The wood stork (Mycteria americana) is a large wading bird found in
warmer parts of the Americas. North American birds may disperse to South
America, where it is resident. Its bare head and neck are dark grey and
the plumage is mostly white, with black on the tail and part of the
wing. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile has a feathered head and a
yellow, not black, bill. The wood stork nests colonially in wetlands,
building its one-metre-diameter (3.3-foot) nest in trees; the breeding
season starting when water levels drop. The clutch of three to five eggs
is incubated for around 30 days, and the chicks fledge 60 to 65 days
after hatching, although many die during their first two weeks. The
chicks are fed fish while the adult also eats insects, frogs and crabs
as available, foraging by touch in shallow water. The wood stork is
classed as being of least concern by the IUCN although in the US it is
threatened by predators and human activities. Habitat alteration has
caused widespread declines.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_stork>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1888:
During a bout of mental illness, Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh
severed part of his left ear and gave it to a woman in a brothel in
Arles.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_van_Gogh>
1916:
First World War: Allied forces gained a strategic victory in
the Battle of Magdhaba on the Sinai Peninsula.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Magdhaba>
1957:
Leading the Australia national cricket team, Ian Craig became
the youngest Test cricket captain up to that time.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Craig>
1990:
About 88 percent of eligible voters in Slovenia voted to
secede from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Slovenian_independence_referendum>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
run someone ragged:
(originally US, idiomatic) To exhaust; to demand excessive effort or
work from somebody.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/run_someone_ragged>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
When you're talking about cybersecurity, you're talking about
being able to protect your points. It's not directed against a country,
but to secure your points of access or specific end points or network
access. It's not as though you're arming yourself against a specific
threat — you're simply undertaking all aspects of protection.
--Wesley Clark
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wesley_Clark>