The Ruff is a medium-sized wader that breeds on marshes and wet meadows
across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory,
and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include
southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia. It is
usually considered to be the only member of its genus, and the
Broad-billed and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers are its closest relatives. The
Ruff is a long-necked, pot-bellied bird. This species shows marked
sexual dimorphism; the male is much larger than the female, and has a
breeding plumage that includes brightly coloured head tufts, bare
orange facial skin, extensive black on the breast, and the large collar
of ornamental feathers that that inspired this bird's English name. The
female has one brood per year and lays four eggs in a well-hidden
ground nest, incubating the eggs and rearing the chicks, which are
mobile soon after hatching, on her own. The Ruff forages in wet
grassland and soft mud, probing or searching by sight for edible items.
It primarily feeds on insects, especially in the breeding season, but
it will consume plant material, including rice and maize, on migration
and in winter. Classified as "least concern" on the IUCN Red List
criteria, the global conservation concerns are relatively low because
of the large numbers that breed in Scandinavia and the Arctic.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruff>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1009:
Under orders from Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church now within the walled Old City
of Jerusalem, was destroyed.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Holy_Sepulchre>
1081:
Byzantine–Norman Wars: The Normans under Robert Guiscard, Duke of
Apulia and Calabria, defeated the Byzantines outside the city of
Dyrrhachium, the Byzantine capital of Illyria.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dyrrhachium_%281081%29>
1356:
The most significant earthquake to have occurred in Central Europe in
recorded history destroyed Basel, Switzerland, and caused much
destruction in a vast region extending into France and Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1356_Basel_earthquake>
1851:
Moby-Dick, a novel by American writer Herman Melville , was first
published as The Whale.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick>
1968:
At the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, American Bob Beamon set a world
record of 8.90m in the long jump, a mark that eventually became the
longest unbroken track and field record in history, standing for 23
years.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Beamon>
2007:
A suicide attack on a motorcade carrying former Prime Minister of
Pakistan Benazir Bhutto in Karachi resulted in at least 139 deaths and
450 injuries.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Karachi_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
entourage (n):
A retinue of attendants, associates or followers
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/entourage>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
The essential ingredient of politics is timing.
--Pierre Trudeau
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pierre_Trudeau>