The common tern (Sterna hirundo) is a seabird with four subspecies
breeding in temperate and subarctic regions of Europe, Asia and North
America. This tern is migratory, wintering in warmer coastal regions.
Adults have light grey upperparts, whiter underparts, a black cap,
orange-red legs, and a narrow pointed black-tipped red or all-black
bill. The bird nests on any flat bare surface close to water, including
rafts. The nest is a scrape lined with whatever is available. It lays up
to three blotchy camouflaged eggs, incubated by both sexes, that hatch
in around 21 to 22 days. The downy chicks fledge in 22 to 28 days. This
tern feeds by plunge-diving for fish in the sea or freshwater. Eggs and
young are vulnerable to predation by mammals and large birds. The
common tern's large population and huge breeding range mean that it is
classed as being of least concern. Despite international protection, in
some areas populations are threatened by habitat loss or the disturbance
of breeding colonies.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_tern>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1754:
French and Indian War: George Washington surrendered Fort
Necessity in Pennsylvania, the only military surrender in his career.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Necessity>
1952:
SS United States departed New York Harbor on her maiden
voyage, on which completion she became the fastest ocean liner to cross
the Atlantic.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_United_States>
1970:
Dan-Air Flight 1903 crashed into the slopes of the Montseny
Massif in Catalonia, Spain, killing all 112 people aboard.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan-Air_Flight_1903>
2005:
Same-sex marriage became legal in Spain with the coming into
effect of a law passed by the Cortes Generales.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Spain>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
mali:
1. (India, South Asia) A member of a caste in South Asia whose
traditional occupation is gardening; hence, any South Asian gardener.
2. (South Africa) Money, cash.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mali>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We cross our bridges when we come to them, and burn them behind
us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell
of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.
--Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Rosencrantz_%26_Guildenstern_Are_Dead_%28film%29>