Common Nightingale vs Eurasian Wren
Luscinia megarhynchos compared with Troglodytes troglodytes
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Attribute | Common Nightingale | Eurasian Wren |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Name | Luscinia megarhynchos | Troglodytes troglodytes |
| Order | Passeriformes | Passeriformes |
| Family | Muscicapidae | Troglodytidae |
| Conservation Status | Least Concern | Least Concern |
| Length | 16.5 cm (6.5 in) | 9.5 cm (3.7 in) |
| Wingspan | 25.0 cm (9.8 in) | 15.0 cm (5.9 in) |
| Weight | 21.0 g (0.74 oz) | 9.0 g (0.32 oz) |
| Diet | Insects and larvae, supplemented with berries in autumn. Forages on or near the ground in … | Insects and spiders, gleaned from dense vegetation, rock crevices, and bark. Active and restless forager. |
| Clutch Size | 4-5 | 3-9 |
| Population Trend | — | — |
Size Comparison
Habitat Comparison
Common Nightingale
Dense thickets, scrub, and undergrowth in deciduous woodland. Prefers areas with thick ground cover near water.
Eurasian Wren
Dense undergrowth in woodlands, gardens, hedgerows, and rocky areas. Prefers tangled vegetation close to the ground.
Song & Call Comparison
Common Nightingale
Considered Europe's finest songster: an extraordinarily rich, loud, flute-like melody of bubbling trills, slow whistles, and a distinctive crescendo 'lu-lu-lu'. Sings day and night.
Eurasian Wren
Extraordinarily loud for its tiny size: a rapid, powerful stream of trills, buzzes, and churring phrases. One of Europe's loudest songs by volume relative to body weight.
Geographic Range & Migration
Common Nightingale
Breeds in Europe and western Asia. Winters in sub-Saharan Africa. A long-distance migrant crossing the Sahara.
Eurasian Wren
Eurasia from Iceland and western Europe to Japan. The only wren species found outside the Americas.
Conservation Status
Common Nightingale
Eurasian Wren
How to Tell Them Apart
Common Nightingale
Plain warm brown upperparts with a rufous-chestnut tail. Pale greyish-white underparts. Unremarkable appearance belies its remarkable voice.
Thin, pointed, dark brown bill
Eurasian Wren
Warm rufous-brown upperparts with fine dark barring. Pale buffy underparts with barred flanks. Short, often cocked tail.
Thin, slightly curved, dark brown bill
About These Birds
Common Nightingale
The common nightingale is celebrated as one of the finest songsters in the bird world, inspiring poets from Homer to Keats. Males sing complex phrases of over 250 different types, often at night during breeding season. Despite its famous song, the nightingale is a plain-looking bird that skulks in dense vegetation.
Eurasian Wren
The Eurasian wren is one of the smallest birds in Europe but possesses an astonishingly loud song for its size. Males build multiple dome-shaped nests, from which the female selects one to line and use. In British folklore, the wren is known as the king of birds for outwitting the eagle in a flying contest.