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The Water Rail is a bird of the rail family found across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding range. It breeds in reed beds and other marshy sites with tall, dense vegetation, building its nest a little above the water level from whatever plants are available nearby. The adult is 23–28 cm (9–11 in) long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened laterally to allow it easier passage through reed beds. It has mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks, long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. The off-white, blotched eggs are incubated mainly by the female, and the precocial downy chicks hatch in 19–22 days. Water Rails are omnivorous, although they feed mainly on animals. They are territorial even after breeding, and will aggressively defend feeding areas in winter. These rails are vulnerable to flooding or freezing conditions, loss of habitat and predation by mammals (such as the American mink) and large birds, but overall the species' huge range and large numbers mean that it is not considered to be threatened. (Full article...)
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November 10: Remembrance Sunday in the Commonwealth (2013); Remembrance of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (09:05 EET/07:05 UTC, Turkey)
- 1202 – The first major action of the Fourth Crusade and the first attack against a Catholic city by Catholic crusaders, the Siege of Zara, began in Zadar, Croatia.
- 1766 – William Franklin, the last Royal Governor of New Jersey, signed the charter establishing Queen's College, now known as Rutgers University.
- 1871 – Journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley located missing missionary and explorer David Livingstone (both pictured, left and right respectively) in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika in present-day Tanzania.
- 1969 – The first episode of the children's television series Sesame Street premiered on public broadcasting television stations in the United States, to adulatory reviews, some controversy, and high ratings.
- 2007 – At the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, King Juan Carlos I of Spain asked President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez "Why don't you shut up?" after Chávez repeatedly interrupted a speech by Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
More anniversaries: November 9 – November 10 – November 11
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