The common nightingale or simply nightingale ( Luscinia megarhynchos ), also known as rufous nightingale , is a small passerine bird best known for its powerful and beautiful song. It was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae , but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher , Muscicapidae . It belongs to a group of more terrestrial species, often called chats . It is a transitory insectivorous animal groups reproducing in woods and scour in Europe and south-west Asia, and wintering in sub-Saharan Africa. It is not discovered normally in the Americas. The appropriation is more southerly than the firmly related thrush songbird luscinia. It settles on or close to the ground in thick vegetation. Research in Germany found that favored rearing living space of songbirds was characterized by various topographical elements. less than 400 m...