the extraordinary sonority and the versatility of the motives in the chant of the "queen of the Singvögel" is the cause, that special observation was given the nightingale again and again. The daughter of the King Pandion of Athens becomes not accidental in the Greek mythology, Philomele (= griech. the chant-lover, with its liberation into a nightingale changes, after one had robbed it from its tongue previously. As a nature-historian occupied itself very extensively with the nightingale already in Aristotle's antiquity; some centuries late, it is treated also by the Roman author Plinius the older person. Devilment and validity-addiction made that pasties were in the old Rome among the delicacies from nightingales and Pfauenzungen. The nightingales later were settled in the desire-gardens of the yards in order to please with its chant there.
Way of life One interprets the name incorrectly if one assumes that the nightingale sings only at night. it rather is one of the few birds, that let sound its voice beside its day-activity in the night as well. If one then hears the nightingale-chant undisturbed, it gets the validity to particular extent of course. A diversified consequence of loud, hard Schmetterstrophen is from middle April to middle of June and shorter or longer, quietly incipient and, to always then hear nothing but growing series of drawn flute-sounds.
Reproduction In the second half of April, the nightingale arrives in our area, the males incidentally some (4-10) days earlier than the females. Usually a precinct is visited near the "birthplace" and immediately is defended opposite other males; occasionally, heated fights occur on that occasion. Even if the females arrived from the African winter-quarters, the chant of not only the precinct-defense but also the attraction of a female serves. When performing courtship display lifts and lowers the male its fanned out tail, beats with the wings and stretches the head far downward.
After the Verpaarung, the female builds at the or directly over the ground from dry foliage an extensive bowl-nest and lines it with grass and hair; it incubates also the 4-6 eggs alone for 13-14 days. The nest-stools are fed with flies, spiders, butterflies and caterpillars by both parents and are left the nest after 11-12 days. Then, however, they cannot yet fly and are still fed by the parents long. If they depress themselves into the foliage, they are to be hardly discovered.
Spread The nightingale is predominantly spread in the restrained one(s), mediterranen and Europe's steppe-zone. Together with the Sprosser (Luscinia luscinia), nightingales form a west-paläarktischen species-circle, that is supplemented in corresponding habitats of Eastern Asia through the Schwirrnachtigall (Luscinia sibilans). There is a wide overlap-zone with the Sprosser in north and East Germany. Although the two types are very similar in plumages, chant and biotope-election, bastards only rarely are created. As real migratory birds, the nightingales spend the winter in savannas or in the thornbush of the tropical Africa, primarily north from the equator, so that they leave the brood-areas again already end of July until beginning of September.
Habitat The brood-areas of the nightingales usually lie in rather light foliage or Mischwäldern, frequently at moist places. A mold-layer protected through a dense plant-blanket is important, because here the ground-bird looks for them with sufficient camouflage from insects, spiders and earthworms existing food.
Marks The high-legged bird (16,5 cm of length) carries an oberseits brown plumage with bay tail. The underside is more brightly and the throat whitish; in contrast to the nightingale, the Sprosser is gewölkten gloomily at it to distinguish breast. Often, the wings become hanging carried if the nightingale induces herself in big jumps on the ground or recites its chant from a hedge or from low tree-branches.
Another representative of the nightingale-type is the bluebird (Luscinia svecica) with us.
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