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The forest raven (Corvus tasmanicus), or Tasmanian raven, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae native to Tasmania and parts of southern Victoria and New South Wales. It is 50 to 53 cm (20 to 21 in) in length, its plumage, beak and legs are all black, and its feathers have grey bases. Adults have white irises; younger birds have dark irises with a blue rim. New South Wales populations form a subspecies, C. t. boreus. This raven lives in a wide variety of habitats in Tasmania, but in closed forest on mainland Australia. Breeding takes place in spring and summer, occurring later in Tasmania than in New South Wales. The nest is a bowl-shaped structure of sticks sited high in a tree. An opportunistic omnivore, it eats a wide variety of plant and animal material, as well as food waste from urban areas and roadkill. It has been blamed for killing lambs and poultry, and is unprotected in Tasmanian law. It is sedentary, with pairs generally bonding for life in permanent territories. (Full article...)

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On this day

February 9

The Beatles arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport

1234 – Caizhou, the capital of the Jin dynasty, was captured by the Mongol Empire and their Song allies, bringing an end to Jurchen rule.
1855 – A series of hoof-like marks in the snow continuing through the countryside for some 40 to 100 miles (60 to 160 km) were discovered in Devon, England.
1913 – A meteor procession was observed along a great circle arc from Canada to Brazil, leading astronomers to conclude that its source was a small, short-lived natural satellite of the Earth.
1923 – Stanley Bruce became prime minister of Australia as leader of the country's first Coalition government.
1964 – As Beatlemania swept the United States, the Beatles (pictured) made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show before a record-breaking audience, beginning a musical phenomenon known as the British Invasion.

Minamoto no Yoritomo (d. 1199)
Gerhard Richter (b. 1932)
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (d. 2002)

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Henties Bay is a coastal town in the Erongo Region of western Namibia. It is a holiday and retirement settlement, with angling a popular activity, and also serves as a gateway to the seal colony of Cape Cross, which lies 46 kilometres (29 miles) to the north of the town. The town is named after Major Hendrik "Henty" Stefanus van der Merwe, who found the location in 1929 while looking for water, noting the abundance of fish, and was one of the first to promote the town as a tourist resort. This aerial view of Henties Bay was taken in 2018, with the South Atlantic Ocean in the background.

Photograph credit: Arne Müseler

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