The masked shrike (Lanius nubicus) is a bird in the shrike family, Laniidae. It breeds in southeastern Europe and at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, with a separate population in eastern Iraq and western Iran, and winters mainly in northeast Africa. It is the smallest member of its genus, long-tailed and with a hooked bill. The male has mainly black upperparts, with white on its crown, forehead and supercilium and large white patches on the shoulders and wings. The throat, neck sides and underparts are white, with orange flanks and breast. The female is a duller version of the male, with brownish black upperparts and a grey or buff tone to the shoulders and underparts. The species' calls are short and grating, but the song has melodic warbler-like components. The masked shrike eats mainly large insects and occasionally small vertebrates; it sometimes impales its prey on thorns or barbed wire. Decreasing in parts of the European range, but not rapidly enough to raise serious conservation concerns, it is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as a species of least concern.

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

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1710:

The Statute of Anne, the first fully-fledged law regulating copyright, entered into force in Great Britain. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statute_of_Anne

1816:

President James Madison signed the charter establishing the Second Bank of the United States as the nation's second national bank. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bank_of_the_United_States

1925:

The novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was first published. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gatsby

1970:

In the midst of business disagreements with his bandmates, Paul McCartney announced his departure from The Beatles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_McCartney

2010:

A Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft carrying President of Poland Lech Kaczyński and other Polish officials crashed while attempting to land in heavy fog at Smolensk-North air base near Smolensk, Russia, killing all 96 on board. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Polish_Air_Force_Tu-154_crash

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

incorrigible: 1. Defective and impossible to materially correct or set aright. 2. Incurably depraved; not reformable. 3. Impervious to correction by punishment or pain. 4. Unmanageable. 5. Determined, unalterable, hence impossible to improve upon. 6. (archaic) Incurable. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/incorrigible

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

We may fight against what is wrong, but if we allow ourselves to hate, that is to insure our spiritual defeat and our likeness to what we hate.   --Æ https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/George_William_Russell