The Siberian accentor (Prunella montanella) is a small passerine bird that breeds in northern Russia from the Ural Mountains eastwards across Siberia. It is migratory, wintering in Korea and eastern China. Typically breeding in subarctic deciduous forests and open coniferous woodland, often near water, it is also found in bushes and shrubs in winter, frequently near streams. It has brown upperparts and wings, with bright chestnut streaking on its back and a greyish-brown rump and tail. The head has a dark brown crown and a long pale yellow "eyebrow". All plumages are similar. The nest is an open cup into which the female lays four to six eggs that hatch in about ten days. Adults and chicks feed mainly on insects, typically picked off the ground, and may also eat seeds in winter. Breeding over a huge area, this accentor has a large and apparently stable population. October and November 2016 saw an unprecedented influx of this species into western Europe as far west as the UK.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_accentor
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1461:
Ming general Cao Qin staged a failed coup against the Emperor Yingzong. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebellion_of_Cao_Qin
1909:
Fifty-nine days after leaving New York City with three passengers, Alice Huyler Ramsey arrived in San Francisco to become the first woman to drive an automobile across the contiguous United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Huyler_Ramsey
1914:
World War I: France launched its first attack of the war in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to recover the province of Alsace from Germany. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mulhouse
1944:
IBM presented the first program-controlled calculator to Harvard University, after which it became known as the Mark I. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvard_Mark_I
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
calabash: 1. A tree (known as the calabash tree; Crescentia cujete) native to Central and South America, the West Indies, and southern Florida, bearing large, round fruit used to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this tree. 2. The bottle gourd (calabash vine, Lagenaria siceraria), a vine believed to have originated in Africa, which is grown for its fruit that are used as a vegetable and to make containers (sense 3); the fruit of this plant. 3. A container made from the mature, dried shell of the fruit of one of the above plants; also, a similarly shaped container made from some other material. 4. A calabash and its contents; as much as fills such a container. 5. (music) A musical instrument, most commonly a drum or rattle, made from a calabash fruit. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calabash
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
It’s important … to know who the real enemy is, and to know the function, the very serious function of racism, which is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn’t shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Somebody says that you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says that you have no kingdoms and so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary. There will always be one more thing. --Toni Morrison https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Toni_Morrison