The vermilion flycatcher (Pyrocephalus obscurus) is a tyrant flycatcher
found in South America and southern North America. The male (pictured)
has a bright red crown and underparts, and brownish wings and tail;
females lack the red coloration. The male's chirpy song is used in
establishing a territory in riparian or semi-open habitat. Its diet of
insects are caught in flight. Although monogamous, females may lay their
eggs in another pair's nest, and extra-pair copulation occurs. Females
build cup nests and are fed by the male while they incubate the two to
three speckled whitish eggs; two broods are laid in a season. Both
parents feed the chicks, which are ready to fledge after fifteen days. A
long molt begins in summer. The species was first described from
specimens caught by Charles Darwin. The taxonomy of the genus was
revised in 2016, creating several new species from this flycatcher's
former subspecies. Populations have declined because of habitat loss,
although numbers remain in the millions.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermilion_flycatcher>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1879:
Qing China signed the Treaty of Livadia with the Russian
Empire, but the terms were so unfavorable to China that their
negotiator, Chonghou, was later sentenced to death.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Livadia>
1925:
Scottish inventor John Logie Baird successfully transmitted the
first television picture with a greyscale image.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Logie_Baird>
2007:
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun walked across the Military
Demarcation Line on his way to the second inter-Korean summit with North
Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_inter-Korean_summit>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
Chanakya:
(India) A shrewd politician or, in general, a cunning person; a
Machiavelli.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Chanakya>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Sooner or later...one has to take sides — if one is to remain
human.
--Graham Greene
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Graham_Greene>