Poets chose the nightingale as a symbol because of its creative and seemingly spontaneous song. The common nightingale has also been used as a symbol of poets or their poetry. Because of the violence associated with the myth, the nightingale's song was long interpreted as a lament. Eliot's " The Waste Land" also evokes the common nightingale's song (and the myth of Philomela and Procne). Ovid, too, in his Metamorphoses, includes the most popular version of this myth, imitated and altered by later poets, including Chrétien de Troyes, Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, and George Gascoigne. This myth is the focus of Sophocles' tragedy, Tereus, of which only fragments remain. Homer evokes the nightingale in the Odyssey, suggesting the myth of Philomela and Procne (one of whom, depending on the myth's version, is turned into a nightingale ). The common nightingale is an important symbol for poets from a variety of ages, and has taken on a number of symbolic connotations. The bird is a host of the acanthocephalan intestinal parasite Apororhynchus silesiacus. The most characteristic feature of the song is a loud whistling crescendo that is absent from the song of its close relative, the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia). Nightingales sing even more loudly in urban or near-urban environments, in order to overcome the background noise. Singing at dawn, during the hour before sunrise, is assumed to be important in defending the bird's territory. Only unpaired males sing regularly at night, and nocturnal song probably serves to attract a mate. This is why its name includes "night" in several languages. Its song is particularly noticeable at night because few other birds are singing. The song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles. Early writers assumed the female sang when it is in fact the male. The name has been used for more than 1,000 years, being highly recognisable even in its Old English form nihtegale, which means "night songstress". Behaviour and ecology Ĭommon nightingales are so named because they frequently sing at night as well as during the day. īy contrast, the European breeding population is estimated at between 3.2 and 7 million pairs, giving it green conservation status ( least concern). A survey conducted by the British Trust for Ornithology in 20 recorded some 3,300 territories, with most of these clustered in a few counties in the southeast of England, notably Kent, Essex, Suffolk, and East and West Sussex. Despite local efforts to safeguard its favoured coppice and scrub habitat, numbers fell by 53 percent between 19. In the U.K., the bird is at the northern limit of its range which has contracted in recent years, placing it on the red list for conservation. annual precipitation less than 750 millimetres (30 in).more than 20 days/year on which temperatures exceed 25 ☌ (77 ☏).mean air temperature during the growing season above 14 ☌ (57 ☏).less than 400 m (1,300 ft) above mean sea level.Research in Germany found that favoured breeding habitat of nightingales was defined by a number of geographical factors. It nests on or near the ground in dense vegetation. The distribution is more southerly than the very closely related thrush nightingale Luscinia luscinia. It is not found naturally in the Americas. It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forest and scrub in Europe and the Palearctic, and wintering in Sub-Saharan Africa. Song recorded in Devon, England Distribution and habitat However, historically most people were not aware that female nightingales do not sing. 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. africana) have paler upper parts and a stronger face-pattern, including a pale supercilium. It is plain brown above except for the reddish tail. The common nightingale is slightly larger than the European robin, at 15–16.5 cm (5.9–6.5 in) length. golzii) - The Aral Sea to Mongolia, wintering in coastal East Africaĭescription Male Luscinia megarhynchos africana) - The Caucasus and eastern Turkey to southwestern Iran and Iraq, wintering in East Africa megarhynchos) - Western Europe, North Africa and Asia Minor, wintering in tropical Africa Subspecies Distribution map of subspecies The genus name Luscinia is Latin for "nightingale" and megarhynchos is from Ancient Greek megas, "great" and rhunkhos "bill". "Nightingale" is derived from "night" and the Old English galan, "to sing". It belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats. 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. The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale ( Luscinia megarhynchos), is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song.
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