The Nauru reed warbler (Acrocephalus rehsei) is the only passerine land-
bird that breeds on the island of Nauru in the Pacific Ocean. It is
related to other Micronesian reed warblers, all of which evolved from
one of several radiations of the genus across the Pacific. Related
warblers on nearby islands include the Carolinian reed warbler, with
which the Nauru species was initially confused, and the nightingale reed
warbler. A medium-sized warbler, the Nauru reed warbler has dark brown
upperparts, cream underparts and a long, thin beak. It makes a low, cup-
shaped nest into which it lays two or three white eggs, and it feeds on
insects. It is found throughout Nauru, whose environment has changed
substantially in recent decades due to phosphate mining. The Nauru reed
warbler is potentially threatened by introduced predators and habitat
loss, and its small range leaves the species vulnerable to diseases and
tropical cyclones. Reports of a similar warbler from nearby islands
suggest that the Nauru reed warbler may have been eradicated from those
islands by introduced cats.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nauru_reed_warbler>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1655:
Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens discovered Titan, the
largest natural satellite of the planet Saturn.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_(moon)>
1802:
France and the United Kingdom signed the Treaty of Amiens,
temporarily ending the hostilities between the two during the French
Revolutionary Wars.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Amiens>
1917:
Following the overthrow of the Russian tsar Nicholas II,
Georgia's bishops unilaterally restored the autocephaly of the Georgian
Orthodox Church.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_Orthodox_Church>
1975:
King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was shot and killed by his nephew
Faisal bin Musaid.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faisal_of_Saudi_Arabia>
1995:
American computer programmer Ward Cunningham established the
first wiki site, the WikiWikiWeb.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
in a pig's eye:
(idiomatic) Very unlikely; probably never.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/in_a_pig%27s_eye>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
This is no simple reform. It really is a revolution. Sex and
race, because they are easy, visible differences, have been the primary
ways of organizing human beings into superior and inferior groups, and
into the cheap labor on which this system still depends. We are talking
about a society in which there will be no roles other than those chosen,
or those earned. We are really talking about humanism.
--Gloria Steinem
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gloria_Steinem>