The red-billed tropicbird is a seabird, one of three species in the
family Phaethontidae. Resembling a tern, it has mostly white plumage
with some black markings on the wings and back, a black mask and a red
bill. Most adults have tail streamers that are about two times their
body length, and generally longer in males than in females. Described by
Carl Linnaeus in his 10th edition of Systema Naturae (1758), this
species ranges across the Indian Ocean, the tropical Atlantic, and the
eastern Pacific. Nesting takes place in loose colonies. A single egg is
laid, and incubated by both sexes for about six weeks. After a chick
fledges, the parents will usually stop visiting the nest and the chick
will leave. Red-billed tropicbirds of all ages feed on fish and squid,
catching them by diving from the air into the water. The birds sometimes
follow surface-feeding predators that drive prey to the surface, where
they can be seized.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-billed_tropicbird>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1803:
Maratha troops were defeated by British forces at the Battle of
Assaye, one of the decisive battles of the Second Anglo-Maratha War.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Assaye>
1868:
Ramón Emeterio Betances led the Grito de Lares, a revolt
against Spanish rule in Puerto Rico.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram%C3%B3n_Emeterio_Betances>
1952:
In one of the first political uses of television to appeal
directly to the populace, Republican vice presidential candidate Richard
Nixon delivered the "Checkers speech", refuting accusations of
improprieties with contributions to his campaign.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkers_speech>
2008:
A gunman shot and killed ten students at Seinäjoki University
of Applied Sciences in Kauhajoki, Western Finland, before committing
suicide.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kauhajoki_school_shooting>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
raunchiness:
The characteristic of being raunchy; sleaze, titillation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/raunchiness>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Poor man want to be rich Rich man want to be king And a king
ain't satisfied Till he rules everything. I want to go out tonight I
want to find out what I got. Well, I believe in the love that you gave
me I believe in the faith that can save me I believe in the hope And
I pray that some day it may raise me Above these badlands.
--Bruce Springsteen
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Bruce_Springsteen>