Luscinia luscinia
Silhouette: Stephan Sprinz · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%
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 →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Białowieża National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 3 | Gauja National Park | 🇱🇻 Latvia | |
| 4 | Tsavo West National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 5 | Meru National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Ruaha National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 7 | Tsavo East National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Mana Pools National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 9 | Samburu National Reserve | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 11 | Amboseli National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 12 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 13 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 14 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jerusalem | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 2 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | Minsk | 🇧🇾 Belarus | |
| 5 | Kharkiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 6 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 7 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 8 | Yekaterinburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 9 | Kazan | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 10 | Kyiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Thrush Nightingale sighting in Mana Pools National Park on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 273rd most-seen of the 275 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December and January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Thrush Nightingale in Mana Pools National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February and April–November, the lowest months. Those are among Mana Pools National Park's wettest months, with about 210 mm of rain a month against almost none in August. March has too few records to rate.
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.
8th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Thrush Nightingale sightings, Mana Pools National Park ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Biebrza National Park (Poland, about 40%), Białowieża National Park (Poland, about 30%) and Gauja National Park (Latvia, about 20%).
Same family: Muscicapidae
The closest relatives of the Thrush Nightingale that you can see in Mana Pools National Park (family Muscicapidae, Old World Flycatchers, Robins, and Chats) are White-browed Robin-Chat (about 30%), Ashy Alseonax (about 20%) and Bearded Scrub Robin (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Thrush Nightingale is recorded against all the birds logged in Mana Pools National Park (5 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.
