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From today's featured article

Red lory preening by drawing feathers through its beak

Preening is a bird maintenance behaviour that involves using the beak to position feathers, interlock the barbules, clean plumage, and reduce parasites. Feathers contribute to a bird's insulation, waterproofing and flight, so birds spend much time on preening. They may fluff up their feathers to "rezip" the barbules, and use their beaks to gather preen oil from a gland at the base of their tail. They spread the oil by drawing each contour feather through their bills. Ritualised preening has become part of some courtship displays and a displacement activity when birds are subjected to stress. Preening can be a social activity involving two or more birds called "allopreening", which occurs either between a mated pair or flock members in a social species. This may assist in grooming, the recognition of individuals, or reducing conflict. Most allopreening is confined to the head and neck. Ingestion of pollutants or pathogens during preening can lead to health problems. Injury and infection can cause overpreening in caged birds. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Great hornbill with a casque

... that the casques of some large hornbill species (example pictured) can take up to six years to reach their full size?
... that Beverley Manley was a prominent activist for women's rights in Jamaica while her husband was prime minister?
... that a tunnel along Japan National Route 410 and Japan National Route 465 is the second-oldest tunnel still used on Japanese national highways?
... that Nicholas Chevalier designed a fern-inspired dress for Anne Maria Barkly, an expert on South African ferns?
... that "Herr, du bist mein Leben" (Lord, You are my life), a translation of a popular Italian 1977 "Symbolum" with text and music by Pierangelo Sequeri, was included in the next German Catholic hymnal?
... that after Watergate, the legal profession turned to the 19th-century ethics of David Hoffman because the President's lawyers had "blindly followed the demands of their client"?
... that Thomas S. Riley, the son of Irish immigrants, was West Virginia's 11th attorney general and chairperson of the West Virginia Democratic Party State Executive Committee?
... that in "Oh Sheit It's X", Thundercat sings about feeling ecstasy while on ecstasy?

In the news

Mark Selby

An elevated section of the Mexico City Metro collapses, leaving at least 25 people dead and more than 70 others injured.
Mark Selby (pictured) wins the World Snooker Championship, defeating Shaun Murphy in the final.
Colombian president Iván Duque Márquez withdraws a proposed tax reform after nationwide protests leave at least 19 people dead.
In horse racing, Medina Spirit wins the Kentucky Derby, earning trainer Bob Baffert a record seventh victory in the race.
In Israel, 45 people are killed in a crowd crush at a religious festival on Mount Meron.

On this day

May 8: World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day; Anniversary of the birth of Miguel Hidalgo in Mexico (1753); Victory in Europe Day (1945)

Sketch of the Versailles rail accident

1821 – Greek War of Independence: At the Battle of Gravia Inn, a 120-man Greek force led by Odysseas Androutsos repulsed an Ottoman army of 8,000 soldiers.
1842 – A train derailed and caught fire (depicted) near Versailles, France, killing between 52 and 200 people.
1957 – South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm began a state visit to the United States, his regime's main sponsor.
1972 – Four members of Black September hijacked Sabena Flight 571 to demand the release of 315 convicted Palestinian terrorists.
1987 – A British Special Air Service unit ambushed a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) unit in Loughgall, Northern Ireland, killing eight IRA members and one civilian.

Ali Bey al-Kabir (d. 1773)
Friedrich Hayek (b. 1899)
Soeman Hs (d. 1999)

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Today's featured picture

Mary Lou Williams (May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records. Williams wrote and arranged for Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman, and she was friend, mentor and teacher to numerous other jazz musicians. The second of eleven children, she was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. A musical prodigy, she taught herself to play the piano at the age of three. This photograph of Williams at the piano was taken by William P. Gottlieb around 1946.

Photograph credit: William P. Gottlieb; restored by Adam Cuerden

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