The Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla) is a typical warbler in Europe, western Asia and northern Africa. It has grey upperparts and paler grey underparts, and the male has a black cap, while the female's is reddish-brown. The male's song is a rich musical warbling. The blackcap builds a neat cup nest in scrub, often in mature deciduous woodland. The female lays four to six buff eggs, which hatch in about 11 days. The chicks fledge in 11–12 days, but are fed by both adults for some time after. Birds from the colder areas of the range migrate, wintering in scrub in western Europe, around the Mediterranean and in Africa. Some German birds winter in gardens in the British Isles. Blackcaps eat insects when breeding, but otherwise survive primarily on small fruit; garden birds also eat bread, fat and peanuts in winter. The blackcap's range has been expanding, even though it is hunted in some countries. Its rich song has been featured in literature, films and music.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_blackcap
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1835:
Mexican dragoons dispatched to disarm settlers at Gonzales in Mexican Texas encountered stiff resistance from a Texian militia at the Battle of Gonzales, the first armed engagement of the Texas Revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Gonzales
1937:
President Rafael Trujillo announced that Dominican troops had begun mass killings of Haitians living in the Dominican Republic. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsley_massacre
1971:
Nguyễn Văn Thiệu was re-elected unopposed as President of South Vietnam. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nguy%E1%BB%85n_V%C4%83n_Thi%E1%BB%87u
1996:
A maintenance worker's failure to remove tape covering the aircraft's static ports caused Aeroperú Flight 603 to crash into the ocean near Lima, Peru, killing all 70 people on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeroper%C3%BA_Flight_603
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
Chanakya: (India) A shrewd politician or, in general, a cunning person; a Machiavelli. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Chanakya
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
People don't like reality, they don't like common sense, until age forces it on them. --Graham Greene https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Graham_Greene