The garden warbler (Sylvia borin) is a common small bird that breeds in most of Europe and in western Asia. It is a plain, long-winged and long- tailed typical warbler with brown upperparts and dull white underparts; the sexes are similar and juveniles resemble the adults. The garden warbler's rich melodic song is similar to that of the blackcap, its closest relative, which competes with it for territory when nesting in the same woodland. The preferred breeding habitat in Eurasia is open woodland with dense low cover for nesting; despite its name, gardens are rarely occupied by this small passerine bird. The clutch of four or five blotched cream or white eggs is laid in a robust cup-shaped nest built near the ground and concealed by dense vegetation. The chicks fledge about 10 days after hatching, and only about a quarter of young birds survive their first year. The species winters in sub-Saharan Africa. Insects are the main food in the breeding season, although fruit predominates when birds are fattening prior to migration, figs being a particular favourite where available. Predators include Eurasian sparrowhawks and domestic cats. Despite a small population decline in much of its European range, the bird's breeding distribution is expanding northwards in Scandinavia.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_warbler
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
896:
Emperor Zhaozong appointed Li Keyong as the Prince of Jin, who began his reign as first emperor of Jin following the collapse of the Tang Dynasty in China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Keyong
1815:
War of 1812: British troops captured Fort Peter in St. Marys, Georgia, the only battle of the war to take place in the state. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Peter
1898:
"J'accuse...!", an open letter by French writer Émile Zola to President Félix Faure of the French Republic, was published by the Parisian newspaper L'Aurore, accusing the highest levels of the French Army in covering up the truth of the Dreyfus affair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%27accuse
1915:
About 30,000 people in Avezzano, Italy—96% of its population—were killed when an earthquake struck the region. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1915_Avezzano_earthquake
1953:
An article published in Pravda accused some of the most prestigious physicians in the Soviet Union, mostly Jews, of taking part in a vast plot to poison members of the top Soviet political and military leadership. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctors%27_plot
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
gherao: (India) A protest in which a group of people surrounds a politician, building, etc. until demands are met. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gherao
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Knowledge and understanding are quite different. Only understanding can lead to being, whereas knowledge is but a passing presence in it. --G. I. Gurdjieff https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/G._I._Gurdjieff
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