They may not be nightingales, but we have mockingbirds here in Texas and they are the virtuoso variety. There was one bird that would perch next door on top of a ham radio antenna and it took him about 10 minutes to go through his repertoir which included some very beautiful bits. He also did seagulls and owls and a car alarm. He has been gone for a couple of years, but I sit out on the back porch some evenings hoping we'll get another performer like that. He also used to do this "hop" every 20-30 seconds, a quick flutter up into the air and perch again in a new direction (kind of like the rotating tornado siren--who knows, maybe that's where he got the idea!)

SRS