nightingale

(For the right pronunciation of nightingale, please click here.)

a kind of bird – song bird – small, with brown coloured feathers on the outer side and grey-white on the under side, reddish tail, pointed beak, clear eyes; size: 4-6 inches long, weight: 15-25 grams; feeds on (eats) insects and fruit; lives for 1-5 years in the wild; several sub-species found in Europe and south-west Asia, and migrates (= travelling to a far away place depending on the weather changes) to Africa in winter

A group of nightingales is called ‘flock’, ‘watch’, ‘route’ or ‘match’.

Special Features:

Florence Nightingale

The nightingale birds are famous for their sweet song (call) which is ‘trills, gurgles, or whistles’. The female human singers are given the title ‘nightingale’ for their melodious voice.

Though the Nightingale Awards, named after the nightingale bird, are given to female human singers for their most melodious voice, it is, in fact, the male nightingale bird that gives out the sweet call during the breeding season to attract mates!

Nightingale birds have been associated with people since ancient times; they are mentioned in the ancient Greek and Roman scriptures, and also in the modern poetry!

Florence Nightingale, also known as ‘the lady with the lamp’, was not popular because of her sweet voice, but because of her nursing services to the poor and sick – she is said to be the founder of the modern hospital nursing system!