The echo parakeet (Psittacula eques) is a species of parrot endemic to
the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and formerly Réunion. It is the only
living native parrot of these islands; all others have become extinct
due to human activity, including the subspecies P. e. eques, the
Réunion parakeet. The echo parakeet is 34–42 cm (13–17 in) long
and weighs 167–193 g (5.9–6.8 oz), with a wing-span of 49–54 cm
(19–21 in). It is generally green; the male has one black and one
pink collar, and the female has one green and one black. It is largely
restricted to the canopy of the Black River Gorges National Park in the
south west of Mauritius, feeding mainly on the fruits and leaves of
native plants. Due to destruction and alteration of its native habitat,
its numbers declined throughout the 20th century, reaching as few as
8–12 in the 1980s, when it was referred to as "the world's rarest
parrot". While it is still endangered, an intensive effort of captive
breeding has prevented its extinction.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echo_parakeet>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1819:
Arriving in Liverpool, SS Savannah became the first steamship
to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Savannah>
1959:
The extratropical remnants of an Atlantic hurricane reached the
Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Canada, capsizing at least 22 fishing boats and
causing 35 fatalities.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_Escuminac_disaster>
1979:
Bill Stewart, an American journalist, was executed by
Nicaraguan Guardia forces.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Stewart_%28journalist%29>
1994:
A bomb explosion in the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, Iran, left
at least 25 dead and 70 to 300 injured.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1994_Imam_Reza_shrine_bomb_explosion>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
steatopygous:
(physiology) Pertaining to steatopygia; having fat or prominent
buttocks.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/steatopygous>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There are people who eat Earth and eat all the people on it like
in the Bible with the locusts. Then there are people who stand around
and watch them eat it. … Sometimes I think it ain't right to stand and
watch them do it.
--Lillian Hellman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lillian_Hellman>