Thrush Nightingale

Thrush Nightingale

Luscinia luscinia

Silhouette: Stephan Sprinz · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~40% · Likely
at Biebrza National Park

In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%

810 Verified sightings at Biebrza National Park From 2019 to 2026
1,477 In all 14 parks
May Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Thrush Nightingale

The thrush nightingale (Luscinia luscinia), also known as the sprosser, is a small passerine bird in the Old World flycatcher family. It is a migratory species breeding in forests in Europe and the Palearctic and overwintering in Africa. An insectivore, it nests near the ground in dense undergrowth. Its distribution is more northerly than the very closely related common nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), which it closely resembles in appearance. Hybrids between the two have occurred in areas where their ranges overlap.

The thrush nightingale is similar in size to the European robin. Sexes are similar, both being plain greyish-brown above and white and greyish-brown below. Its greyer tones, giving a cloudy appearance to the underside, and lack of the common nightingale's obvious rufous tail side patches are the clearest plumage differences from that species. It also has a similar but somewhat more solemn song than that of L. megarhynchos. The nightingales, and similar small European species, are often called chats.

The thrush nightingale belongs to a distinctive group of Old World flycatchers, known as chats, that were formerly thought to be thrushes. It was formally... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Song1:11

Finland · 2026

© Eetu Paljakka · XC1139387 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call0:23

Latvia · 2026

© Kaspars Funts · XC1136921 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Begging call1:28

Ukraine · 2025

© Taras Vykhovanets · XC1018588 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~40%
2 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~30%
3 Gauja National Park 🇱🇻 Latvia
~20%
4 Tsavo West National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
5 Meru National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
~10%
6 Ruaha National Park 🇹🇿 Tanzania
<5%
7 Tsavo East National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
8 Mana Pools National Park 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
<5%
9 Samburu National Reserve 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
10 South Luangwa National Park 🇿🇲 Zambia
<5%
11 Amboseli National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
12 Nairobi National Park 🇰🇪 Kenya
<5%
13 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
<5%
14 Wadden Sea National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Jerusalem 🇮🇱 Israel
~20%
2 Nizhny Novgorod 🇷🇺 Russia
~20%
3 Moscow 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
4 Minsk 🇧🇾 Belarus
~10%
5 Kharkiv 🇺🇦 Ukraine
~10%
6 Helsinki 🇫🇮 Finland
~10%
7 Saint Petersburg 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
8 Yekaterinburg 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
9 Kazan 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
10 Kyiv 🇺🇦 Ukraine
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Thrush Nightingale in Biebrza National Park?

Likely

About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Thrush Nightingale sighting in Biebrza National Park on a given day, based on 810 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 38th most-seen of the 202 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Thrush Nightingale in Biebrza National Park?

May

In that month about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Thrush Nightingale in Biebrza National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, the lowest month.

What time of day is best to see a Thrush Nightingale?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Thrush Nightingale sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Biebrza National Park the best place to see a Thrush Nightingale?

Yes

Of the 14 parks where we can rate Thrush Nightingale sightings, Biebrza National Park has the highest daily chance: about 40%. Next come Białowieża National Park (Poland, about 30%) and Gauja National Park (Latvia, about 20%).

Where does the Thrush Nightingale sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Thrush Nightingale is recorded against all the birds logged in Biebrza National Park (810 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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