Birds / Thrushes and chats

Nightingale

Luscinia megarhynchos

Also known as Common nightingale

Uncommon Summer visitor Woodland

Test yourself

Recording: Mathias Ritschard / xeno-canto

Sounds like

Rich, powerful and endlessly varied: deep 'chook' notes, whistled crescendos and bubbling trills, often after dark.

Remember it

A slow, swelling 'pioo-pioo-pioo' that builds like a sob is the giveaway.

When and where

Listening for the nightingale

Heard: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Apr to Jun
Time of day: Dawn, Day and Night
Where: Woodland
In Britain: Summer visitor
Family: Thrushes and chats

Side by side

Often confused with

Play them one after the other and listen for the difference.

Nightingale

Luscinia megarhynchos

JFMAMJJASOND

A slow, swelling 'pioo-pioo-pioo' that builds like a sob is the giveaway.

Blackcap

Sylvia atricapilla

JFMAMJJASOND

Starts by mumbling, ends by shouting. Old country name: the 'mock nightingale'.

Song Thrush

Turdus philomelos

JFMAMJJASOND

It says everything twice, or three times.

Robin

Erithacus rubecula

JFMAMJJASOND

Sweet but melancholy. A bird singing in the depths of winter is almost always a robin.

Could you pick out a nightingale?

Hear a song, choose from four birds, and build your streak.

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Same habitat

Also in woodland

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Blackbird

Turdus merula

JFMAMJJASOND

Slow, rich, fluting phrases that wander about and often trail off into a quiet chuckle.

Blue Tit

Cyanistes caeruleus

JFMAMJJASOND

Two or three thin, high notes followed by a fast, shimmering trill: 'tsee-tsee-tsuhuhuhu'.

Chaffinch

Fringilla coelebs

JFMAMJJASOND

A cheerful, accelerating run of notes that tumbles down and ends in a flourish, repeated over and over.

Coal Tit

Periparus ater

JFMAMJJASOND

A fast, high, two-note phrase repeated several times: 'pitchoo-pitchoo-pitchoo'.