# Common nightingale (*Luscinia megarhynchos*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-nightingale  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), also called Nightingale or Rufous nightingale, is a bird in the family Muscicapidae of the order Passeriformes, grouped with songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 19.6 g, up to 22.1 g, and a wingspan of 24 cm. This migratory invertivore lives in woodland, has a generalist foraging lifestyle and a geographic range of 6,778,000 km². It lays 1 clutch per year of 4.78 eggs, incubated for 13.5 days, reaches sexual maturity at 1 year, and is listed as Least Concern, not an IUCN threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 19.6 g – 22.1 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Wingspan | 24 cm |
| Lifespan | 10.9 years |
| Diet | Invertivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 10.9 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | woodland |
| Egg incubation | 13.5 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.5 – 4.78 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Lifestyle | Generalist |
| Migration | Migratory |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Muscicapidae
- genus: Luscinia
- species: *Luscinia megarhynchos* C. L. Brehm, 1831

Synonyms: *Currucu philomela*, *Daulias philomela*, *Erithacus megarhynchos*, *Erithacus megashynchos hafizi*, *Ficedula luscinia major*, *Luscinia aedon*, *Luscinia eximia*, *Luscinia hybrida*, *Luscinia major*, *Luscinia major*, *Luscinia megarhynchos corsa*, *Motacilla luscinia major*, *Motacilla philomela*, *Sylvia luscinia*, *Sylvia philomela*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the common nightingale?

The common nightingale is a bird in the family Muscicapidae, grouped with songbirds and other perching birds in the order Passeriformes.

### How heavy is the common nightingale?

An adult Common nightingale weighs 19.6 g, with the highest value reported by our sources at 22.1 g. Its wingspan is 24 cm.

### What does the common nightingale eat?

The common nightingale is an invertivore, placing it at the carnivore trophic level.

### Is the common nightingale endangered?

No. The common nightingale is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does the common nightingale live?

The common nightingale has a lifespan of 10.9 years.

### How many eggs does the common nightingale lay?

The common nightingale lays 4.78 eggs per clutch and 1 clutch per year, with an incubation period of 13.5 days.

### Is the common nightingale migratory?

Yes, the common nightingale is migratory. Its habitat is woodland.

### Who named the common nightingale?

The common nightingale, Luscinia megarhynchos, was named by C. L. Brehm, 1831.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/common-nightingale