High aesthetic valuation of urban thrush nightingales in 19th century Helsinki

Abstract

In this paper we document a historical example of high aesthetic valuation of one urban bird species, the thrush nightingale ( Luscinia luscinia), in the late 19th century Helsinki, capital of the Grand Duchy of Finland. The species is famous for its territorial song that is mostly heard at night. The urban thrush nightingales were widely praised and documented in contemporary newspapers. For instance, the birds of the Kaisaniemi Park were mentioned in 1872 26 times in 11 different Finnish newspapers. Even poetry dedicated to the birds was published. The urban thrush nightingales of the Finnish capital had an impact on contemporary pioneers of animal welfare, bird conservation, and urban ecology. Bird conservation movement organized as Spring Societies (later Sylvia Society), with thrush nightingale as one of its symbols, probably had an impact on legal protection granted for nearly all Finnish passerine birds in 1898. Paradoxically, aesthetic improvement of the urban park favoured by nightingales destroyed their habitat, and the species disappeared for this and other reasons from the capital for several decades.