Pelicans are a genus of large water birds comprising the family Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped up contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, the exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches and bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the breeding season. The eight living pelican species (great white pelican pictured) have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone. They frequent inland and coastal waters where they feed principally on fish, catching them at or near the water surface. Gregarious birds, they often hunt cooperatively and breed colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with fishers, and have suffered from habitat destruction, disturbance and environmental pollution. They have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1576:
The provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands signed the Pacification of Ghent, to make peace with the rebelling provinces Holland and Zeeland, and also to form an alliance to drive the occupying Spanish out of the country. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacification_of_Ghent
1644:
The Shunzhi Emperor (pictured), the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, was enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty as the first Qing emperor to rule over China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunzhi_Emperor
1861:
American Civil War: The USS San Jacinto stopped the British mailship Trent and arrested two Confederate envoys en route to Europe, sparking a major diplomatic crisis between the United Kingdom and the United States. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Affair
1965:
American journalist Dorothy Kilgallen was found dead in her New York City townhouse, in what was rumored to be a murder because of information she had regarding controversial stories such as the John F. Kennedy assassination. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Kilgallen
1987:
A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded during a Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing at least eleven people and injuring sixty-three others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day_bombing
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
turlough: (Ireland) A temporary lake in an area of limestone, filled by rising groundwater during the rainy winter season. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/turlough
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
God willeth that we endlessly hate the sin and endlessly love the soul, as God loveth it. --Julian of Norwich https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich
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