Seabirds are birds that have adapted to life in the marine environment. Whilst seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent evolution, as the same environmental problems and feeding niches have resulted in similar adaptations. The first seabirds evolved in the Cretaceous, and modern seabird families emerged in the Paleogene. Seabirds live longer, breed later and have fewer young than other birds do, but they invest a great deal of time in those young that they do have. Most species nest in colonies, which can vary in size from a few dozen birds to many millions. They are famous for undertaking long annual migrations, crossing the equator or circumnavigating the Earth in some cases. They feed both at the ocean's surface and below it, and even feed on each other. Seabirds can be highly pelagic, coastal, or in some cases spend a part of the year away from the sea entirely. Seabirds and humans have a long history together: they have provided food to hunters, guided fishermen to fishing stocks and led sailors to land. Many species are currently threatened by human activities, and conservation efforts are underway.
Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seabird
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
962: Pope John XII crowned Otto the Great as Holy Roman Emperor, the first in nearly 40 years. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_I%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor)
1848: The Mexican–American War ended with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, granting the United States the Mexican Cession. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Guadalupe_Hidalgo)
1925: In the 1925 serum run to Nome, medical supplies to combat an outbreak of diphtheria reached Nome, Alaska on dog sleds, inspiring the annual Iditarod race across Alaska. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iditarod_(race))
1943: World War II: The Battle of Stalingrad concluded with 91,000 tired and starving German soldiers taken captive by the Red Army. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stalingrad)
1990: President F.W. de Klerk declared the end of Apartheid in South Africa. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_South_Africa_in_the_apartheid_era)
_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:
Well, it's Groundhog Day... again... -- Groundhog Day (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bill_Murray)