The banded stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) is a nomadic wader of the stilt and avocet family, Recurvirostridae, native to Australia. It gets its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults, though this is mottled or entirely absent in non-breeding adults and juveniles. Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes are dark brown. Nestling banded stilts have white down, unlike any other species of wader. Breeding is triggered by the filling of inland salt lakes by rainfall, creating large shallow lakes rich in tiny shrimp on which the birds feed. Banded stilts migrate to these and assemble in large breeding colonies. The female lays three to four brown- or black-splotched whitish eggs on a scrape. The species is not threatened, but it is subject to predation by silver gulls, black falcons and wedge-tailed eagles, and is designated as vulnerable under the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banded_stilt
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1834:
In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists began, fueled by rumors that they were encouraging miscegenation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-abolitionist_riots_(1834)
1937:
The Peel Commission published a report stating the British Mandate for Palestine had become unworkable and recommended the partition of Mandatory Palestine into two states. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_Commission
1963:
The police of Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political adviser of President of South Vietnam Ngô Đình Diệm, attacked a group of American journalists who were covering a protest during the Buddhist crisis. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Seven_Day_scuffle
2005:
Suicide bombers killed 52 people in a series of four explosions on London's public transport system (emergency responders pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
cirque: 1. (dated or literary) Something in the shape of a circle or ring, such as a Roman circus. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cirque
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else. --Stranger in a Strange Land https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land