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Nightingale can reach 5.9 to 6.5 inches in length. Females are slightly smaller than males.
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Nightingale is brown-colored bird. It has reddish tail and whitish-gray streaks on the bottom part of the body. Males and females look alike.
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Nightingale has pointed bill, small, upright positioned body and long legs.
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Nightingale is an omnivore. Its diet is based on the fruit, seeds and insects.
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Nightingale is small, secretive bird. It is rarely seen in the wild because it spends most of its time in the thick bushes.
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Natural enemies of nightingale are rats, foxes, cats, lizards, snakes and large predatory birds.
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Nightingale is migratory bird. It spends winter in dry savannas of sub-Saharan Africa.
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Nightingale is solitary bird outside the breeding season.
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Nightingale is best known for its romantic, melodious songs that can be heard both during the day and night. It sings extremely diverse and complex melodies that are made of around 200 different phrases.
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Nightingale's songs served as inspiration for many famous musicians (Beethoven and Tchaikovsky), writers (Homer, Sophocles, William Shakespeare and John Keats) and even philosophers (Aristotle).
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Only males sing. Main purpose of singing is to attract females during the mating season. Melodious songs cannot be heard during the nesting season (because they would inform predators about the location of the nest). They are usually replaced with little chirps and frog-like alarm calls when nightingale detects predators near the nest.
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Nightingale builds cup-shaped nest by using dead leaves and fibrous roots. Nest is usually located on the ground or close to it in densely vegetated areas. Female lays 5 to 6 eggs that hatch after 15 to 20 days. Male provides food for female during the period of incubation.
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Both parents take care and collect food for their chicks until they become ready to fend for themselves. Chicks spend first 10 to 12 days in the nest. They learn to fly 3 to 5 days after leaving the nest. 2 to 4 weeks later, young nightingales are ready for the independent life.
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Nightingale is the national bird of Iran.
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Nightingale has very short lifespan. It can survive 1 to 3 years in the wild.
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