Ordinary Nightingale: description, habitat

One of the most famous feathered singers is the ordinary nightingale, also called the eastern one. If you had to walk at night or in the morning along lush trees and shrubs, then you probably heard the sonorous and charming singing of this boy.

The description of a nightingale

All kinds of nightingales are considered to be a family of thrushes. The females and males do not externally differ from each other. An ordinary nightingale is a small bird, slightly larger than a sparrow. Its color is also inconspicuous, mostly monophonic, brownish-olive. Part of abdomen and neck of a bird of white color. On the sides and on the breast color slightly darker than the main color. The top of the tail has a faint rusty hue. The color of the nightingales practically does not change year round.

Young individuals can be distinguished by scaly coloration from below and light pestrinam from the upper side. Round eyes seem almost black. The length of the nightingale does not exceed 20 cm, and its weight is on the average 25 grams. Wings near the bird are about 9 cm, and the range can be 29 cm. These birds have a straight tail. But there are individuals with rounded ends. When the nightingale sits, the tail then rises, then falls.

Spread

The eastern nightingale is a fairly common bird that settles in the east of Europe. Also it can be found in the west of Siberia. These birds are migratory, so for wintering choose North Africa, South Iran and Arabia.

Habitat

But where do nightingales live, returning after wintering to their homeland? Because they are water-loving birds, they choose juicy areas, such as marshy thickets, shrub plantings in parks and gardens. They also love the forest edges, which are found in forest and forest-steppe areas. Some individuals can settle in arid places, but usually they do not return to these sites next year.

Lifestyle

From the wintering place, this bird does not hurry back. A nightingale flies in the spring, when the trees have already become covered with greenery, and insects lead a stormy life, as they are the subsistence of these birds. Usually this time falls on the end of April to the middle of May. The first to return usually experienced singers. A few days later, one-year-old birds are pulled up. With their arrival, life changes. Young adults grow up to settle near experienced, old nightingales. They are trying to conquer part of the territory of those males who live here year after year. But this area he actively protects. The old nightingale tries to drive out all the envious people and only surrenders some positions, yielding part of its territory. But at the same time he decides who to concede, as if he chooses, with whom he wants to side. New neighbors become matured young nightingales, the old 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, also there are from 1 to 3 adults, and the rest, the youngest, stand lower, 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 the young nightingales can sit on one branch and sing. In this case, the younger bird strictly observes its turn to start singing. It happens that an inexperienced male is addicted and begins to sing earlier, then the old bird attacks and drives the intruder or starts singing as loud as the young one does not know yet, thereby silencing him.

If males live apart from each other in a few meters, each is given his time for singing. This is usually observed in especially nesting-friendly places. Here among adult males there can be no leader. Also, the eastern nightingales, to whom only a year, can be grouped and live separately on the settlements. These birds sing ineptly, with wheezing and blotting or overly zealous, with "fervor".

In other regions, usually to the north, separate pairs settle from each other at a distance of several hundred meters.

More on singing

Among this feathered family, the best western singer is the best western singer. The bird begins his songs only three to five days after he returns from wintering. His song starts around 22.00 and lasts all night until dawn. But the first weeks after he arrives, the song of the feathered one can be heard in the afternoon. He poured in all the time, silent only for a couple of hours at lunch.

The nightingale sings its song on a branch that grows low from the ground. At this time, he slightly hunches and lowers the wings. At the usual time to notice the nightingale is almost impossible, since the nature of this little boy is secretive and cautious. But during the singing, he can forget himself so much that some could come very close and consider the enthusiastic 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 it is very rare. For example, a nightingale uses several different signals to indicate an impending alarm.

The songs of the nightingale can gradually improve, as birds learn this art gradually. Young males listen to more adults and imitate them. If an experienced performer is in the district, soon all nightingales will pull up their singing. It is known that in places where good singers are caught, the next generation will not be able to perform their tunes well until they are taught.

The description of the nightingale, or rather of his song, will not convey the beauty of this extraordinary event, so it is better to allocate a day to go for a walk in nature, and maybe you are lucky enough to hear the tunes of this famous singer.

Creating a pair

Female on the territory of males arrive in the evening and quietly wait until the morning. At dawn, they begin to whistle softly to draw attention. Often at this moment, they skip the branches of the bush or on the ground. The male, in turn, begins to squirm, taking different poses, lowering the wings, hunching and opening the tail. So the pair is formed. The female takes off, and the male goes after her, making creaking sounds. So he chases after his chosen one.

A few days later, when the female settles on the nesting site of the male, she finds a good place to build a nest.

Nesting

Favorite places to build a nest in nightingales are thickets and roots of shrubs, woody shoots, groves, gardens nearby. Usually these places are located near wet areas, for example near water bodies or wetlands. The nest, as a rule, is 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 a hole, but only a little deeper into the forest litter. The nail boards remain at the level of dry leaves. So, its diameter is 110-130 mm, height - up to 100 mm. The tray inside the nest is 7-8 cm in diameter, and the depth is 5-7 cm.

Ordinary nightingale builds roughly. At the bottom lays several layers of last year's leaves. The edges of the tray, in rare cases, and the walls of the nest, are lined with stems of grass and sedge. Also, the bottom of the tray is covered with small particles of cereals and even horse hair. The new nest is in a hidden place, so that a nightingale walks to it. Such a dwelling is built by a female. On this it spends up to 6 days.

Offspring of a bird

After settling the nest, the female makes a masonry in which 4-5 eggs are olive or olive brown. This time is at the end of May and the beginning of June. Nasizhivaet only female. At this time, "daddy" sings and protects the territory and the female with the nest. After 13-14 days, the offspring appear. Feeding lasts up to 12 days, and the father helps in this female. Approximately on the 19th day the chicks begin to fly, and the father stops his singing. Two weeks parents feed the young. At the end of June, all nightingales stop singing, and broods scatter. Birds begin their usual solitary life. Ordinary nightingale flies from the nesting place at the end of July.