The Pied Currawong is a medium-sized black passerine bird native to eastern Australia and Lord Howe Island. One of three currawong species in the genus Strepera, it is closely related to the butcherbirds and Australian Magpie of the family Artamidae. Six subspecies are recognised. It is a robust crow-like bird averaging around 48 cm (19 in) in length, black or sooty grey-black in plumage with white undertail and wing patches, yellow irises, and a heavy bill. The male and female are similar in appearance. Known for its melodious calls, the species' name currawong is of indigenous origin. Within its range, the Pied Currawong is generally sedentary, although populations at higher altitudes relocate to lower areas during the cooler months. It is omnivorous, with a diet that includes a wide variety of berries and seeds, invertebrates, bird eggs and juvenile birds. It is a predator which has adapted well to urbanization and can be found in parks and gardens as well as rural woodland. The habitat includes all kinds of forested areas, although mature forests are preferred for breeding. Roosting, nesting and the bulk of foraging take place in trees, in contrast with the ground foraging behaviour of its relative the Australian Magpie.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pied_Currawong

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1638:

The Massachusetts Bay Colony expelled Anne Hutchinson from its ranks for dissenting from Puritan orthodoxy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Hutchinson

1736:

Under orders from Shah of Iran Nader Shah to plunder Delhi, India, Persian troops killed at least 20,000 Indians, forcing Mughal Emperor Muhammad Shah to beg for mercy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nader_Shah

1913:

Phan Xich Long, the self-proclaimed Emperor of Vietnam, was arrested for organising a revolt against the colonial rule of French Indochina, which was nevertheless carried out by his supporters the following day. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Xich_Long

1984:

In what would be the longest and costliest criminal trial in United States history, teachers at the McMartin preschool in Manhattan Beach, California, were falsely charged with satanic ritual abuse of schoolchildren. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMartin_preschool_trial

1995:

Russian cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov of the Soyuz programme returned from the Mir space station after 437 days in space, setting a record for the longest spaceflight. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeri_Polyakov

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

jiggery-pokery (n): Trickery or misrepresentation; hanky panky or skulduggery http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jiggery-pokery

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

To communicate through silence is a link between the thoughts of man. --Marcel Marceau http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marcel_Marceau