During these days you can again listen to special concerts in gardens and parks at night. The nightingales are coming back from their winter quarters. There are tens of thousands who arrive in Germany in April from their long journey from Africa to mate and raise their young.
Exactly how many there are is not clear. The last national bird protection report from the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation from 2019 gives figures from 2016. At that time, 84,000 to 15,000 nightingale breeding pairs were estimated. Compared to 2004, an increase of 26 percent, compared to 1980 even by 50 percent.
“The nightingale seems to be one of the few long-distance migrant species among the migratory birds whose populations seem to be stable here,” says NABU bird expert Martin Rümmler.
Berlin is the stronghold of the nightingales. There are a good 1,500 nightingale territories here, more than in any other German city.
Derk EhlertBerlin Wildlife Advisor
The chance of meeting the famous singers is particularly good in the capital of all places. “Berlin is the stronghold of the nightingales. There are a good 1,500 nightingale territories here, more than in any other German city,” says the city’s wildlife officer, Derk Ehlert. Why is that?
In the noise of the big city, the nightingales just sing louder
On the one hand, the small, outwardly rather inconspicuous little birds like the climate of the capital. “They don’t like areas that are too wet,” says Ehlert. They also do best in dense scrub where the ground is covered with rotting leaves. There are plenty of them in Berlin. They find good hiding places and insects as food in parks and gardens, but also along railway embankments and in overgrown industrial areas. Apparently they have adapted perfectly to the night light and the noise of the big city. There, like other birds, they simply sing louder.
On the other hand, according to Martin Rümmler, the nightingales sometimes have a difficult time in the countryside. Namely when the same types of plants always grow in fields, hedges are removed and many pesticides are used.
But back to the singing. What makes it so special that it has inspired writers and artists for centuries – and the bird has become a symbol of love?
First of all, it should be clear: Even if the nightingale is sometimes referred to as the queen of the night – it is the males who sing loudly at night. And their songs are unique in the native bird world.
Nightingale males master 180 to 200 different verse types on average.
Conny Landgrave from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin
“On average, male nightingales master 180 to 200 different verse types,” says Conny Landgraf from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, who has been researching the animals for years. These vary in tone, length and pitch. For example, there are so-called trills, punches or whistles. The males combine these sounds into different stanzas, which they recite one after the other, interrupted by short pauses.
As with other songbirds, the nightingales exchange information with their songs – and not only at night. During the day, the main purpose of the song is probably to stake out the territories against other males. At night, however, they court a partner.
Singing starts at 11 p.m. – until the morning
The males, who arrive from their winter quarters a week or two earlier and are very loyal to their location, await the females in their territories – sometimes even on the same branch on which they sat last year. “And then they get going, around 11 p.m.,” says Conny Landgraf. “Then they sing for hours until the morning.” And so fervently that their little bodies tremble and tremble.
Why are they doing this at night? “They perform their complex song when other birds are quiet,” explains Landgraf. They occupy a free acoustic niche – and the subtleties of their singing come into their own.
Choosy Females
Incidentally, the females do not engage in these love songs with the first male that comes along. “They fly from territory to territory and listen to the song for a while before making a decision.” What’s interesting is that the males engage in something like song duels. One male sings a verse and another responds. Sometimes even several males are involved.
In nightingale research, it is assumed that the females recognize different quality characteristics through the singing and the way the males perform in the duels. For example, they hear how their health is, how much experience they have – and even whether they are good fathers and take part in the care of the brood. (dpa)
