The Eurasian crag martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris) is a small swallow with brown upperparts, paler underparts, and a white-spotted square tail. It breeds in mountains in southern Eurasia and northwestern Africa. It is larger and has brighter tail spots than the three other species in its genus. Many European birds are resident, but northern and Asian populations winter in north Africa, the Middle East or India. This martin builds a half-cup mud nest lined with soft material under a cliff overhang or on a building, and the female lays two to five brown- blotched white eggs, incubated mainly by her although both parents feed the chicks. The martin feeds on insects that are caught as it flies near cliff faces or over open country. Adults and young may be hunted by birds of prey or corvids, and may host blood-sucking mites. With its large and expanding range and population there are no significant conservation concerns. (This article is part of a featured topic: Crag martins.).
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Crag_martins
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1916:
First World War: The British Empire's Sinai and Palestine campaign began with a victory at the Battle of Romani. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Romani
1962:
American actress and model Marilyn Monroe was found dead of a barbiturate overdose in her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, an event that has become the center of one of the most debated conspiracy theories. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Marilyn_Monroe
1984:
A Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft crashed while attempting to land in Dhaka, killing 49 people in the deadliest aviation accident in Bangladeshi history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Biman_Bangladesh_Airlines_Fokker_F27_crash
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
side-eye: (transitive) To look at out of the corner of one's eye, particularly with animosity, or in a judgmental or suspicious manner. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/side-eye
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Wars have never made peace or preserved it or fostered its ideals. To have peace you must make peace with your enemy. To make peace only with your friends is to avoid the issue, and to permit a great principle to become absurd. Far from making peace, wars invariably serve as classrooms and laboratories where men and techniques and states of mind are prepared for the next war. --Wendell Berry https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry