The horned sungem (Heliactin bilophus) is a species of hummingbird native to Brazil, Bolivia and Suriname. It prefers open habitats such as savanna, grassland and garden, and expanded its range into southern Amazonas and Espírito Santo, probably due to deforestation. It is a small hummingbird with a long tail and a short, black bill. The sexes differ in appearance, with males having two shiny red, golden, and green feather "horns" above the eyes, a shiny blue head crest and a black throat with a pointed "beard". The female is plainer, with a brown or yellow–buff throat. It is a nomadic species, responding to the seasonal flowering of its food plants. If a flower's shape is unsuited to the bird's short bill, it may rob nectar through a hole at its base. It also eats small insects. Only the female builds the small cup nest, incubates the two white eggs, and rears the chicks. The species is currently classified as least concern, and its population is thought to be increasing.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horned_sungem
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1944:
World War II: The Japanese Take Ichi convoy arrived at Halmahera in the Dutch East Indies after losing many ships and thousands of troops to Allied attacks while attempting to carry two divisions of troops from China to New Guinea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take_Ichi_convoy
1977:
The Hotel Polen in Amsterdam was destroyed by fire, leaving 33 people dead. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Polen_fire
1980:
Part of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Florida collapsed after a pier was struck by the MV Summit Venture, killing 35 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge
2001:
Police at the Ohene Djan Stadium in Accra, Ghana, fired tear gas to quell unrest at a football match, leading to a stampede that killed 126 people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accra_Sports_Stadium_disaster
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
derelict: 1. (uncountable) Property abandoned by its former guardian or owner; (countable) an item of such property. 2. (uncountable, specifically, law) Property abandoned at sea with no hope of recovery and no expectation of being returned to its owner; (countable) an item of such property, especially a ship. 3. (countable, dated) An abandoned or forsaken person; an outcast, a waif. 4. (countable, by extension, derogatory) A homeless and/or jobless person; a vagrant; also, a person who is (perceived as) negligent in their hygiene and personal affairs. 5. (countable, chiefly US) A person who is negligent in performing a duty. 6. Given up by the guardian or owner; abandoned, forsaken. 7. (specifically) Of a ship: abandoned at sea; dilapidated, neglected; of a spacecraft: abandoned in outer space. 8. (figurative) Adrift, lost. 9. (chiefly US) Negligent in performing a duty; careless, deficient, neglectful, unfaithful. [...] https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/derelict
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
The best moments in reading are when you come across something — a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things — that you'd thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it's as if a hand has come out, and taken yours. --The History Boys https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_History_Boys_%28film%29