Common nightingale
Luscinia megarhynchos
A small, plain brown songbird with a rusty tail and a powerful song. Confirmed in Georgia as a breeding migrant on the 2024 national bird checklist; it does not stay the winter.
At a glance
Key facts in one look
Diet
Insects
Status in Georgia
Breeding migrant
Size
15–16.5 cm
Habitat
Scrub / woodland edge
Family
Muscicapidae
Conservation
LC
Human interaction: It is not venomous or poisonous and is not a threat to people. Wild birds must not be caught. Nests are near the ground; leave cover undisturbed.
Overview
What is Common nightingale
The common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos) is a small songbird in the family Muscicapidae, confirmed in Georgia as a breeding migrant. The usual Georgian name is ბულბული; the more precise name is სამხრეთული ბულბული. იადონი is also used for the genus Luscinia. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia codes it BB; M: a breeder that is absent in the non-breeding season, and also a bird of passage. Seasonality is classed as high-quality (code A). Occurrence quality is high (H), with photographs, ringing data, and sound recordings. Adults are about 15–16.5 cm long at species level, plain brown above with a rusty tail. It is not a threat to people. IUCN lists the species as Least Concern. The 2024 checklist assigns the same category nationally.
Last updated
Gallery
Common nightingale in photos
Photo: Andreas Eichler
Erlichsee, Oberhausen-Rheinhausen ·
Photo: tcager
Kayakent District, Dagestan ·
Photo: tcager
Buynaksk District, Dagestan ·
Photo: Bernard DUPONT
Aiguamolls de l'Empordà, Catalonia ·
Photo: Warrieboy
Belgium ·
Photo: TRinaud
Brenne Regional Park ·
Identification
How to identify Common nightingale
A robin-sized plain brown bird with a rusty tail, a pale eye-ring, and a powerful song. In Georgia it is a breeding migrant on the 2024 checklist, not a winter bird. Usual confusion is with thrush nightingale and European robin.
- 01
Length about 15–16.5 cm at species level, slightly larger than a European robin. In BTO ringing samples from the United Kingdom, adult mass averages about 21 g (often about 18–24 g). That is a British series, not a Georgian measurement. The body is compact, the tail relatively broad. The bill is straight. The sexes look similar.
- 02
Adults are plain warm brown above and paler, buff to whitish, below. The tail is rusty brown — the best visual mark. A pale eye-ring is often present. Field guides describe the Caucasian subspecies L. m. africana as paler above, with a stronger supercilium, than the western nominate form. Identification in Georgia is to species. Young birds are more mottled.
- 03
The thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia) is also a breeding migrant in Georgia on the 2024 checklist (BB; M), with photographs, ringing, and sound recordings. It is darker, more mottled on the breast, and less rusty on the tail; its song lacks this species’ loud whistling crescendo. The European robin (Erithacus rubecula) is a year-round resident on that checklist: it has an orange breast and face, not a plain brown body. The bluethroat (Luscinia svecica; often Cyanecula svecica in newer lists) is listed in Georgia as a breeding migrant and as a migrant by subspecies; males have a blue throat. This atlas has a page for the European robin; it does not yet have pages for thrush nightingale or bluethroat.
- 04
It is not a threat to people. Do not pick it up. In Georgia in the warm months, a plain brown bird with a rusty tail singing from scrub, including at night, is this species; an orange breast is a robin, and a blue throat is a bluethroat.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look for it in the breeding season and on passage, not in winter. This page does not colour a municipality-by-municipality map. The 2024 checklist confirms country-level breeding-migrant status but does not publish a regional gazetteer. Do not assume it occurs evenly across Georgia, including treeless high plateaus or closed forest without undergrowth. Species-level habitat is dense scrub, woodland edge, river valleys, gardens, and similar cover, often near water. The nest is on or near the ground in dense cover. A separate national elevation band for Georgia is not published here. The atlas map is empty until named Georgian localities are gathered from sources that actually list them. Photographs on this page were not taken in Georgia; two show the Caucasian subspecies (L. m. africana) in Dagestan.
Diet
No separate Georgian diet study is cited on this page. Across the range it takes insects and other small invertebrates on the ground and in leaf litter, and seasonally some berries. This is species-level diet, not a measured Georgian menu.
Behavior
Active by day, but the song is also heard at night. The male sings; the female does not. The song is loud, with whistles, trills, and gurgles. A loud whistling crescendo is characteristic and is absent from the song of the thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia). Unpaired males sing regularly at night; after pairing, song is more a dawn and dusk signal. The bird often stays hidden in dense scrub and is heard more often than seen. The alarm call is frog-like. It is a long-distance migrant: it breeds in Europe and the western Palearctic and winters in sub-Saharan Africa. The 2024 checklist treats the species in Georgia as a breeder and migrant, not a winter visitor. The nest is a cup on or near the ground. At species level a clutch is often about 4–5 eggs; incubation is about two weeks, by the female. Those figures come from the wider range, not a Georgian nest sample. Exact arrival and departure dates for Georgia are not tabulated on this page.
Conservation
BirdLife International assesses Luscinia megarhynchos as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The global range is large. In the United Kingdom the species is on the red list because of range contraction; that is a British status, not a Georgian one. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Government Decree No. 190). The 2024 Georgian checklist assigns LC globally and nationally. The Georgian population trend is not measured on this page. The EU Birds Directive does not apply in Georgia. Do not catch or keep wild birds.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Common nightingale.
Yes. The 2024 annotated checklist of the birds of Georgia accepts Luscinia megarhynchos as a confirmed breeder and migrant (BB; M). It is not present in the non-breeding season.
In the warm months, in dense scrub, woodland edges, valleys, and gardens, often near water. This page has no municipality list and does not colour a regional map. Occurrence is confirmed at country level, not by region. It is heard more often than seen.
Plain brown back, rusty tail, pale eye-ring; the sexes look similar. The male’s song is loud, with whistles and trills, including a rising crescendo. The thrush nightingale lacks that crescendo and has a more mottled breast. The European robin has an orange breast.
About 15–16.5 cm long at species level. In United Kingdom ringing samples, adult mass averages about 21 g. No separate measured Georgian series is cited on this page.
Mainly insects and other small invertebrates on the ground; seasonally some berries. Diet in Georgia is not studied separately on this page.
As a breeding migrant: in the breeding season and on passage, not in winter, according to the 2024 checklist. Exact arrival and departure dates for Georgia are not tabulated here. Song is strongest in the breeding season, including at night.
Yes. On the 2024 checklist BB means a confirmed breeder. The nest is on or near the ground in dense cover. Clutch and incubation figures on this page are species-level, not from a Georgian nest sample.
It is harmless. It is Least Concern globally, and LC nationally on the 2024 checklist. It is not on Georgia’s 2014 Red List. Do not catch wild birds.
- Budagashvili & Javakhishvili 2024 — The birds of Georgia (Sandgrouse 46)
- BirdLife DataZone — Common Nightingale factsheet
- BirdLife International 2024 — IUCN Red List account for Luscinia megarhynchos
- GBIF — Luscinia megarhynchos
- IOC World Bird List
- Avibase — Georgia bird checklist
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- NPLG Wiki Dictionaries — სამხრული ბულბული
- ინგლისურ-ქართული ბიოლოგიური ლექსიკონი — common nightingale
- RSPB — Nightingale
- BTO BirdFacts — Nightingale
- Birds of the World — Common Nightingale
- Wikimedia Commons — Nachtigall, Erlichsee (Andreas Eichler, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — L. m. africana, Buynakskiy (tcager, CC0)
- Wikimedia Commons — L. m. africana, Kayakentskiy (tcager, CC0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Common Nightingale, Empordà (Bernard DUPONT, CC BY-SA 2.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Nachtegaal, Belgium (Warrieboy, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — first-year, Brenne (TRinaud, CC BY 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — XC473316 (Marie-Lan Taÿ Pamart, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- xeno-canto XC473316 — Luscinia megarhynchos
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Related guides
