Identification: When a Nightingale does become visible it is seen to be a rather disappointing plain brown bird characterised only by whiter underparts, a richer chestnut colour on the tail and a conspicuous large, black, staring eye accentuated by a white eye ring.

Habitat: Breeds in woodland, copses and thickets with lush undergrowth.

Distribution: A summer visitor which is found mainly south of a line between the Severn and Humber Estuaries. A very skulking bird which favours deciduous woodland and thick scrub, it is best located by its incredible liquid song.

Their unmissably loud and distinctive song makes them easy to locate in most of central and southern Europe but seeing them is not so easy.

Population:  5 000-6 000 breeding pairs in south-east Britain with as many as half of these in Hampshire and Kent

3-5 million breeding pairs across Europe, but rare around the Alps, southern Germany and Austria. France, Italy and Spain have the largest populations.