The red-tailed tropicbird is a seabird native to the tropical Indian and
Pacific Oceans. One of three closely related species of tropicbird, it
has four subspecies. Superficially resembling a tern in appearance, it
has almost all-white plumage with a black mask and a red bill. The sexes
have similar plumage. Adults have red tail streamers that are about
twice their body length, which gives rise to its common name. Nesting
takes place in loose colonies on oceanic islands, the nest itself a
scrape found on a cliff face, in a crevice, or a sandy beach. A single
egg is laid, being incubated by both sexes for about six weeks. The red-
tailed tropicbird eats fish, mainly flying fish, and squid, catching
them by plunge-diving into the ocean. This bird is considered to be a
least-concern species according to the IUCN, though it is adversely
affected by human contact. Rats and feral cats prey on eggs and young at
nesting sites.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_tropicbird>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1911:
Sun Yat-sen was elected the provisional president of the
Republic of China in Nanjing.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen>
1940:
The Blitz: The Luftwaffe conducted a major night bombing raid
on the British capital, beginning what was later called the "Second
Great Fire of London".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Great_Fire_of_London>
1959:
Physicist Richard Feynman gave a speech entitled "There's
Plenty of Room at the Bottom" at Caltech, anticipating the field of
nanotechnology.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_Plenty_of_Room_at_the_Bottom>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
succour:
1. (transitive) To give aid, assistance, or help.
2. (transitive, military) To provide aid or assistance in the form of
military equipment and soldiers; in particular, for helping a place
under siege.
3. (transitive, obsolete except dialectal) To protect, to shelter; to
provide a refuge.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/succour>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Every child, at birth, is the Universal Man. But, as it grows, we
turn it into "a petty man." It should be the function of education to
turn it again into the original "Universal Man." The child which by
birth was the universal man is fettered by us with such constraints as
country, language, religion, caste, race and colour. To free it from all
these limitations and transform it into "the enlightened soul", that is
to say, the universal man, — this should become the first and foremost
function of our education, culture, civilization, and what not.
--Kuvempu
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Kuvempu>