A nightingale with brownish plumage and a white underside in an outdoor setting with leafy greenery, suggesting spring or summer. 5:16
Wildlife World channel icon Wildlife WorldOriginal creator 2.5M views Save

A tiny nightingale sings with its whole body

The nightingale is far easier to hear than to see. It sings from high in the trees, and its tan and white feathers blend into the branches so well that the singer stays hidden. more

This one doesn't hide. A nature camera gets close to a small brown bird with a white belly, perched on a branch in front of a soft blur of green leaves. Then the beak opens.

A small brown bird with its beak open sits on a branch. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Beak open, the nightingale sings from its branch.

What comes out isn't one tune. The sounds keep changing, one kind of note after another. A listener wrote that if you looked away, you would think you were hearing several different birds. Another said this bird knows more languages than they do.

It looks easy, but it takes real work. A nightingale puts its entire body into the sound, and that's what listeners noticed most. As one of them put it, the whole body seems involved.

A nightingale with brownish plumage and a white underside in an outdoor setting with leafy greenery, suggesting spring or summer. The headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
The nightingale is far easier to hear than to see.

The song has a job. It's a mating call, sent out from the treetops, and any bird nearby can hear it. People like it too. One listener wondered how anyone got this close to a bird that is so rarely seen, and thanked whoever did it.

A brown bird with an open beak sings on a branch in front of blurred green leaves. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Against the green leaves, the bird keeps up its mating call.

One viewer loved the funny little faces it makes as it sings. In a quieter moment it sits on the branch and looks ahead, white belly showing. It's a plain little brown bird again.

A small brown bird with a white belly perches on a branch, facing forward. A headline runs in white letters across the lower third.Save
Quiet for a moment, the nightingale sits on its branch and looks ahead.

One listener said it made them smile over breakfast. Another wrote that this was the sound of early mornings back in the village, and that they miss it now that they live in the city.

#singing