The European storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus) is a small, square- tailed seabird with a fluttering flight. It is black except for a white rump and a white band under its wings. Most birds breed on islands off western Europe, with a separate subspecies occurring in the Mediterranean. The storm petrel lays a single white egg in a burrow. The adults share incubation and feeding the chick. This bird is oceanic outside the breeding season, wintering off the western coasts of Africa. It feeds on small fish, and can find oily edible items by smell. The chick is fed with an oily liquid regurgitated by the adults. Silent at sea, the storm petrel has a chattering call given during courtship, and the male has a purring song. The storm petrel cannot survive where rats or cats have been introduced, and it is killed by large birds such as gulls. It is classified by the IUCN as being of least concern. Folklore claiming that the bird can foretell or cause bad weather has led to its use as a symbol by some revolutionary groups.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_storm_petrel
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1950:
Blanca Canales led the Jayuya Uprising against the U.S.-supported Puerto Rican government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayuya_Uprising
1960:
Michael Woodruff performed the first successful kidney transplant in the United Kingdom at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Woodruff
1993:
The Troubles: Three members of the Ulster Defence Association opened fire in a crowded pub during a Halloween party, killing eight people and wounding nineteen others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greysteel_massacre
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
escarole: (Canada, US) A subspecies or variety of broad-leaved endive (Cichorium endivia subsp. endivia, syn. Cichorium endivia var. latifolium), which is eaten as a vegetable. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/escarole
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Metaphysicians and politicians may dispute forever, but they will never find any other moral principle or foundation of rule or obedience, than the consent of governors and governed. --John Adams https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Adams
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