breeds in Madagascar and the Mascarene Islands. The nominate subspecies
occurs on Mauritius and Réunion and has never been found away from the
Mascarene Islands, but a smaller Madagascan subspecies is migratory and
has been recorded wintering in East Africa or wandering to other Indian
Ocean islands. The Mascarene martin is small with grey-brown underparts
becoming white on the throat and lower abdomen, dark grey-brown
upperparts and a slightly forked tail. The underparts are heavily
streaked with black. It nests in small colonies anywhere with suitably
sheltered sites for constructing a nest. It has a heavy flight with slow
wingbeats interspersed with glides, and frequently perches on wires. It
feeds on insects in flight, often hunting low over the ground or
vegetation. A number of internal and external parasites have been
detected in this species. Tropical cyclones can adversely affect
populations on the smaller islands, but the Mascarene martin is a
locally common bird with an apparently stable population and is classed
as a species of Least Concern by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mascarene_martin>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
404:
Aelia Eudoxia, empress consort of Byzantine emperor Arcadius,
died from complications of childbirth.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aelia_Eudoxia>
1777:
American Revolutionary War: British forces under the command of
General Sir Henry Clinton captured Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery, and
then dismantled the Hudson River Chain.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Forts_Clinton_and_Montgomery>
1908:
Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina, causing a crisis that permanently damaged their relations
with Russia and the Kingdom of Serbia.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_crisis>
1927:
The first successful feature sound film The Jazz Singer,
starring Al Jolson, was released.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jazz_Singer>
1976:
A violent crackdown by Thai military and police units on
students and protestors on the grounds of Thammasat University and at
Sanam Luang in Bangkok led to 46 deaths, and a military coup against the
government of Prime Minister Seni Pramoj.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thammasat_University_massacre>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
wizened:
Withered; lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wizened>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
Change is the principal feature of our age and literature should
explore how people deal with it. The best science fiction does that,
head-on.
--David Brin
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/David_Brin>
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