26 March: International Starling Day

Today is International Starling Day. Here are 10 facts you might not know about starlings:

1. The scientific name for the starling is Sturnus vulgaris, and the common name comes from the fact that when they fly, they look a bit star shaped.
2. They are about 20 cm (8 in) long with glossy plumage which looks Black from a distance, but when you get closer you can see a sheen of Purple and Green. In winter, they are speckled with White.
3. Their beaks are dark in colour in winter but they change to Yellow in time for the breeding season in order to attract females. Their beaks are very strong. They can probe for insect larvae or worms underground and open their beaks in the soil, even in frosty weather.
4. They are very sociable birds and known for large flocks which perform amazing aerobatic displays known as murmurations just before they roost in the evening. There might be thousands of birds in the flock.
5. Most of the starlings you see in the UK live here all year round, but in winter they will be joined by starlings which have migrated from further north.
6. Starlings are commonly used as laboratory birds, second only to the Pigeon.
7. They are excellent mimics, which has been noted in literature. In Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Hotspur says: "The king forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer. But I will find him when he is asleep, and in his ear I'll holler 'Mortimer!' Nay I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer, and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion."
8. In fact, Shakespeare’s mention of the birds in his plays is the reason European starlings were introduced to America. Legend has it that a group of Shakespeare fans in the late 19^th century thought it would be lovely if all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare plays could be found and observed in New York’s Central Park. Of all the birds they imported for this purpose, the starling was the most successful and is now common all over North America.
9. Mozart had a pet starling. He bought it from a pet shop after hearing it sing one of his compositions. The bird could sing part of his Piano Concerto in G Major. Mozart became very attached to his pet starling and arranged an elaborate funeral for it when it died three years later. It has been suggested that his A Musical Joke was inspired by a starling’s song.
10. In the medieval Welsh tale Mabinogion, Branwen tamed a starling, "taught it words", and sent it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brothers, Bran and Manawydan, who then sailed from Wales to Ireland to rescue her.

Character birthday

Black Rose, formerly known as Red Tornado, is the youngest child of Superwil and Electric Blue. Her power is super speed and fast reaction times, but unlike most of her siblings, did not inherit the ability to fly. 

Hence in a battle with supervillains, she needed to be rescued and carried to safety by her brother, Captain Crimson. He was attacked by one of the villains and accidentally dropped her. As far as the Warner family could tell, Red Tornado had fallen into an active volcano and they had to accept she was gone. 

They did not know that one of the villains had caught her in an indestructible net and though badly burned, she had survived. The Power League fixed her up with bionic limbs and a bionic eye; through these she acquired the ability to fly. The eye has a rear vision mode enabling her to see behind her and can also function as a camera. At first, she had amnesia which the villains used to poison her mind against her family, which resulted in her dyeing her red hair black and changing her name from Red Tornado to Black Rose. 

She was given the mission to kill her family and other superheroes during a royal wedding. However, Rose decided not to do so as innocent people she had no grudge against would also die. She wanted to exact revenge on her family on her own terms. She hid in a Galorvian ski resort working as a ski patroller and during that time fell in love with Art Kostellov, son of the resort’s founder. In due course, the Power League came after her and her family rescued her from them. Her bionic limbs had been deactivated, however. 

The Warners had no idea this was their long lost daughter and agonised over whether Superwil and Blaze should restore her powers. She was assessed by counsellor Tina Bryant to determine whether she would turn on the Warners once her powers were restored. During this time she learned her family did love her after all. In due course, she would marry Art and live with him in the mountains in Galorvia. Her story is told in Tale of Two Sisters.

A Tale of Two Sisters

During a battle with supervillains, a horrific accident leaves the Warner family with no option but to believe their youngest daughter, Jessica, is dead. It doesn't occur to them that the bad guys could, or would, save her.

Jessica wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she came to be on a space station with two bionic legs, a bionic arm and a bionic eye. She is told her family abandoned her and is sent back to Earth with a mission - to kill them. While Jessica wants to kill her family, along with the twin boys who once rejected her, she knows what the Alliance of Supervillains are asking her to do is a suicide mission. She decides to get her revenge in her own way.

As Jessica puts the first part of her revenge plan in motion, she finds herself with an agonising decision to make. Before she can decide, the Alliance come for her, determined to make her do their bidding. This time, it's the Alliance who leave her, crippled and at the mercy of the Warner family, who have no idea who the Alliance's Black Rose really is.

Jessica finds herself having to re-think her decisions in light of what she now learns about her family, the Alliance, the twins, and herself. It would appear the Alliance have left her with an unwanted and permanent reminder of her time with them. Or have they?

Jessica's older sister, Jill, knows her destiny is to be a doctor and specialise in bionics and genetic variant medicine. She is also hopelessly in love with Christopher, Crown Prince of Galorvia. Can their romance survive the lies Christopher told her when they were both at school, an unplanned pregnancy and Sophie, the wannabe princess who comes between them?

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