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From today's featured article

The African crake (Crex egregia) is a bird in the rail family that breeds in most of sub-Saharan Africa, except for the arid south and southwest. A partial migrant, it moves away from the equator as soon as the rains provide sufficient grassland or crops for breeding areas. It is commonly found in most of its range, depending on the season. A smallish crake, it has brown-streaked blackish upperparts, bluish-grey underparts and black-and-white barring on the flanks and belly, with a red bill, red eyes, and white facial streak. Its most characteristic call is a series of rapid grating krrr notes. The male has a territorial threat display, and may fight at territory boundaries. The nest is a shallow cup of grass leaves built in a depression under a grass tussock or small bush. The 3–11 eggs start hatching after about 14 days, and the black, downy precocial chicks fledge after four to five weeks. The African crake feeds on a wide range of invertebrates, along with some small frogs and fish, and plant material, especially grass seeds. It may itself be eaten by large birds of prey, snakes, or mammals, including humans. (Full article...)

Part of the Crex series, one of Wikipedia's featured topics.

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Nako monastery

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In the news

Airbus A321-231 operated as Metrojet Flight 9268

Russia's Federal Security Service confirms that Metrojet Flight 9268 (aircraft pictured) was destroyed by a bomb.
At least 129 people are killed in a series of coordinated terrorist attacks in Paris.
Kurdish forces retake the Yazidi city of Sinjar from ISIS militants.
Following a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation, the IAAF suspends Russia from all international competition in the sport of athletics.
The National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, wins a majority in Myanmar's general election.
Two suicide bombings in Beirut kill at least 37 people and injure more than 200 others.

Ongoing events:
- European migrant crisis
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On this day...

November 18: Independence Day in Latvia (1918); National Day in Oman (1940)

Ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church

1210 – Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III after he commanded the Pope to annul the Concordat of Worms.
1812 – Napoleonic Wars: During Napoleon's invasion of Russia, Marshal Michel Ney's leadership in the Battle of Krasnoi earned him the nickname "the bravest of the brave" despite the overwhelming French defeat.
1865 – American author Mark Twain's story "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County", his first great success as a writer, was published.
1943 – Second World War: The Royal Air Force began its bombing campaign against Berlin (ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church pictured).
1985 – Calvin and Hobbes, a comic strip by Bill Watterson that was at its height one of the most popular in the world, was first published.

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Today's featured picture

Bolinus cornutus is a predatory species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Muricidae. This species is common along the west coast of Africa, where it prefers moderately shallow waters. The shell of the snail is distinctively large, spiny, and club-shaped, usually pale brown or tan in colour, with an elongated and straight siphonal canal.

Photograph: H. Zell

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