The banded stilt (Cladorhynchus leucocephalus) is a nomadic wader of the
stilt and avocet family, Recurvirostridae, native to Australia. It gets
its name from the red-brown breast band found on breeding adults, though
this is mottled or entirely absent in non-breeding adults and juveniles.
Its remaining plumage is pied and the eyes are dark brown. Nestling
banded stilts have white down, unlike any other species of wader.
Breeding is triggered by the filling of inland salt lakes by rainfall,
creating large shallow lakes rich in tiny shrimp on which the birds
feed. Banded stilts migrate to these and assemble in large breeding
colonies. The female lays three to four brown- or black-splotched
whitish eggs on a scrape. The species is not threatened, but it is
subject to predation by silver gulls, black falcons and wedge-tailed
eagles, and is designated as vulnerable under the South Australian
National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banded_stilt>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1834:
In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists
began, fueled by rumors that they were encouraging miscegenation.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-abolitionist_riots_(1834)>
1937:
The Peel Commission published a report stating the British
Mandate for Palestine had become unworkable and recommended the
partition of Mandatory Palestine into two states.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peel_Commission>
1963:
The police of Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political
adviser of President of South Vietnam Ngô Đình Diệm, attacked a
group of American journalists who were covering a protest during the
Buddhist crisis.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Seven_Day_scuffle>
2005:
Suicide bombers killed 52 people in a series of four explosions
on London's public transport system (emergency responders pictured).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_July_2005_London_bombings>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
cirque:
1. (dated or literary) Something in the shape of a circle or ring,
such as a Roman circus.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cirque>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must
decide to risk "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" on an
outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown
children, can never be anything else.
--Stranger in a Strange Land
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land>
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