The Red-billed Chough is a bird in the crow family; it is one of only
two species in the genus Pyrrhocorax. It lives and breeds on mountains
and coastal cliffs, from Ireland and Great Britain east through southern
Europe and North Africa, and farther east to Central Asia, India, and
China. It has a glossy black plumage, a long curved red bill, red legs,
and a loud, ringing call. It has a buoyant, acrobatic flight with widely
spread primaries. The Red-billed Chough pairs for life and displays
fidelity to its breeding site, which is usually a cave or crevice in a
cliff face. It builds a wool-lined stick nest and typically lays three
eggs. It feeds, often in flocks, on short grazed grassland, consuming
mainly invertebrate prey. The main threat to this species is changes in
agricultural practices, which have led to population decline, some local
extirpation, and range fragmentation in Europe; however, it is not
threatened globally. The bird has also been depicted on postage stamps
in a few countries, including the Isle of Man, with four different
stamps, and The Gambia, where this species does not occur.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-billed_Chough>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1494:
Ferdinand II of Aragon and John II of Portugal (pictured left
and right, respectively) signed the Treaty of Tordesillas, dividing the
Americas and Africa between their two countries.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Tordesillas>
1810:
Journalist Mariano Moreno published Argentina's first
newspaper, the Gazeta de Buenos Ayres.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariano_Moreno>
1929:
The Kingdom of Italy and the Holy See signed the Lateran Treaty
to bring Vatican City into existence, thus ending the "Roman Question".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateran_Treaty>
1975:
The inaugural Cricket World Cup, the premier international
championship of men's One Day International cricket, began in England.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cricket_World_Cup>
2006:
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, was
killed when the United States Air Force bombed his safehouse near
Baqubah.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Musab_al-Zarqawi>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
trendite:
(slang) A person given to following trends.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/trendite>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Art is a refining and evocative translation of the materials of the
world.
--Gwendolyn Brooks
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gwendolyn_Brooks>