Portal:Islands

The Inaccessible Island rail, or Inaccessible rail (Laterallus rogersi) is a small bird species of the rail family, Rallidae. Endemic to Inaccessible Island in the Tristan Archipelago in the isolated south Atlantic, it is the smallest extant flightless bird in the world. The species was formally described by physician Percy Lowe in 1923 but had first come to the attention of scientists 50 years earlier. The Inaccessible Island rail's taxonomic affinities and origin were a long-standing mystery; in 2018 its closest relative was identified as the South American dot-winged crake, and it was decided that both species are best classified in the genus Laterallus.

The Inaccessible Island rail has brown plumage, black bill and feet, and adults have a red eye. It occupies most habitats on Inaccessible Island, from the beaches to the central plateau, feeding on a variety of small invertebrates and also some plant matter. Pairs are territorial and monogamous, with both parents being responsible for incubating the eggs and raising the chicks. Its adaptations to living on a tiny island at high densities include low base metabolic rates, small clutch sizes, and flightlessness. (Full article...)

Sicilian cuisine is the style of cooking on the island of Sicily. It shows traces of all cultures that have existed on the island of Sicily over the last two millennia. Although its cuisine has much in common with Italian cuisine, Sicilian food also has Greek, Spanish, Jewish, Maghrebi, and Arab influences.

The Sicilian cook Mithaecus, born during 5th century BC, is credited with having brought knowledge of Sicilian gastronomy to Greece: his cookbook was the first in Greek, therefore he was the earliest cookbook author in any language whose name is known. (Full article...)

• ... that Jones Island Water Reclamation Facility is listed on the National Register of Historic Places?
• ... that during the construction of Coney Island's Luna Park, its owners electrocuted Topsy the elephant?
• ... that a 1956 eruption of Bristol Island drove Argentina to abandon a hut they had built on Thule Island?
• ... that while some lichen species in the genus Piccolia have ranges which span multiple continents, others are restricted to single islands?
• ... that the death of child monarch Kerekorio Manu Rangi in 1867 ended the ancient dynasty of Easter Island, which according to local belief "went back to the gods themselves"?
• ... that São Tomé and Príncipe was popularly known as the Chocolate Islands in the early 1900s, when it was the world's top exporter of cocoa?