The common blackbird (Turdus merula) is a species of true thrush. It breeds in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to Canada, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, the Falkland Islands, Chile, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. It has several subspecies across its large range; a few of the Asian subspecies are sometimes considered to be full species. Depending on latitude, the common blackbird may be resident, partially migratory, or fully migratory. The male of the nominate subspecies, which is found throughout most of Europe, is all black except for a yellow eye-ring and bill and has a rich, melodious song; the adult female and juvenile have mainly dark brown plumage. The species breeds in woods and gardens, building a neat, mud-lined, cup-shaped nest. It is omnivorous, eating a wide range of insects, earthworms, berries, and fruits. This common and conspicuous bird has given rise to many literary and cultural references, frequently related to its song.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_blackbird
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1740:
A two-week massacre of ethnic Chinese in Batavia, Dutch East Indies, came to an end with at least 10,000 people killed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1740_Batavia_massacre
1884:
The Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, was adopted as Universal Time meridian of longitude. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Time
1895:
At Gare Montparnasse station in Paris, an express train derailed after overrunning the buffer stop, crossing the concourse before crashing through a wall and falling to the plaza below (pictured). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montparnasse_derailment
1962:
Cold War: U.S. President John F. Kennedy announced that Soviet nuclear weapons had been discovered in Cuba and that he had ordered a naval "quarantine" of the island nation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_Missile_Crisis
2013:
The Marriage Equality (Same Sex) Act 2013 made the Australian Capital Territory the nation's first jurisdiction to legalise same-sex marriage, although the High Court struck the act down two months later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_Equality_(Same_Sex)_Act_2013
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
allometry: (biology) The science studying the differential growth rates of the parts of a living organism's body part or process. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/allometry
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
We spend our lives fighting to get people very slightly more stupid than ourselves to accept truths that the great men have always known. --Doris Lessing https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Doris_Lessing