Luscinia megarhynchos
Luscinia megarhynchos
It is a species distributed across the western Palearctic region, extending eastward to the westernmost areas of China during the breeding season (BirdLife International, 2024). In Europe it is abundant and continuously distributed throughout the Mediterranean and central and northern regions, although it does not reach Fennoscandia or Russia (Keller et al., 2020). In the Iberian Peninsula it is abundant in the Mediterranean region, becoming rarer in the Eurosiberian region (Remacha and Pérez-Tris in SEO/BirdLife, 2022). It appears in the Balearic Islands and Ceuta, but is absent from both the Canary Islands and Melilla.
In Madrid it is a very abundant species widely distributed throughout the territory, absent only from high mountain areas and the southern part of the region. It is associated with cool and humid habitats, also using urban environments such as parks and gardens, always with shrub cover (Díaz et al., 1994).
In the national park it is found in the lower-altitude zones, especially the southernmost belt of the park around La Barranca and La Pedriza, as well as in the lowest areas of the protected space in the Lozoya valley.
The common nightingale occurs in humid habitats, close to river courses and with good shrub cover (Tellería et al., 1999; Carrascal and Palomino, 2006; Villarán, 2021). It avoids arid and high-mountain areas, showing a preference for riparian forests and similar environments, although it also occupies deciduous woodlands, irrigated croplands, agro-pastoral mosaics, etc. It may also appear in other habitat types such as orchards or pine forests with a well-developed understory (Carrascal and Palomino, 2008). It prefers low-altitude areas over mountainous ones.
In the national park it reaches its highest densities in forested shrub habitats.
At a global scale it is considered a Least Concern species (LC; 2017). In Europe it would also be classified in the same category (LC; 2021). In Spain it is listed as Least Concern in the 2021 Red List.
The Catalogue of Threatened Species of the Community of Madrid (1992) does not place the species in any threat category.
BirdLife International 2024. IUCN Red List for birds. https://datazone.birdlife.org.
Carrascal, L. M. y Palomino, D. 2006. Determinantes de la distribución geográfica de la familia Turdidae en la Península Ibérica. Ardeola, 53: 127-141.
Carrascal, L. M. y Palomino, D. 2006. Determinantes de la distribución geográfica de la familia Turdidae en la Península Ibérica. Ardeola, 53: 127-141.
Carrascal, L. M. y Palomino, D. 2008. Las aves comunes reproductoras en España. Población en 2004-2006. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Díaz, M., Martí, R., Gómez-Manzaneque, Á. y Sánchez, A. 1994. Atlas de las aves nidificantes en Madrid. Agencia de Medio Ambiente y SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Keller, V., Herrando, S., Voříšek, P., Franch, M., Kipson, M., Milanesi, P., Martí, D., Antón, M., Klvaňová, A., Kalyakin, M. V. Bauer, H. Gr y Foppen, R. P. B. 2020. European Breeding Bird Atlas 2: Distribution, Abundance and Change. European Birds Census Council y Lynx Edicions. Barcelona.
SEO/BirdLife (Molina, B., Nebreda, A., Muñoz, A. R., Seoane, J., Real, R., Bustamante, J. y Del Moral, J. C., eds.). 2022. III Atlas de las aves en época de reproducción en España. SEO/BirdLife. Madrid.
Tellería, J. L., Asensio, B. y Díaz, M. 1999. Aves ibéricas. II. Paseriformes. J. M. Reyero Editor. Madrid.
Villarán, A. 2021. Ruiseñor común-Luscinia megarhynchos. En Salvador, A. y Bautista, L. M. (eds.): Enciclopedia virtual de los vertebrados españoles. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Madrid.