Nightingales quarrel at eye level

Nightingales quarrel at eye level



Male nightingales that sing to defend their territory quarrel more at eye level, say scientists. During night-time singing bouts, males are known to interrupt each other’s calls and rapidly change their songs. Researchers wanted to investigate whether the birds tried to gain a height advantage by moving higher up in their chosen trees. They found that the birds were actually more aggressive when singing from branches that were at the same height.

Nightingales quarrel at eye level
Nightingales are notoriously difficult to spot; they secrete themselves in dense foliage as they sing Female select a mate based on the quality of his song. This means that older males often have improved mating success because of their larger song repertoire, which can consist of 260 variations Between 1995 and 2009, the British nightingale population decreased by almost 60%according to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) – Photo by K.D. Travolta

Read full article, which was written by Ella Davies Reporter, BBC Nature

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