The Eurasian crag martin (Ptyonoprogne rupestris) is a small swallow
with brown upperparts, paler underparts, and a white-spotted square
tail. It breeds in mountains in southern Eurasia and northwestern
Africa. It is larger and has brighter tail spots than the three other
species in its genus. Many European birds are resident, but northern and
Asian populations winter in north Africa, the Middle East or India. This
martin builds a half-cup mud nest lined with soft material under a cliff
overhang or on a building, and the female lays two to five brown-
blotched white eggs, incubated mainly by her although both parents feed
the chicks. The martin feeds on insects that are caught as it flies near
cliff faces or over open country. Adults and young may be hunted by
birds of prey or corvids, and may host blood-sucking mites. With its
large and expanding range and population there are no significant
conservation concerns. (This article is part of a featured topic: Crag
martins.).
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_topics/Crag_martins>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1916:
First World War: The British Empire's Sinai and Palestine
campaign began with a victory at the Battle of Romani.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Romani>
1962:
American actress and model Marilyn Monroe was found dead of a
barbiturate overdose in her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, an event
that has become the center of one of the most debated conspiracy
theories.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Marilyn_Monroe>
1984:
A Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft crashed while attempting
to land in Dhaka, killing 49 people in the deadliest aviation accident
in Bangladeshi history.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Biman_Bangladesh_Airlines_Fokker_F27_crash>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
side-eye:
(transitive) To look at out of the corner of one's eye, particularly
with animosity, or in a judgmental or suspicious manner.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/side-eye>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
Wars have never made peace or preserved it or fostered its
ideals. To have peace you must make peace with your enemy. To make peace
only with your friends is to avoid the issue, and to permit a great
principle to become absurd. Far from making peace, wars invariably serve
as classrooms and laboratories where men and techniques and states of
mind are prepared for the next war.
--Wendell Berry
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Wendell_Berry>
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