The black honeyeater (Sugomel niger) is a species of bird in the honeyeater family, Meliphagidae. The bird exhibits sexual dimorphism: the males are black and white, while the females and immature birds are a speckled grey-brown. The species is endemic to Australia, and ranges widely across the arid areas of the continent, through open woodland and shrubland. A nectar feeder, the black honeyeater has a long curved bill to reach the base of tubular flowers such as those of the emu bush. It also takes insects in the air, and regularly eats ash left behind at campfires. Cup-shaped nests are built in the forks of small trees or shrubs. The male engages in a soaring song flight in the mating season, but contributes little to nest building or incubating the clutch of two to three eggs. Both sexes feed and care for the young. While the population appears to be decreasing, the black honeyeater is numerous and widespread.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_honeyeater

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1650:

Wars of the Three Kingdoms: Covenanter forces defeated an invading Royalist army at the Battle of Carbisdale near the village of Culrain, Scotland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Carbisdale

1945:

The photograph Raising the Flag on the Three-Country Cairn was taken after German troops withdrew to Norway on the last day of the Second World War in Finland, ending the Lapland War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_the_Flag_on_the_Three-Country_Cairn

2005:

The Airbus A380, the largest passenger airliner in the world, made its maiden flight from Toulouse, France. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

recrudescence: 1. The condition or state being recrudescent; the condition of something (often undesirable) breaking out again, or re-emerging after temporary abatement or suppression. 2. (medicine, by extension) The acute recurrence of a disease, or its symptoms, after a period of improvement. 3. (botany) The production of a fresh shoot from a ripened spike. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/recrudescence

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Wars produce many stories of fiction, some of which are told until they are believed to be true.   --Ulysses S. Grant https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ulysses_S._Grant