Wikipedia:Main Page history/2012 May 4

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Today's featured article
The Red-tailed Black Cockatoo is a large cockatoo native to Australia. It is more common in the drier parts of the continent. Five subspecies are recognised, differing most significantly in beak size. Although the more northerly subspecies are widespread, the two southern subspecies are under threat. Adult Red-tailed Black Cockatoos are around 60 centimetres (24 in) in length and sexually dimorphic. Males are completely black in colour, excepting their prominent red tail bands; the slightly smaller females are black with yellow barring on chest with yellow grading to red spots over their crest, cheeks and wings and have yellow-orange tail stripes. The species is usually found in eucalyptus woodlands, or along water courses. In the more northerly parts of the country, these cockatoos are commonly seen in large flocks. They are seed eaters and cavity nesters. As such, they depend on trees with fairly large diameters, generally Eucalyptus. Populations in southeastern Australia are threatened by reduction in forest cover and other habitat alterations. Of the black cockatoos, the red-tailed black is the most adaptable to aviculture, although black cockatoos are much rarer and much more expensive outside Australia. (more...) Recently featured: Invasion of Tulagi – Golding Bird – Disintegration Archive – By email – More featured articles...
Did you know...
From Wikipedia's newest content: ... that Federal Forest Highway 13 (pictured) in the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan crosses the Sturgeon River on a T-beam bridge built in 1941? ... that the Biblioteca Palafoxiana in Puebla, Mexico, founded in 1646, was the first public library in colonial Mexico? ... that the inventor of the FIFA World Cup, Jules Rimet, won the Croix de Guerre while fighting with the French forces during the First World War? ... that archaeologists have found human remains, Mesolithic and Neolithic flintwork and Neolithic pottery in the caves of Goldsland wood near Wenvoe, Cardiff? ... that a TV crew filmed Prashant Bhushan being beaten up in his chambers in the Supreme Court of India? ... that despite an improved accident record following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Aeroflot's three deadliest accidents in the 1990s occurred in the post-Soviet era? ... that poet and underground leader Augustyn Suski refused to agree to the assassination of a Gestapo informant for lack of material evidence, and died as a result of his denunciation? Archive – Start a new article – Nominate an article

In the news
An 1895 version of The Scream (1893 version pictured), by Edvard Munch, sells at auction for a record US$120 million. Bolivia announces plans to nationalise local assets of the Spanish electricity company Red Eléctrica de España. Guggenheim Partners, LLC purchases the Los Angeles Dodgers for US$2.1 billion, a record for a professional sports franchise. A ferry capsizes in Assam, India, killing at least 103 people on board. Saudi Arabia closes its embassy and consulates in Egypt following protests over the Saudi detention of Egyptian lawyer Ahmed al-Gizawi. Malaysian police arrest more than 500 protesters in Kuala Lumpur rallying for election reform. Wikinews – Recent deaths – More current events...
On this day...
May 4: Restoration of Independence Day in Latvia (1990); Star Wars Day 1493 – Pope Alexander VI issued the papal bull Inter caetera, establishing a line of demarcation dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal. 1814 – Ferdinand VII abolished the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism. 1886 – An unknown assailant threw a bomb into a crowd of police, turning a peaceful labor rally in Chicago into the Haymarket massacre, which resulted in the deaths of seven police officers and many bystanders. 1942 – World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy engaged Allied naval forces at the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first fleet action in which aircraft carriers engaged each other. 1979 – Margaret Thatcher (pictured) became the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, following the defeat of James Callaghan's incumbent Labour government in the previous day's general election. More anniversaries: May 3 – May 4 – May 5 Archive – By email – List of historical anniversaries It is now May 4, 2012 (UTC) – Refresh this page

Today's featured picture

A monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) at the Cape May Bird Observatory in New Jersey, US, with a plastic sticker on it to help researchers track animal migration. Tracking information is used to study the migration patterns of monarchs, including how far and where they fly.

Photo: Derek Ramsey

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