The Northern Pintail is a widely occurring duck that breeds in the
northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is migratory and
winters south of its breeding range to the equator. Unusual for a bird
with such a large range, it has no geographical subspecies if the
possibly con-specific Eaton's Pintail is considered to be a separate
species. It is a fairly large duck, with a long pointed tail that gives
rise to the species' English and scientific names. The Northern
Pintail's many names describe the male's two long black tail feathers,
which in flight look like a single pin or twig. Hens make a coarse quack
and the drakes a flute-like whistle. The Northern Pintail is a bird of
open wetlands which nests on the ground, often some distance from water.
It feeds by dabbling for plant food and adds small invertebrates to its
diet during the nesting season. When not breeding, it is highly
gregarious, forming large mixed flocks with other species of duck.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Pintail>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1841:
The Church of Scotland established Queen's College in Kingston,
Ontario, Canada.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen%27s_University>
1859:
Hoping to start an armed slave revolt, American abolitionist
John Brown led a raid on the Harpers Ferry Armory in Harpers Ferry, West
Virginia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown%27s_raid_on_Harpers_Ferry>
1940:
World War II: Nazi Governor-General Hans Frank established the
Warsaw Ghetto, the largest Jewish ghetto in occupied Poland.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Ghetto>
1978:
Karol Józef Wojtyła, a cardinal from Kraków, Poland, became
Pope John Paul II, the first non-Italian pope since the 16th century
and the first ever from a Slavic country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_Paul_II>
1996:
At least 83 people were killed and more than 140 injured when
an excessive number of fans attempted to squeeze into Guatemala City's
Estadio Mateo Flores to see the 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification match
between Guatemala and Costa Rica.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estadio_Mateo_Flores>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
sparge:
1. To sprinkle or spray
2. To introduce bubbles into a liquid.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sparge>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The drop of rain maketh a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft
falling.
--Hugh Latimer
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hugh_Latimer>
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