The yellow-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus funereus) is a large cockatoo native to the south-east of Australia. It has a short crest on its head, its plumage is mostly brownish-black, and it has yellow cheek patches and a yellow tail band. The male has a black beak and pink eye- rings and the female has a bone-coloured beak and grey eye-rings. The cockatoos flap deeply and slowly in flight, and their loud wailing calls carry for long distances. They are found in forests from eastern Queensland to southeastern South Australia. Two subspecies are recognised, although Tasmanian and southern mainland populations may be a third. The cockatoos feed on wood-boring grubs and seeds. They nest in hollows in large trees, and although they remain common throughout much of their range, habitat fragmentation and loss of suitable trees has caused local population declines. In some urban areas the cockatoos have adapted to humans. This species is listed by CITES, an international protection agreement.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow-tailed_black_cockatoo
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1809:
Napoleon's French forces defeated Archduke Charles' Austrian army at the Battle of Wagram, the decisive confrontation of the War of the Fifth Coalition. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wagram
1919:
The Royal Air Force's R34 airship landed in Mineola, New York, to complete the first east-to-west transatlantic crossing by an aircraft. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R33-class_airship
1989:
A Palestinian Islamic Jihad member carried out a suicide attack by hijacking a bus and forcing it into a ravine near Kiryat Ye'arim, Israel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Aviv%E2%80%93Jerusalem_bus_405_suicide_attack
2009:
Jadranka Kosor became the first female prime minister of Croatia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jadranka_Kosor
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
ensorcell: 1. (transitive) To bewitch or enchant. 2. (transitive, figuratively) To captivate, entrance, fascinate. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ensorcell
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Down through the years, African Americans have upheld the ideals of America by exposing laws and habits contradicting those ideals. … At every turn, the struggle for equality was resisted by many of the powerful. And some have said we should not judge their failures by the standards of a later time, yet in every time there were men and women who clearly saw this sin and called it by name. We can fairly judge the past by the standards of President John Adams, who called slavery "an evil of colossal magnitude". We can discern eternal standards in the deeds of William Wilberforce and John Quincy Adams and Harriet Beecher Stowe and Abraham Lincoln. These men and women, black and white, burned with a zeal for freedom and they left behind a different and better nation. Their moral vision caused Americans to examine our hearts, to correct our Constitution and to teach our children the dignity and equality of every person of every race. … My Nation's journey toward justice has not been easy, and it is not over. The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destination is set: liberty and justice for all. --George W. Bush https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_W._Bush