Luscinia megarhynchos

Male and female plumage is similar. Upper body is light brown, with slightly white eyes and dark grayish white. Wing coverts are light brown. Flight feathers are dark brown, with brown edges on the outer vanes. The round tail is long, brown or reddish brown. Underparts are white, with slightly brown breast and flanks without spots.
Juveniles have dark brown upper body with ochre-brown subterminal spots. Underparts are white, with a brown horizontal band on the throat. Wings and tail are the same as those of adults.
Iris is brown or dark brown, bill is black brown, feet are brown or flesh brown.

Presence (residence): Algeria, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria, Palestine, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Spain, Sudan, Syria, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Western Sahara.
Presence (breeding areas): Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China (only found in Fuhai in northern Xinjiang, Altai Mountains, western Tianshan Mountains and eastern Turpan), Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Gibraltar, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldova, Mongolia, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia (European part), Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uz

Xinjiang Nightingale is a small bird of the family Flycatcher and the genus Nightingale, with 3 subspecies.

Xinjiang Nightingale is called "Nightingale" in English, because it is good at singing and is often heard at night. In literary works and Chinese-English dictionaries, this bird is often translated as "nightingale", but this bird is not a warbler; at the same time, "nightingale" is homophonic with another type of bird, "nighthawk" (Caprimulgus; Nightjars), which is easy to confuse. According to classification research, this bird should belong to the genus Caprimulgus; because it is only found in Xinjiang in China, it is named "Xinjiang Caprimulgus". If it is based on its habit of singing at night, it can also be named "night thrush" or "night thrush", which seems to be more accurate.

Xinjiang Caprimulgus moves alone or in pairs during the breeding season, and in groups during the non-breeding season. It is timid and good at hiding. It mostly moves among the bushes on the ground. When resting, it also roosts on the ground, on the low branches of small trees or in the bushes. It is usually no more than 2 meters above the ground. It is well hidden and generally difficult to see. It is good at jumping on the ground, flicking its wings, half-raising its tail and flicking it to the sides. The Xinjiang Robin is good at singing, especially during the breeding season, when it hides in the bushes and sings all day long, even at night, so it is easy to find it based on its call. Because this bird is good at singing and sings at night, its call is loud and varied, melodious and beautiful.

The Xinjiang Robin's call is outstanding and highly praised - a long and clear whistle, with varied tongue-twitching sounds and a fast call speed. The calls include the harsh "errrk", the loud and long "hweet" and the harsh "chack". It mainly feeds on various insects.

The breeding season of the Xinjiang Robin is from May to July. Usually nests are built in the undergrowth under the forest or on the low branches of shrubs not high from the ground, and also nests under hidden rock slopes. The outer layer of the nest is made of various grass stems and leaves, and the inner layer is made of fine grass stems and leaves. It is padded with horse hair and other animal hair. The nest is cup-shaped, with an outer diameter of 10-15 cm, an inner diameter of 6-7 cm, and a depth of 3.5-6.5 cm. Each nest lays 3-7 eggs, mostly 4-6 eggs. The eggs are brown olive or gray olive green. The size is 18.1-22 mm × 14.8-16.6 mm. The female bird incubates the eggs, and the incubation period is 13-14 days. The chicks mature late, and the male and female parents raise them together. After 11-12 days of nesting, the chicks can leave the nest.

In Europe, the breeding population of the Xinjiang Robin is estimated at 21,500,000-40,500,000 mature individuals (BirdLife International 2015). Europe accounts for about 50% of the global population, so a preliminary estimate of the global population size is 43,000,000-81,000,000 mature individuals, which needs further verification.

Listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (ver 3.1, 2016) - Least Concern (LC).

Listed in the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) - Appendix II.  

Listed in Appendix II of the Bern Convention.

Listed in the second level of China's National List of Key Protected Wildlife (February 5, 2021).

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