The Golden White-eye is a species of bird in the white-eye family
Zosteropidae. It is the only species within the genus Cleptornis. The
Golden White-eye was once considered to be a honeyeater in the family
Meliphagidae and although it is now known to be a white-eye, its
position within that family is still uncertain. The species is
restricted to the islands of Saipan and Aguijan in the Northern Mariana
Islands, where it is sympatric (shares its range) and competes with the
related Bridled White-eye. The Golden White-eye has golden plumage and a
pale eye-ring. It feeds on insects, fruit, and nectar and forages in
pairs or small family groups. The bird is monogamous and lays two eggs
in a small cup nest. Fossil evidence shows the Golden White-eye once
also occurred on Tinian and Rota but was extirpated in those locations
through the impact of human activities. Despite its current abundance on
Saipan and Aguijan, and the fact that it has among the highest recorded
densities for any bird, it is nevertheless considered to be critically
endangered. It is threatened by the invasive Brown Tree Snake, which has
recently become established on Saipan; efforts are under way to control
the snakes and breed the white-eye in zoos.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_White-eye>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1484:
Pope Innocent VIII issued the papal bull Summis desiderantes
affectibus, giving Dominican Inquisitor Heinrich Kramer explicit
authority to prosecute witchcraft in Germany.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summis_desiderantes_affectibus>
1775:
American Revolutionary War: Continental Army Colonel Henry Knox
arrived at Fort Ticonderoga in New York to arrange the transport of
60 tons of artillery that would be used to strengthen the Siege of
Boston.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_train_of_artillery>
1936:
The 1936 Soviet Constitution, also known as the "Stalin"
constitution, was adopted.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_Soviet_Constitution>
1972:
Gough Whitlam took office as the 21st Prime Minister of
Australia and formed a duumvirate with his deputy Lance Barnard, ending
23 years of Liberal-Country Party government.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Whitlam>
2005:
The Civil Partnership Act came into force, granting civil
partnerships in the United Kingdom with rights and responsibilities
identical to civil marriage.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Partnership_Act_2004>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
archeress:
A female archer, a woman who shoots an arrow from a bow: Elizabeth
deigned to show her skill as an archeress, to the detriment of the
dappled deer in the wide park beyond (John Berwick Harwood).
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/archeress>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The existing scientific concepts cover always only a very limited part
of reality, and the other part that has not yet been understood is
infinite.
--Werner Heisenberg
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Werner_Heisenberg>
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