a stormy life, since they are the livelihood of these birds. Usually this time falls at the end of April to mid-May. Experienced singers usually return first. After a few days, one-year-old birds are pulled up. With their arrival, life changes. Young matured individuals tend to settle near experienced, old nightingales. They are trying to conquer part of the territory of those males who live here from year to year. But he actively defends this area. The old nightingale vehemently tries to drive away all envious people and only loses ground to some, giving up part of its territory. But at the same time, he himself decides to whom to give in, as if choosing, withwho he wants to be next to. Mature young nightingales become new neighbors, old ones will never be able to occupy someone else's territory.
Thus, a hierarchy of a small number of nightingales is formed. The head is the oldest male, there are also from 1 to 3 adults, and the rest, the youngest, stand below, obeying the leader. All of them can create families and settle at a distance of 15-30 meters, sometimes the neighboring nest is only five meters away. In such cases, the old and young nightingales can sit on the same branch and sing. At the same time, the younger bird strictly observes its turn in order to start singing. It happens that an inexperienced male gets carried away and starts to sing earlier, then the old bird attacks and drives the intruder away or starts singing as loudly as the young one can not yet, thereby forcing him to shut up.
If the males live a few meters apart, each is given his time to sing. This is usually observed in particularly favorable nesting areas. Here, among adult males, there may not be a leader. Also, eastern nightingales, which are only a year old, can group and live separately in settlements. These birds sing clumsily, with wheezing and blots, or overzealously, with "hotness".
In other areas, usually to the north, individual couples settle from each other at a distance of several hundred meters.
Singing more
Among this family of birds, the best singer is the western common nightingale. The bird begins its songs only after three to fivedays after returning from wintering. His song starts around 22.00 and continues all night until dawn. But the first weeks after he arrives, the song of the bird can be heard during the day. It fills up all the time, falling silent only for a couple of hours at lunchtime.
The nightingale sings its song on a branch that grows not high from the ground. At this time, he hunches a little and lowers his wings. In normal times, it is almost impossible to notice a nightingale, since the character of this boy is secretive and cautious. But while singing, he can forget himself so much that some managed to get very close and consider the carried away performer.
The songs of the nightingale are very characteristic, they are filled with whistling, rumbling and clicking sounds. But in his "dictionary" there are many signals that he uses not only for singing. But he uses these sounds only for a specific purpose, so very rarely. For example, the nightingale uses several different signals to indicate an impending alarm.
The songs of the nightingale can gradually improve as the birds learn the art gradually. Young males listen to older adults and imitate them. If an experienced performer is wound up in the district, soon all the nightingales will improve their singing here. It is known that in places where good singers are caught, the next generation will sing their tunes poorly until they are taught.
The description of the nightingale, or rather his song, will not convey all the beauty of this extraordinary event, so it is better to set aside a day to go for a walk in nature, and maybe yoube lucky enough to hear the tunes of this famous singer.
Pairing
Females arrive at the territory of males in the evening and quietly wait until morning. At dawn, they begin to whistle softly to attract attention. Often at this moment they jump along the branches of a bush or on the ground. The male, in turn, begins to squirm, taking different poses, lowers his wings, hunches over and opens his tail. This is how a couple is formed. The female flies up and the male goes after her, making squeaky sounds. So he chases after his chosen one.
After a few days, when the female gets comfortable in the nesting area of the male, she finds a good place to build a nest.
Nesting
Favorite places to build a nest for nightingales are thickets and roots of shrubs, tree growth, groves, gardens nearby. Usually these places are located near wet areas, such as near water bodies or wetlands. The nest is usually built on the ground, and sometimes on a pile of dry leaves. The place is hidden by branches or roots. To build a house, they do not make holes, but only go a little deeper into the forest floor. The sides of the nest remain at the level of dry leaves. So, its diameter is 110-130 mm, height - up to 100 mm. The tray itself inside the nest is 7-8 cm in diameter, and the depth is 5-7 cm.
Common nightingale builds rough. Several layers of last year's leaves line the bottom. The edges of the tray, in rare cases, the walls of the nest, are lined with grass stalks and sedge. Also, the bottom of the tray is covered with small particles of cereals and evenhorse hair. The new nest is in a hidden place, so the nightingale walks to it. The female builds such a dwelling. It takes her up to 6 days to do this.
Bird offspring
After arranging the nest, the female lays a clutch in which 4-5 eggs are olive or olive brown. This time falls on the end of May and the beginning of June. Only the female incubates. At this time, the "father" sings and guards the territory and the female with the nest. After 13-14 days, offspring appear. Feeding lasts up to 12 days, and the father helps in this female. Around the 19th day, the chicks begin to fly, and the father stops his singing. For another two weeks, parents feed the young. Already at the end of June, all the nightingales stop singing, and the broods scatter. Birds begin a normal solitary life. The common nightingale flies away from the nesting site already at the end of July.
