When do nightingales arrive in and leave the UK?

A summer visitor in the records: sightings jump in mid April and fall away after mid June.

When do nightingales arrive in the UK?

In the GBIF records, UK sightings of the common nightingale rise sharply from mid April and are near their peak by mid April.

When do nightingales leave the UK?

UK sightings fall away after mid June.

Where do nightingales go in winter?

From December to February the strongest signal in the effort-adjusted GBIF records is around Kenya and Nigeria. The globe shows the whole winter range month by month.

Common nightingale in the UK, month by month

Bars: this species’ share of all UK bird records in GBIF (CC0/CC BY 4.0 only), by month, scaled to the peak month. Based on 14,311 UK records (occurrence search API, country=GB, weekly). Dates come from sightings, not a survey, so treat them as a guide.

See the common nightingale migration on the 3D globe →

About the common nightingale

The common nightingale, rufous nightingale or simply nightingale, is a small passerine bird which is known for its powerful and beautiful song, often described as one of the most beautiful sounds in nature. An Old World flycatcher, it belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats. …

From the Wikipedia article “Common nightingale” (revision 1371092226), CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened at a sentence end. Winter/summer areas: country containing the monthly hotspot of effort-adjusted GBIF records, using Natural Earth boundaries (public domain).

Other UK summer visitors: see the full list with arrival and departure dates.