"not found naturally in the Americas. The distribution is more southerly than the very closely related thrush nightingale ""Luscinia luscinia"". It nests on or near the ground in dense vegetation. Research in Germany found that favoured breeding habitat of nightingales was defined by a number of geographical factors. In the UK, the bird is at the northern limit of its range which has contracted in recent years, placing it on the red list for conservation. Despite local efforts to safeguard its favoured coppice and scrub habitat, numbers fell by 53 percent between 1995 and 2008. A survey conducted by the"
"(""Luscinia megarhynchos""), a migratory passerine bird native to Europe and southwest Asia and noted for its song. Because of the violence associated with the myth, the song of the nightingale is often depicted or interpreted as a sorrowful lament. Coincidentally, in nature, the female nightingale is mute and only the male of the species sings. Ovid and other writers have made the association (either fancifully or mistakenly) that the etymology of her name was ""lover of song,"" derived from the Greek and (""song"") instead of (""fruit"" or ""sheep""). The name means ""lover of fruit,"" ""lover of apples,"" or ""lover of"
"Superb lyrebird The superb lyrebird (""Menura novaehollandiae"") is an Australian songbird, one of two species from the family Menuridae. It is one of the world's largest songbirds, and is noted for its elaborate tail and excellent mimicry. The species is endemic to the south east of the country, and has been introduced to Tasmania. According to David Attenborough the species displays the most sophisticated voice skills within the animal kingdom. The superb lyrebird is featured on the reverse side of the Australian 10 cent coin. An Australian endemic, the superb lyrebird can be found in the forests of south-eastern Australia,"
"with) their mate, they launch into a peculiar dance. With excited high-pitched calls, they hover in unison, wings outstretched, over a favorite perch. This dance takes place several times a day over several days, over several separate sites in an area covering . The sites chosen for the dance appear to be the same sites used as hunting perches during the spring and summer. Cassin's kingbird Cassin's kingbird (""Tyrannus vociferans"") is a large tyrant flycatcher native to western North America. The name of this bird commemorates the American ornithologist John Cassin. Adults have a gray head with slightly darker cheeks;"
"Luscinia Luscinia is a genus of smallish passerine birds, containing the nightingales and relatives. Formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, they are now considered to be Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) of the chat subfamily (Saxicolinae). The chats are a lineage of Old World flycatchers that has evolved convergently to thrushes. The word ""Luscinia"" was used for nightingales and similar birds in Classical Latin (e.g. in the AD 70s ""Naturalis Historia"" by Pliny the Elder), if not earlier. Etymologically, it might be derived from ""luscus"" (Latin for ""half-blind"", ""half-understood"" etc.) or ""clueō"" (Latin for ""to be well-known"") +"
"Songbird A songbird is a bird belonging to the clade Passeri of the perching birds (Passeriformes). Another name that is sometimes seen as a scientific or vernacular name is Oscines, from Latin ""oscen"", ""a songbird"". This group contains 5000 or so species found all over the world, in which the vocal organ typically is developed in such a way as to produce a diverse and elaborate bird song. Songbirds form one of the two major lineages of extant perching birds, the other being the Tyranni, which are most diverse in the Neotropics and absent from many parts of the world."
"It is salient to note that in taxonomy and binomial nomenclature, the genus name of the martins (the larger-bodied among swallow genera) is ""Progne"", a Latinized form of Procne. Other related genera named after the myth include the Crag Martins ""Ptyonoprogne"", and Saw-wings ""Psalidoprocne"". Coincidentally, although most of the depictions of the nightingale and its song in art and literature are of female nightingales, the female of the species does not sing—it is the male of the species who sings its characteristic song. In an early account, Sophocles wrote that Tereus was turned into a large-beaked bird whom some scholars"
"the song can be heard at the USGS web site here (MP3) or at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology web site here. The dark-eyed junco was described by Linnaeus in his 1758 ""Systema naturae"" as ""Fringilla hyemalis"". The description consisted merely of the laconic remark """"F[ringilla] nigra, ventre albo."" (""A black 'finch' with white belly""), a reference to a source, and a statement that it came from ""America"". Linnaeus' source was Mark Catesby who described the slate-colored junco before binomial nomenclature as his ""snow-bird"", ""moineau de neige"" or ""passer nivalis"" (""snow sparrow"") thus: ""The Bill of this Bird is white:"
"eye. The bill is massive and black. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the Guianan puffbird (""N. macrorhynchos""). The two differ markedly in bill-size (""N. hyperrhynchus"" larger-billed than ""N. macrorhynchos""), plumage (among other things, ""N. hyperrhynchus"" has less black to the flanks and more white to the forecrown than ""N. macrorhynchos""), and voice. Consequently, the two were separated by SACC in 2004. White-necked puffbird The white-necked puffbird (""Notharchus hyperrhynchus"") is a species of puffbird in the family Bucconidae. It is found in forest and woodland from southern Mexico through Central America to the Chocó, northern Colombia (including Magdalena Valley),"
"Ornithologists' Union. The genus name ""Leucophaeus"" is from Ancient Greek ""leukos"", ""white"", and ""phaios"", ""dusky"". The specific ""atricilla"" is from Latin ""ater"", ""black"", and ""cilla"", ""tail"". Linnaeus appears to have misread his note ""atricapilla"" (black-haired), which would have been much more appropriate for this black-headed, but white-tailed, bird. It breeds on the Atlantic coast of North America, the Caribbean, and northern South America. Northernmost populations migrate farther south in winter, and this species occurs as a rare vagrant to western Europe. The laughing gull's English name is derived from its raucous ""kee-agh"" call, which sounds like a high-pitched laugh ""ha..."
"the eastern parts of its range. The nest is a well-concealed shallow open cup on the ground under vegetation. These birds migrate to the southern United States, Mexico, and northern Central America; they are passage migrants over much of the United States, except in the west. They forage on the ground in dense vegetation, mainly eating insects and seeds. They are very secretive. Their song is a musical trill, but this bird is often not seen or heard even where they are common. This bird was named by Audubon after his friend, Thomas Lincoln, of Dennysville, Maine. Lincoln shot the"
"American white pelican The American white pelican (""Pelecanus erythrorhynchos"") is a large aquatic soaring bird from the order Pelecaniformes. It breeds in interior North America, moving south and to the coasts, as far as Central America and South America, in winter. The German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin described the American white pelican in 1789. The scientific name means ""red-billed pelican"", from the Latin term for a pelican, ""Pelecanus"", and ""erythrorhynchos"", derived from the Ancient Greek words ""erythros"" (ἐρυθρός, ""red"") + ""rhynchos"" (ῥύγχος, ""bill""). The American white pelican rivals the trumpeter swan, with a similar overall length, as the longest bird"
"words ""turdus"", ""thrush"", and ""torquatus"", ""collared"". The adult male is all black except for a white crescent on the breast and a yellowish bill. The wings have a silvery appearance due to white feather edgings. The male sings its loud and mournful song from trees or rocks. The female is similar but duller, and younger birds often lack the breast crescent. The juvenile has brown plumage. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his ""Systema naturae"" in 1758 under its current scientific name. It breeds in the higher regions of western and central Europe and also in the Caucasus"
"song is a mixture of harsh and more musical ringing notes, with a bell-like ""tickita-tickita-tickita-ting"" and a rapid ""chi-chi-chi-chi"" being typical. The calls vary in dialect between islands and the bird usually fluffs up its feathers when calling. Carib grackle The Carib grackle (""Quiscalus lugubris"") is a New World tropical blackbird, a resident breeder in the Lesser Antilles and northern South America east of the Andes, from Colombia east to Venezuela and north-eastern Brazil. There are eight races, of which the most widespread is the nominate ""Q. l. lugubris"" of Trinidad and the South American mainland. This form was introduced"
"and landed on Tecún Umán, dipping its chest in the warrior prince's blood. It is there that the bird acquired its distinctive red chest feathers. It is debatable whether these events happened, but the Maya fought fiercely for their land and freedom during the conquest. One Mayan legend claims that the quetzal used to sing beautifully before the Spanish conquest, but has been silent ever since; it will sing once again only when the land is truly free. Resplendent quetzal The resplendent quetzal () (""Pharomachrus mocinno"") is a bird in the trogon family. It is found from Chiapas, Mexico to"
"spot. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and heavily degraded former forest. Its call is a fast ""chee-dee-dee"". Yellow-throated euphonia The yellow-throated euphonia (""Euphonia hirundinacea"") is a species of bird in the Fringillidae family. It is found in Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama. The yellow-throated euphonia is a small long bird. Like most male euphonias, it is primarily dark blue above and yellow below. They can easily be confused for other euphonia species that share their range. The male of this species is distinguished by"
"South Carolina and assigned to ""P. miocaenus"", and the slightly smaller left tarsometatarsal middle trochlea USNM 476044 might also belong here. A broken but fairly complete sternum probably of this genus, specimen LHNB (CCCP)-1, is known from the Serravallian-Tortonian boundary (Middle to Late Miocene) near Costa da Caparica in Portugal. Contemporary are certain specimens A new species of ""Pelagornis"" was described in July 2014, ""Pelagornis sandersi"". It is believed to have had a wingspan of at least , making it the largest flying bird ever. A humerus from the Muséum d'Histoire naturelle de Bordeaux was labelled ""Pelagornis Delfortrii 1869"". Though"
"Lazuli bunting The lazuli bunting (""Passerina amoena"") is a North American songbird named for the gemstone lapis lazuli. The male is easily recognized by its bright blue head and back (lighter than the closely related indigo bunting), its conspicuous white wingbars, and its light rusty breast and white belly. The color pattern may suggest the eastern and western bluebirds, but the smaller size (13–14 cm or 5–5.5 inches long), wingbars, and short and conical bunting bill quickly distinguish it. The female is brown, grayer above and warmer underneath, told from the female indigo bunting by two thin and pale wingbars"
"Guianan puffbird The Guianan puffbird (""Notharchus macrorhynchos"") is a species of puffbird in the family Bucconidae. It is found in forest and woodland in north-eastern South America (and named after The Guianas), in far eastern Venezuela, north-eastern Brazil, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It formerly included the white-necked puffbird (now ""N. hyperrhynchus"") as a subspecies. The two differ markedly in bill size (""N. hyperrhynchus"" larger-billed than ""N. macrorhynchos""), plumage (among other things, ""N. hyperrhynchus"" has less black to the flanks and more white to the forecrown than ""N. macrorhynchos""), and voice. Consequently, the two were separated by SACC in 2004."
"vines or smaller plants like ""Heliconia"". The song is a high metallic ""ssooo-ssooo-ssooo"". Blue-chinned sapphire The blue-chinned sapphire (""Chlorestes notata"") is a hummingbird that breeds from Colombia south and east to the Guianas, Trinidad, Peru, and Brazil. There have been occasional records from Tobago. For Brazil, the species' range is along the main Amazon River Basin, as well as the Atlantic Forest, both in the northeast, as well as far south on the southeast coastal strip, (an entire coastal strip, north-east-south of about 3000 km). It is sometimes placed in the genus ""Chlorostilbon"". It is a bird of forests and"
"threatened species by the IUCN. Cuban bullfinch The Cuban bullfinch (""Melopyrrha nigra"") is a songbird species of the genus ""Melopyrrha"". Recent studies have shown it to be part of the tanager family (Thraupidae). Therein, it belongs to the lineage of tholospizan ""finches"", which also includes the famous Darwin's finches. It is found on and endemic to Cuba. The Grand Cayman bullfinch, formerly considered a subspecies (""M. n. taylori""), is now considered a full species by IUCN and BirdLife International. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical moist montane forest, and heavily degraded former forest."
"Crested barbet The crested barbet (""Trachyphonus vaillantii"") ('trachys'=rough, 'phone'=voice, sound') is a sub-Saharan bird in the Lybiidae family. Its specific name commemorates François Levaillant, a famed French naturalist. With its thick bill and very colourful plumage the crested barbet is unmistakable. This small bird has a speckled yellow and red face with a small black crest. The belly is yellow with red speckles, wings are black with white specks and it has a broad black band on its neck. Yellow head and body with black and white feathers, red markings on end of body, its colour blends well in the"
"Pyrrhuloxia The pyrrhuloxia or desert cardinal (""Cardinalis sinuatus"") is a medium-sized North American song bird found in the American southwest and northern Mexico. This distinctive species with a short, stout bill and red crest and wings, and closely resembles the northern and the vermilion cardinals which are in the same genus. The desert cardinal is one of three birds in the genus ""Cardinalis"" in the family Cardinalidae, a group of passerine birds found in North and South America. Its name of pyrrhuloxia - once part of its scientific name - comes from Greek terms describing its coloration (πυρρος = ""pyrrhos"""
"enough to be vulnerable under the population size criterion. Chilean swallow The Chilean swallow (""Tachycineta leucopyga"") is a species of bird in the family Hirundinidae. It breeds in Chile and Patagonia, migrating north as far as Bolivia, Paraguay, and Rio Grande do Sul. The new genus ""Tachycineta"" was created for this group of swallows by German ornithologist Jean Cabanis in 1850. The current genus name ""Tachycineta"", is from Ancient Greek ""takhukinetos"", ""moving quickly"", and the specific ""meyeni"" commemorates Prussian botanist and collector Franz Meyen. Some consider the species name to be ""leucopyga"", which is what the species name originally was."
"classical music, two especially popular birds are the nightingale and the cuckoo. The nightingale's song has been used by composers including Handel, who quoted it in the aria ""Sweet bird"" in ""L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato"", in the ""Nightingale chorus"" in ""Solomon"", and in his Organ Concerto ""No. 13"", known as ""The Cuckoo and the Nightingale"". It appears in Rameau's opera ""Hippolyte"", Respighi's ""The Birds"" and Beethoven's ""Third Symphony"". Nightingales can also be found in works by Glinka, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Balakirev, Grieg, Granados, Ravel, and Milhaud. The cuckoo's distinctive call is used by Beethoven (""Pastoral Symphony"", 2nd movement), Delius"
"Musician wren The musician wren or organ wren (""Cyphorhinus arada"") is a species of wren named for its elaborate song. It is native to the Amazon Rainforest in South America, and west and southwestwards into the Amazonian Andes. In Portuguese it is known as uirapuru or many other variants of this name, all based on the Tupi wirapu 'ru. Especially in Brazil, the musician wren is the subject of several legends and fables, most relating to its loud and beautiful song. One of these tells that when it starts singing all other birds stop their song to hear it. The"
"Lesser goldfinch The lesser goldfinch (""Spinus psaltria"") is a very small songbird of the Americas. Together with its relatives the American goldfinch and Lawrence's goldfinch, it forms the American goldfinches clade in the genus ""Spinus sensu stricto"". The American goldfinches can be distinguished by the males having a black (rarely green) forehead, whereas the latter is (like the rest of the face) red or yellow in the European goldfinch and its relatives. North American males are markedly polymorphic and 5 subspecies are often named; at least 2 of them seem to represent a less-progressed stage in evolution however. This petite"
"(Late Miocene of Polgardi, Hungary) ""Luscinia pliocaenica"" (Pliocene of Beremend, Hungary) Luscinia Luscinia is a genus of smallish passerine birds, containing the nightingales and relatives. Formerly classed as members of the thrush family Turdidae, they are now considered to be Old World flycatchers (Muscicapidae) of the chat subfamily (Saxicolinae). The chats are a lineage of Old World flycatchers that has evolved convergently to thrushes. The word ""Luscinia"" was used for nightingales and similar birds in Classical Latin (e.g. in the AD 70s ""Naturalis Historia"" by Pliny the Elder), if not earlier. Etymologically, it might be derived from ""luscus"" (Latin for"
"meriana"" and a split-banded owlet butterfly ""Opsiphanes cassina merianae"". The Cuban sphinx moth has been named ""Erinnyis merianae"". A bug with no common name has been named ""Plisthenes merianae"". A genus of mantises has been named ""Sibylla"". The bird-eating spider ""Avicularia merianae"" was named in her honour, referencing her research on spiders. The spider ""Metellina merianae"" was named after her in 2017. The Argentine black-and-white tegu lizard has been named ""Salvator merianae"". The cane toad was named ""Rhinella merianae"". A snail with no common name was named ""Coquandiella meriana"". The Madagascan African stonechat bird was given the name ""Saxicola torquatus"
"usually have just a blackish crescent on an otherwise cream throat and breast. Newly fledged juveniles are freckled and spotted dark brown above. Despite the distinctive appearance of the males, recent genetic studies show only limited variation between the forms, and confirm that this is a single species. Moults begins in July after breeding and is completed in 40–45 days, before the birds migrate. The male has a varied and very imitative song. Its call is a typical chat ""chack"" noise. The genus name ""Luscinia"" is Latin for the common nightingale and ""svecica"" is New Latin. The colours of the"
"many in Costa Rica is heard as a complex three-part song, the ""bonk"" giving the bird its name. This hollow, wooden ""bonk"" is thought to be among the loudest bird calls on Earth, audible to humans from over away. The song is different in Nicaragua and in also Panama, and these songs also include an extremely loud, but less bell-like, note. The song may also be a short ""Heee-Ahhh"" Research by Donald Kroodsma on recordings archived at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology showed that the three-wattled bellbird is unique among members of its sub-order, in that it learns its song,"
"Singing starling The singing starling (""Aplonis cantoroides"") is a medium-sized (20 cm in length) starling. Adult singing starlings have glossy black plumage and bright red irises. Immature birds are paler, with streaked underparts and brown irises. They are distinguished from metallic starlings by shorter, square tails and thicker bills. Singing starlings are found in New Guinea and some adjacent islands, the Bismarck Archipelago, Admiralty Islands and Solomon Islands. They have been recorded from Boigu and Saibai Islands, Queensland, Australian territory in north-western Torres Strait. They inhabit forest edges, gardens and cultivated areas with trees, urban areas and coconut groves. They"
"second child, a daughter was born on 28 August 1915. In 1921, he began to work with Karl Reich, the first person to make recordings of bird song and who was well known for creating a strain of canaries that sang Nightingale ""Luscinia megarhynchos"" songs. In the early 1920s, he began conducting several breeding experiments on birds to study the heritability of plumage colors and structures, such as the hood. From 1925 Duncker collaborated with Carl Hubert Cremer and extended his experiments to include budgerigars. He contributed regularly to the Journal of Ornithology and other ornithological journals. Hans Julius Duncker"