The Tawny Owl is a stocky, medium-sized owl which is common in
woodlands across much of Eurasia. Its underparts are pale with dark
streaks, and the upperparts are either brown or grey, with several of
the eleven recognised subspecies having both variants. The nest is
typically in a tree hole, and eggs and young are fiercely defended
against potential predators. This owl is non-migratory and highly
territorial, and many young birds starve if they cannot find a vacant
territory once parental care ceases. This nocturnal bird of prey hunts
mainly rodents, usually by dropping from a perch to seize its victim,
which is swallowed whole, although in more urban areas its diet
includes a higher proportion of birds. Its night hunting is aided by
vision and hearing adaptations and silent flight. The Tawny is capable
of catching smaller owls, but may itself be killed by the Eagle Owl or
Northern Goshawk, and foxes are an important cause of mortality in
newly fledged young. Although this owl is often claimed to have
exceptional night vision, its retina is no more sensitive than a
human's, but its asymmetrically placed ears give the Tawny Owl
excellent directional hearing. Its nighttime habits and eerie, easily
imitated call have led to an association in myth with bad luck and
death.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawny_Owl>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1484:
Pope Innocent VIII issued the papal bull Summis desiderantes
affectibus, giving Dominican Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer explicit
authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summis_desiderantes_affectibus>
1492:
Christopher Columbus became the first European to set foot on the
island of Hispaniola, now Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hispaniola>
1757:
Seven Years' War: Prussian forces under Frederick the Great defeated
Austrian forces under Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine at the
Battle of Leuthen in Leuthen, present-day Poland.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Leuthen>
1933:
Prohibition of alcoholic beverages in the United States officially
ended when the Twenty-first Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was
ratified, repealing the Eighteenth Amendment.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution>
1945:
Flight 19, a squadron of five Avenger TBM torpedo bombers of the U.S.
Navy, disappeared in the area now known as the Bermuda Triangle.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flight_19>
2005:
The Civil Partnership Act came into force, granting civil partnerships
in the United Kingdom with rights and responsibilities identical to
civil marriage.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Partnership_Act_2004>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
consternation (n):
Amazement or horror that confounds the faculties, and incapacitates for
reflection; terror, combined with amazement
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/consternation>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Fantasy, if it's really convincing, can't become dated, for the simple
reason that it represents a flight into a dimension that lies beyond
the reach of time.
--Walt Disney
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Disney>