The Thrush Nightingale, Luscinia luscinia, is a small passerinebird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae. It, and similar small European species, are often called chats.
It is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forest in Europe and Asia . The distribution is more northerly than the very closely related Nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos. It nests low in dense bushes. It winters in Africa.
The Thrush Nightingale is similar in size to the European Robin. It is plain grey brown above and grey to white below. Its greyer tones and lack of the Nightingale's obvious red tail side patches are the clearest plumage differences from that species. Sexes are similar.
The male's song is loud, with range of whistles, trills and clicks. It does not have the Nightingale's loud whistling crescendo.
ThrushNightingales are usually very difficult birds to see clearly in the field and notoriously difficult to separate from Nightingales.
It is thought that Nightingale and ThrushNightingale were once the same species which retreated into two different areas when the ice advanced during one of the Ice Ages.
Nightingales moved to Iberia and ThrushNightingales retreated to the Balkans.
In great contrast to the nightingale's pre-eminent voice is the inconspicuous coloration of its plumage, which is alike in both sexes, and is of a reddish-brown above and dull greyish-white beneath, the breast being rather darker, and the rufous tail showing the only bright tint.
The nestling plumage of the nightingale differs mach from that of the adult, the feathers above being tipped with a buff spot, just as in the young of the redbreast, hedge-sparrow and redstart, thereby showing the natural affinity of all these forms.
The so-called " Virginian nightingale " is a species of grosbeak; the " Pekin nightingale or " Japanese nightingale " is a small babbler (Liothrix luteus) inhabiting the Himalayas and China, not Japan at all.
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