Pelecanidae. They are characterised by a long beak and large throat
pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped up
contents before swallowing. They have predominantly pale plumage, the
exceptions being the brown and Peruvian pelicans. The bills, pouches and
bare facial skin of all species become brightly coloured before the
breeding season. The eight living pelican species (great white pelican
pictured) have a patchy global distribution, ranging latitudinally from
the tropics to the temperate zone. They frequent inland and coastal
waters where they feed principally on fish, catching them at or near the
water surface. Gregarious birds, they often hunt cooperatively and breed
colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and
four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees. The birds have
been persecuted because of their perceived competition with fishers, and
have suffered from habitat destruction, disturbance and environmental
pollution. They have a long history of cultural significance in
mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelican>
_______________________________
Today's selected anniversaries:
1576:
The provinces of the Habsburg Netherlands signed the
Pacification of Ghent, to make peace with the rebelling provinces
Holland and Zeeland, and also to form an alliance to drive the occupying
Spanish out of the country.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacification_of_Ghent>
1644:
The Shunzhi Emperor (pictured), the third emperor of the Qing
dynasty, was enthroned in Beijing after the collapse of the Ming dynasty
as the first Qing emperor to rule over China.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shunzhi_Emperor>
1861:
American Civil War: The USS San Jacinto stopped the British
mailship Trent and arrested two Confederate envoys en route to Europe,
sparking a major diplomatic crisis between the United Kingdom and the
United States.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Affair>
1965:
American journalist Dorothy Kilgallen was found dead in her New
York City townhouse, in what was rumored to be a murder because of
information she had regarding controversial stories such as the John F.
Kennedy assassination.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Kilgallen>
1987:
A Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb exploded during a
Remembrance Sunday ceremony in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing at
least eleven people and injuring sixty-three others.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day_bombing>
_____________________________
Wiktionary's word of the day:
turlough:
(Ireland) A temporary lake in an area of limestone, filled by rising
groundwater during the rainy winter season.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/turlough>
___________________________
Wikiquote quote of the day:
God willeth that we endlessly hate the sin and endlessly love
the soul, as God loveth it.
--Julian of Norwich
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Julian_of_Norwich>
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