The rainbow pitta (Pitta iris) is a small passerine bird in the pitta family, Pittidae, endemic to northern Australia. The species is most closely related to the superb pitta of Manus Island. A colourful bird, it has a velvet black head with chestnut stripes above the eyes, olive green upper parts, black underparts, a bright red belly and an olive green tail. The rainbow pitta lives in the monsoon forests, as well as some drier eucalypt forests. As with other pittas, it is a secretive and shy bird. The diet consists mainly of insects, arthropods and small vertebrates. Pairs defend territories and breed during the rainy season, as this time of year provides the most food for nestlings. The female lays three to four eggs with blotches inside its large domed nest. Both parents defend the nest, incubate the eggs and feed the chicks. The species is common within its range, and is not threatened.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_pitta
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1854:
The Orange River Convention was signed in Bloemfontein, with Britain agreeing to recognise the independence of the Orange Free State in present-day South Africa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Free_State
1945:
Second World War: An Allied bombing run on Pforzheim, Germany, killed approximately 31 percent of its population and destroyed about 83 percent of its buildings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_Pforzheim_in_World_War_II
2007:
A Virgin express train derailed (accident scene pictured) near Grayrigg in North West England, killing one person and seriously injuring thirty others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grayrigg_derailment
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
navel-gazing: 1. Contemplation of one's navel as an aid to meditation. 2. (derogatory) Excessive focus on oneself; self-indulgent introspection. 3. (sometimes derogatory) (Disproportionate) concentration on a single issue. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/navel-gazing
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Our questions and answers are in part determined by the historical tradition in which we find ourselves. We apprehend truth from our own source within the historical tradition. The content of our truth depends upon our appropriating the historical foundation. Our own power of generation lies in the rebirth of what has been handed down to us. If we do not wish to slip back, nothing must be forgotten; but if philosophising is to be genuine our thoughts must arise from our own source. Hence all appropriation of tradition proceeds from the intentness of our own life. The more determinedly I exist, as myself, within the conditions of the time, the more clearly I shall hear the language of the past, the nearer I shall feel the glow of its life. --Karl Jaspers https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Karl_Jaspers