title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Alula feathers complete their development at about the same time as the last three primary sprouts. The marginal covers on the upper or outer surface of the forearm, located below the alula, shed at approximately the same time that the primary remix VI is being replaced.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The first feathers under the wing to molt are the marginal coverts, under the forearm. The shedding of these feathers begins at about the same time that the primary remix IV falls and is followed by that of the lower middle primary and lower middle secondary coats. The progression of the molting of the lower middle secondary blankets is from the outside to the inside, while that of the lower middle primary mats seems to be irregular or almost simultaneous. The medial lower coverts molt before the primary remiges VIII and IX. The major lower primary coverts and major lower secondary coverts molt last. The progression of the molting of these last feathers is the same as in the primary and secondary sprouts, that is, from the inside out and from the outside in, respectively.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The caudal feathers comprise the rudder or rectrix feathers and the upper and lower tail covers. The tail covers begin to shed before the rectrices. Generally, the upper tail covers begin to shed first. Certain birds lose some rectrices by the end of the third week of August. The helmsmen in the center of the queue are the last rectrices to be renovated.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Molting in the capital region involves changing the feathers of the pileus and the sides of the head. It is one of the last parts of the body to begin feather replacement, but the renewal of most of the capital feathers is complete before that of the secondary feathers, tail feathers, and under-wing feathers. The beginning of the molt in this region coincides with the beginning of the development of the primary remige V or VI. Some individuals have already started replacing the capital feathers by mid-August. The molt begins at the pileus and the last areas of the capital region to complete it are the eye strip and the cheeks (malar region).


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In some birds, the first signs of molt in the ventral feathers appear during the last days of July, when the feathers of the anterior portion of the laterals begin to fall. From there, the molt progresses backward along the sides and forward toward the throat and chin. The last ventral feathers to be replaced are those towards the center of the abdomen. The molt of the dorsal feathers begins around the first week of August. It begins at the bladder, progresses to the upper back, and then to the cervical region.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The earliest evidence of molting in the humeral plumes corresponds to the last days of July. The molt comes from the anterior region backwards. The change of the femoral feathers begins later than that of the humeral ones. However, the progression is similar. Replacement of feather feathers rarely begins before August 15. The progression is generally from the proximal end of the tibia to the tarsometatarsal region.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird is widely spread throughout North America, except in the arid desert, high mountain ranges, and arctic or dense afforestation regions. It breeds from central-eastern Alaska and Yukon in the northwest, and Newfoundland in the northeast, to northern Costa Rica in the south, and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Northern populations migrate to the southern United States, but those that breed there, in Mexico, and in Central America are sedentary. Red-winged blackbirds in the northern reaches of the range are migratory, spending winters in the southern United States and Central America. Migration begins in September or October, but occasionally as early as August. In western and Central America, populations are generally non-migratory.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird inhabits open grassy areas. It generally prefers wetlands, and inhabits both freshwater and saltwater marshes, particularly if cattail is present. It is also found in dry upland areas, where it inhabits meadows, prairies, and old fields. In a large part of its distribution area, it constitutes the most abundant passerine bird in the swamps in which it nests. It is also present in areas without much water, where it inhabits open fields – often agricultural areas – and sparse deciduous forests.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In the winter of 1975–1976, near Milan (western Tennessee), red-winged blackbirds were observed resting in a mixed roost that came to house 11 million individuals in January and early February in a plantation of 4.5 hectares of yellow pine (Pinus taeda) with little undergrowth was seen in soybean fields during the day, being that these constituted only 21% of the habitat in the area and that the other bird species present in the roost were not commonly observed in these fields; they were also common in cornfields. the presences of the bird in feedlots has increased as winter progressed, but, accounting for less than 5% of the ichterids and starlings recorded in both feedlots of cows and pigs, they were much rarer there than the brown-headed cowbird, common grackle and common starling.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: During the breeding season, the density of breeding adults is much higher in swamps than in highland fields. Although the highest concentrations of nesting red-winged blackbird are found in swamps, most of them nest in upland habitats since they are much more abundant. In a study conducted in the Wood County, Ohio between 1964 and 1968, the density of territorial males in wetland habitat was found to be 2.89 times those in upland habitat. But, because of the small amount of wetland habitat, the total estimated upland population of territorial males


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: was 2.14 times the wetland population. Alfalfa ("Medicago sativa") and other legume crops (hay) were the principal habitat for breeding redwings in the county. Despite the marked preference for wetland habitats, the greater population in uplands reflects wetlands' scarcity.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In that same study, reproductive individuals in upland habitats demonstrated a slight preference for old and new grasses such as "Phleum pratense", "Dactylis glomerata", "Poa" spp., "Festuca" spp., and "Bromus" spp. In the early part of the breeding season and new non-graminoid herbaceous plants in the mid and late season. In wetlands, they consistently preferred old and new broadleaf monocotyledons, primarily "Carex" spp, broadleaf, and "Typha" spp, and consistently rejected old and new narrow-leaved monocots, primarily narrow-leaved "Phalaris arundinacea" and "Calamagrostis canadensis", and non-graminoid herbaceous plants. Red-winged blackbirds breeding in the highlands favored older tall vegetation only in the early part of the breeding season on April to May, and higher new vegetation and dense vegetation throughout the breeding season. For their part, those who settled in wetlands seemed to have a slight predilection for taller old vegetation. During the breeding season, this species is attracted to tall vegetation that restricts visibility.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Early season preferences for old grassland in the highlands and old broadleaf monocotyledons in wetlands point to the importance of upright residual vegetation. Highland grasses and broadleaf monocots in wetlands stand partially vertically and are easily visible in early spring, unlike clovers, narrow-leaved monocotyledons in wetlands and most non-graminoid herbaceous plants. Old alfalfa plants are also partially upright in early spring, but they are not as consistently chosen a species as old grasses. The start of the territorial activity is earlier when the amount of residual vegetation is large. Vegetation structural strength also appears to be important for nesting as females tend to broadleaf monocotyledons in wetlands throughout the breeding season and new non-graminoid herbaceous plants in the mid to late season.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In southwestern Michigan, the density of cattail stems in different ponds was positively related to the concentration of reproductive adults. However, other studies detected a predilection for more scattered vegetation. One found that red-winged blackbirds avoided the marsh wren ("Pantaneros chivirenes"), a predator common in nests of this species, reproducing among more dispersed vegetation, which was more easily defended from the chivirines; conversely, the chivirines seemed to prefer the denser vegetation, where they were more likely to avoid the aggressiveness of the red-winged blackbird; These differences in habitat selection between one species and another resulted in spatial segregation of their breeding areas. On the other hand, red-winged blackbirds tend to opt for small lots of vegetation and plants with thick stems.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird is territorial, polygynous, gregarious and a short-distance migratory bird. Its way of flying is characteristic, with rapid wing flaps punctuated by brief periods of gliding flight. The behavior of males makes their presence easily perceived: they perch in high places such as trees, bushes, fences, telephone lines, etc. Females tend to stay low, prowling through the vegetation and building their nests. They can be found in home gardens, particularly during their migration, if seeds have been scattered on the ground. The forest curtains serve as a resting place during the day.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: For several weeks after their first appearance in early spring, red-winged blackbirds are generally seen in flocks made up entirely of males. During those days, they are seldom seen at their breeding sites, except early morning and late afternoon. In most of the remaining hours of the day, they frequent open and often elevated agricultural land, where they feed mainly on grain stubble and grassy fields. When disturbed while eating, they fly to the nearest deciduous trees and immediately after landing they begin to sing.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird is omnivorous. It feeds primarily on plant materials, including seeds from weeds and waste grain such as corn and rice, but about a quarter of its diet consists of insects and other small animals, and considerably more so during breeding season. It prefers insects, such as dragonflies, damselflies, butterflies, moths, and flies, but also consumes snails, frogs, eggs, carrion, worms, spiders, mollusks. The red-winged blackbird forages for insects by picking them from plants, or by catching them in flight. Sometimes insects are obtained by exploring the bases of aquatic plants with their small beaks, opening holes to reach the insects hidden inside. Aquatic insects, particularly odonates emerging, are of great importance in the diet of red-winged blackbirds that breed in swamps. These birds typically capture the odonates when the larvae climb up the stem of a plant from the water, get rid of their exuviae, and cling to the vegetation while their exoskeletons harden. The years of emergence of Periodical cicadas, it provides an overabundant amount of food. In season, they also eat blueberries, blackberries and other fruits. According to Edward Howe Forbush, when they arrive north in the spring, they feed in the fields and meadows. Then, they follow the plows, collecting larvae, earthworms and caterpillars left exposed, and in case there is a plague of Paleacrita vernata caterpillars in a fruit orchard, these birds will fly a kilometer to get them for their chicks.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In season, it eats blueberries, blackberries, and other fruit. These birds can be lured to backyard bird feeders by bread and seed mixtures and suet. In late summer and in autumn, the red-winged blackbird will feed in open fields, mixed with grackles, cowbirds, and starlings in flocks which can number in the thousands. It feeds on corn while it is maturing; once the grain has hardened it is relatively safe from this bird, since its beak and digestive system are not adapted for the consumption of hard and whole corn grains, unlike the Common grackle, which has a longer and stronger beak. Studies of the stomachs of individuals of both sexes reveal that males consume higher proportions of crop grains, while females ingest a relatively larger amount of herb seeds and animal matter. In the winter of 1975–1976, near Milan, western Tennessee, corn and herb seeds were the main foods consumed by red-winged blackbird. Herbs whose seeds were commonly consumed were Sorghum halepense, Xanthium strumarium, Digitaria ischaemum, Sporobolus spp., Polygonum spp. and Amaranthus spp.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird nests in loose colonies. The nest is built in cattails, rushes, grasses, sedge, or alder or willow bushes. The nest is constructed entirely by the female over the course of three to six days. It is a basket of grasses, sedge, and mosses, lined with mud, and bound to surrounding grasses or branches. It is located to above water.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: A clutch consists of three or four, rarely five, eggs. Eggs are oval, smooth and slightly glossy, and measure . They are pale bluish green, marked with brown, purple, and/or black, with most markings around the larger end of the egg. These are incubated by the female alone, and hatch in 11 to 12 days. Red-winged blackbirds are hatched blind and naked, but are ready to leave the nest 11 to 14 days after hatching.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Red-winged blackbirds are polygynous, with territorial males defending up to 10 females. However, females frequently copulate with males other than their social mate and often lay clutches of mixed paternity. Pairs raise two or three clutches per season, in a new nest for each clutch.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The reproductive season of the red-winged blackbird extends approximately from the end of April to the end of July. On the other hand, in different states has been estimated that the period in which the active nests contained eggs lay between beginning in late April and early late August; and in northern Louisiana nests were found to harbor chicks from late April to late July. The peak of the nesting season (the time with the highest number of active nests) has been recorded between the first half of May and the beginning of June in different places. A study in eastern Ontario found that although red-winged blackbirds began nesting earlier in years with warm springs, associated with low winter values in the North Atlantic Oscillation Index, egg laying dates remained unchanged. Male testosterone levels peak in the early part of the breeding season, but remain high throughout the season. Females reproduce for up to ten years.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Many aspects of territorialism (for example, the number of male songs and displays, and the number of intrusions into foreign territories) peak before mating. After this, the frequency of many of the territorial behaviors decreases and the males are mainly concerned with defending the females, eggs, and chicks against predation. Experiments in the systematic removal of birds from their territories suggest that the extra population of males that is present in swamps before copulations disappears after copulation.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Predation of eggs and nestlings is quite common. Nest predators include snakes, mink, raccoons, and other birds, even as small as marsh wrens. The red-winged blackbird is occasionally a victim of brood parasites, particularly brown-headed cowbirds. Since nest predation is common, several adaptations have evolved in this species. Group nesting is one such trait which reduces the risk of individual predation by increasing the number of alert parents. Nesting over water reduces the likelihood of predation, as do alarm calls. Nests, in particular, offer a strategic advantage over predators in that they are often well concealed in thick, waterside reeds and positioned at a height of one to two meters. Males often act as sentinels, employing a variety of calls to denote the kind and severity of danger. Mobbing, especially by males, is also used to scare off unwanted predators, although mobbing often targets large animals and man-made devices by mistake. The brownish coloration of the female may also serve as an anti-predator trait in that it may provide camouflage for her and her nest while she is incubating.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Predators of red-winged blackbirds include such species as raccoons, American mink, long-tailed weasels, Eurasian magpies, common grackles, owls, red-tailed hawks, short-tailed hawks, and snakes (such as the northern water snake and the plains garter snake). Ravens and grazers such as marsh wrens feed on eggs (and even small chicks), if the nest is left unattended, destroying the eggs, occasionally drinking from them, and pecking the nestlings to death.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The relative importance of different nest predators varies by geographic region: the top predators in different regions include the marsh wren in British Columbia, the magpies in Washington, and the raccoons in Ontario. The incidence of avian predation in red-winged blackbird nests is higher in western populations than in eastern populations.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Due to high predation rates, especially of eggs and chicks, the red-winged blackbird has developed various adaptations to protect its nests. One of them consists of nesting in groups, which reduces the danger since there is a greater number of alert parents. Nesting over water also lowers the chances of an attack. Nests in particular offer a strategic advantage as they are often hidden among dense riparian reeds, at a height of one or two meters. males often act as sentinels, using a repertoire of calls. Males in particular hunt down potential predators to scare them away, even when dealing with much larger animals. Aggressiveness of the red-winged blackbird towards the marsh wren, which also nests in swamps, causes a partial interspecies territorialism. On the other hand, nocturnal predators such as raccoons and American mink are not attacked by adults. Coloration of the female could serve to camouflage it, protecting it and its nest when it is incubated.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird can accommodate ectoparasites such as various "Phthiraptera", the "Ischnocera" "Philopterus agelaii" and "Brueelia ornatissima", and hematophagous mites, like "Ornithonyssus sylviarum", and endoparasites like "Haemoproteus quiscalus", "Leucocytozoon icteris", "Plasmodium vaughani", nematodes, flukes and tapeworms.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird aggressively defends its territory from other animals, and will attack much larger birds. During breeding season, males will swoop at humans who encroach upon their nesting territory. Male red-winged blackbirds also exhibit important territorial behaviors, most of which provides them with the necessary fidelity for many years to come. A few important factors for male red-winged blackbirds’ adherence to territories include food, hiding spaces from predators, types of neighbors, and reactions towards predators. Additionally, a study was done on site fidelity and movement patterns by Les D. Beletsky and Gordon H. Orians in 1987 which explained much of the males’ territorial behaviors once migrated and settled onto a territory of their own. Sufficient evidence had shown that males are committed to staying in their territory over a long period of time and are not more likely to change territories at a younger age due to limited experience of knowledge for success. Studies also showed that most of the males that were first-time movers to a new territory were between two and three years old. The majority of males that moved were young and inexperienced. Later on they had moved towards more available territories. If males had chosen to leave their territory for reproductive success, as an example, they would do so within a short distance. Males who moved shorter distances were more successful in reproducing than those who moved longer distances. Further studies showed that when males moved further away from their territories there was a decrease in probability of successfully fledging.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Red-winged blackbirds that breed in the northern part of their range, i.e., Canada and border states in the United States, migrate south for the winter. However, populations near the Pacific and Gulf coasts of North America and those of Middle America are year-round resident. Red-winged blackbirds live in both Northern U.S. and Canada, ranging from Yucatan Peninsula in the south to the southern part of Alaska. These extensions account for the majority of the continent stretching from California's Pacific coast and Canada to the eastern seaboard. Much of the populations within Middle America are non-migratory. During the fall, populations begin migrating towards Southern U.S. Movement of red-winged blackbirds can begin as early as August through October. Spring migration begins anywhere between mid-February to mid-May. Numerous birds from northern parts of the U.S., particularly the Great lakes, migrate nearly between their breeding season and winter Winter territorial areas differ based on geographic location. Other populations that migrate year-round include those located in Middle America or in the western U.S. and Gulf Coast. Females typically migrate longer distances than males. These female populations located near the Great Lakes migrate nearly farther. Yearly-traveled females also migrate further than adult males, while also moving roughly the same distance as other adult females. Red-winged blackbirds migrate primarily during daytime. In general, males’ migration flocks arrive prior to females in the spring and after females in the fall.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: According to the American ornithologist Arthur Cleveland Bent, in the northern regions of its range the eastern red-winged blackbird is almost completely beneficial from an economic perspective and there are comparatively few complaints of severe crop damage. Their diet consists almost entirely of insects, very few of which are useful species, and herb seeds. However, it causes certain damages to the grains that germinate in spring and to sweet corn in summer, while the grains are still soft, tearing the foliaceous covering of the ears and ruining them from a commercial point of view. It also attacks other grains in a limited way, but most of what it consumes is waste left in the ground. In the Midwest, where these birds are much more abundant and where cereals are grown more extensively than in the North, red-winged blackbirds and other ichterids, in late summer and fall, do great damage to grain fields, both while they are maturing as when they are harvested . However, it has been claimed that even there are beneficial because the larvae harmful than removed from corncobs and plants beet and can counteract pests of caterpillars. In the southern states, they seriously harm rice by plucking seedlings in spring and eating the still-soft grains as they mature, being in this sense almost as harmful as the Bobolink. On the other hand, they are of some use in consuming the weed seeds that would otherwise devalue the product.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Being one of the most numerous birds on the continent, it plays an important role in the dispersal of other species. Since red-winged blackbirds gather and rest in such large numbers, the survival of certain species that join their flocks is likely to be affected by their company. They can also be an important source of food for animals such as raccoons and mink. Likewise, populations that nest and rest in swamps could cushion the effect of predation on duck species and other animals. In summary, these birds are so numerous and active that their mere presence and natural behavior is enough to influence the environment in a visible way.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Through the control of insect populations through predation and unwanted herbs with the consumption of their seeds, they allow the growth of larger plants and crops. They also eat on Anthonomus grandis and Hypera postica, two species of weevils affecting cotton and alfalfa respectively, as well as harmful caterpillars of the European gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar) and of the genus Malacosoma. In some areas of the southern United States, the seeds of the common plumber (Xanthium strumarium), a weed detrimental to soybeans and cotton, seems to be an important food source for the species.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: During the breeding season, the approximately 8 million red-winged blackbirds nesting in Ohio and their chicks probably consume more than of insects, an average of almost . Many of these insects, such as the weevils (Hypera spp.), Come from alfalfa fields, pastures, oat fields and other crops. In cornfields, blackbirds often feed on corn worms (Helicoverpa zea) and beetles of the genus Diabrotica. In early spring, red-winged blackbirds consume corn borers (Ostrinia nubilalis) in fields with corn stubble. However, Bendell et al. (1981) found that the economic benefit of pest control, such as larvae of that lepidopteran, by the red-winged blackbird only compensated for 20% of the damage to crops caused by this bird.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbirds can devastate farm fields. Despite the fact that they consume weed seeds, they are known to cause great damage to agriculture due to their habits of resting in massive groups and their taste for agricultural products. may be also causes harm to plantings corn, rice, sunflower and sorghum, particularly important near roosts. Red-winged blackbird is the largest species of Icterid in North America and the most damaging to crops. From 215 birds Neotropical migrants have been identified as causing, by a wide margin, the greatest economic loss. In North America, the damage to corn crops by this species has increased since the late 1960s to early 1980s, perhaps because of the increase in the area for grain production, and due to the reduction of small areas with stubble, hayfields and uncultivated land, which, in turn, accentuated the bird's dependence on corn to ensure its livelihood.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Apparently, the male does more damage to this grain than the female. In some areas of Ohio, corn can account for up to 75% of the diet of males and only 6% of that of females in August and September. In South Dakota, in the late summer, the Gizzards of the males studied contained 29% corn, while in the case of the female that number was limited to 9%.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird is the dominant species in the large concentrations of blackbirds that feed on the fields of sunflower, corn and small grains maturing in late summer or early fall in the Dakotas. In the 1970s, losses to sunflower and corn crops caused by blackbirds in the Dakotas exceeded $3 million annually for each case. In the northern part of the Great Plains, an area known as the Prairie Pothole Region, in red-winged blackbirds are very abundant in summer, they congregate in post-reproductive flocks that significantly harm crops, particularly sunflower plantations near their home sites. Most sunflower damage occurs between mid-August and early September, when the calorie content of immature seeds is low and birds must consume more of them to satiate themselves. During this initial stage of predation on sunflower crops in which more than 75% of the total damage is caused, the red-winged blackbird represent 80% of the blackbirds observed in the fields of this seed. This period predates the massive migration of birds and most of them are of local origin. Most remain within of their native sites until the molting of their feathers is complete or nearly complete in late August or early September. Damage can be quite serious in the center and southeast of North Dakota and Northeast South Dakota, areas of high concentration of sunflower production and abundant wetlands that attract red-winged blackbird during the breeding season.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Investigations conducted between 1968 and 1979 revealed that blackbirds, notably the black-winged blackbird and the Common grackle, annually destroyed less than 1% of corn crops in Ohio, amounting to a loss between 4 and 6 million dollars according to 1979 prices. Insects, weeds, diseases and fungi. They are likely to cause losses of more than 20% of the total potential maize harvest in the Midwest states, and harvesting procedures often leave 5% or more of the maize in the fields, revealing that comparative damage by Ichteridae in Ohio is not great. However, the average damage caused by these birds is not of as much economic importance as its distribution among producers. While 97.5% of cornfields studied in Ohio suffered a loss of less than 5%, which constituted about 60% of the total damage in the state, the remaining 2.5% often incurred losses of more than 5% and represented approximately 40% of total injury in Ohio.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: All Ohio counties experience some degree of predation on their maize crops from blackbirds, but those most affected are a few counties where marshes that roost them still abound. The counties of Ottawa, Sandusky and Lucas, on the waters of Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie, were the hardest hit. These three counties, among the 19 studied between 1968 and 1976, contained 62% of the fields in which the losses exceeded 5% and 77% of those in which they exceeded 10%. Other counties with extensive localized damage were Erie, Ashtabula also located on the coasts of the mentioned water courses and Hamilton. Almost all the plantations with damages greater than 5% were within of some important roosting of blackbirds. In the 1968–1976 period, in northeast Sandusky County and northwest Ottawa, where large roosts of up to a million birds were discovered in late summer and fall, average losses exceeded 9% in fields from the roosts, but they were less than 5% at and less than 2% at . In southwestern Ontario, in the summer of 1964, it was found that the greatest damage to the cornfields by red-winged blackbird also occurred near roosts in swamps.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The two main options that farmers can choose from to avoid the presence of birds once corn has entered the milky stage of its maturation process are the use of the chemical 4-aminopyridine and the implementation of mechanical devices to frighten birds away. The time chosen to take measures to disperse the blackbirds is of great importance since once the birds have chosen a field to feed there they are likely to return for several days. The longer be allowed to feed them unmolested, will become more difficult to scare them away. Also, most of the damage is inflicted in just a few days, when the pimples are soft; consequently, control techniques will not be very useful if applied after this period.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: As early as 1667, Massachusetts Bay settlers had enacted laws to try to reduce blackbird populations and mitigate damage to corn. According to Henry David Thoreau, a law provided that each single man in a town must kill six of those birds and, as a punishment for not doing so, he could not marry until he had complied with the aforementioned design. Obviously, since blackbirds reproduce at a much higher speed than humans marry, this control strategy was a failure. Pioneers traveling west to the Great Lakes region faced similar problems. By 1749, blackbirds were so abundant around western Lake Erie that people took turns watching over the maturing grain crops.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: At the beginning of the 20th century, in some places, when the reeds dried up, these circumstances were used to kill these birds in the following way. A crew approached a roost in silence, hidden in the darkness of the night, and simultaneously lit the reeds at various points, which were quickly enveloped by a single great flame. This caused a huge tumult among the red-winged blackbird, which, lit by fire, were shot down in large numbers as they hovered in midair and screamed all over the place. Sometimes straw was used for the same purpose, which was previously scattered near reeds and alder bushes (Alnus spp.) in which they gathered to rest, the burning of which caused great consternation among the birds. The gang returned the next day to collect the hunted prey.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Arthur Cleveland Bent says that, before it was banned the sale of prey hunting in the market, red-winged blackbirds were massacred in large numbers in autumn and sold in markets. When they had put on weight on a diet of grains or rice, their small bodies were served as delicious snacks on the gourmet tables . Few could distinguish them from charlatans (Dolichonyx oryzivorus).


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In 1926, when the US Biological Survey – predecessor of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service carried out its first compilation of roosts of undesirable ichterids, it was recorded in Ohio, with its large populations of these birds and the fifth largest area allocated to the cultivation of corn among the American states, a number of complaints higher than in any other state. During the 1950s, bird control committees were organized in some counties to deal with the damage to maize caused by blackbirds and the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station now the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and the Department of Zoology and Entomology of the state university began investigating the problem.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Crop predation has led to the use of traps, poison and surfactants by farmers in an attempt to control populations of red-winged blackbirds; these last properties suppress waterproof feathers, making them extremely vulnerable to the cold, but their effectiveness depends on certain atmospheric conditions, namely low temperatures and rainfall. Programs in which baits were used poisoned to reduce icteride concentrations in late summer have been unsuccessful. While thousands of birds have occasionally died, the effect on large roosting-associated flocks that sometimes contain more than a million individuals is small; In addition, specimens of other species frequently die. The use of large lure traps, which often catch hundreds of birds per day, is also ineffective against these large flocks.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: 4-Aminopyridine is applied to one in one hundred particles of ground corn used as bait. Generally, corn is thrown into the fields from planes that release a load of about of bait per hectare on one third of the land. Because that amount of ground corn contains around 205,000 particles, approximately 2050 toxic particles are distributed per hectare treated. The ingestion of one or more of these particles by a blackbird causes erratic flight, calls for suffering and finally death; that behavior often leads the remaining birds in the flock to leave the field. The chemical DRC-1327, which has proven useful in mitigating damage to maturing corn, operates in the same way: when a bird ingests kernels from a partially hand-peeled cob to which the chemical has been applied with a sprayer manual, his erratic flight and his pre-death calls for suffering, which span a space of between five and fifteen minutes, chase away flocks from the fields.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The initial application of 4-aminopyridine should be carried out as soon as possible after the start of the milky stage of the grain ripening process. Two other booster applications five to seven days apart are generally recommended; Often just one is sufficient, but under conditions of prolonged bird activity more than three applications may be required at shorter intervals. In Brown County (Northeast South Dakota), in 1965, hand-spread 4-aminopyridine baits at intervals of about one week reduced projected red-winged blackbird loss by maturing corn crops by 85%. The distressing behavior exhibited by the individuals affected by the chemical produced a marked fear response in other members of the flocks and the fields were free of red-winged blackbirds even when the estimated directly affected proportion was less than 1%. It has even been suggested that the continued use of 4-aminopyridine over the years could cause a change in the pattern of migration to the south, as if birds were learning to avoid areas persistently treated with the chemical.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In another experiment in the same county, the number of blackbirds making use of the treated area fell dramatically over a period of five days after treatment had begun and remained low for the remainder of the season of damage to cornfields. The results of this method were largely limited to icterides. Although common pheasant were abundant, there was no evidence that any were affected, and mortality among other bird species was negligible.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The abundance of weeds should be considered as restricting the chances that birds will find bait particles scattered on the ground, so the use of this chemical must be accompanied by a weed control program. A less obvious problem is that of the insects that remove the bait. If Gryllus are detected in a field, ground corn is expected to disappear quickly. Crickets generally select untreated particles and leave the toxic ones behind; however, the rapid decrease in the total volume of ground corn on the ground decreases the attractiveness of ground-level feeding for blackbirds. Because cricket populations are difficult to control, more frequent applications or other bird control techniques may be desirable under these circumstances. A third problem is that of heavy rains, which cover the bait with soil or drag it into cracks in the ground. Likewise, a low population density of ichterides can reduce the effectiveness of its control with 4-aminopyridine.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: A variety of devices to repel them, including electronic noise-making systems, helium balloons tied in the fields, radio-controlled aircraft, and various types of scarecrows are occasionally used in cornfields. Methods such as scarecrows, pyrotechnics, and propane cannons, may help mitigate mild predation, but only work effectively if the duration of the damage period is less than that of the birds becoming accustomed to these methods. Red-winged blackbirds quickly become accustomed to them, particularly if the crop is a prime food source in an area with few alternative sources of livelihood. Although harvesting as early as possible after the corn has dried sufficiently can limit damage by northern grazing flocks, adjusting the harvest date does not help farmers reduce losses by red-winged blackbirds during the milky stage.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: One approach that has been successful in controlling roosts in the highlands is dispersal of populations through habitat alteration or bird harassment. These procedures, carried out by biologists in cooperation with local citizens, have been successful in dispersing or displacing populations of up to one million individuals. Although this dispersion can sometimes move the problem from one place to another – especially when the area has been intensively cultivated with corn and alternative food sources are not abundant, it has often been effective in solving local problem situations. Because oats and wheat grains in already harvested fields constitute an important food for blackbirds in late summer, the postponement of plowing the land with small grain stubble can lessen the pressure exerted by the predation of these birds on the maturing corn. The natural existence or planting of plants such as millet, sorghum (Sorghum spp.), Polygons (Polygonum spp.) And various grasses for example, mohas (Setaria spp.) that could be beneficial. As a general ecological principle, diversity in the types of habitats that can be maintained in regions of intense agricultural activity is related to a greater probability that the damages caused by pests are restricted to economically tolerable levels.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Studies in sweet corn fields indicate that blackbirds could often be initially attracted to maturing crops by insects. Flocks can wander the land cultivated for about a week consuming insects and weed seeds before attacking the corn. Diabrotica beetles may be especially attractive during this period. Thus the birds become habituated to feeding in the fields and quickly move from insects to corn when it enters the vulnerable milky stage. Experiments in which insect populations in sweet corn crops were treated with insecticides during the week before the grain entered the milky phase, they showed that fewer birds visited these fields and less damage was recorded to the corn in the subsequent vulnerability period than in nearby untreated land. It is probable that the abundance of weeds in cornfields also increases their attractiveness to ichterids and their control would lead to a decrease in the losses produced by these birds.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: An alternative way to reduce populations of red-winged blackbird, and therefore the damage they cause to crops, involves implementing a program that is intended to interfere with their ability to reproduce, for example, through the use of sterilizing chemicals. Due to the polygynous nature of the species, it has been suggested that such a program could become more effective if directed at males. However, the incidence of promiscuity would imply that chemical sterilization of a certain fraction of males from a local population would not result in a proportional decrease in fertile clutches.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The effects of this method would probably vary according to the type of habitat in which the treated males have established their territories. In general, there should be a higher proportion of fertile clutches in those densely populated habitats and with a greater number of renidifications (nest reconstructions). Renidifications are more common in swamps than in the highlands. In turn, individuals that reproduce in the highlands probably feed more often within their own territories than those that reproduce in swamps, which probably makes promiscuity difficult in the first type of habitat. Thus, chemical sterilization could be more effective among upland populations than among swamp populations.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Sterilizing chemicals may reduce the number of chicks produced by a successful nest. Since renidification clutches are significantly fewer in number than the original, even if a female that first mated with a sterile male then renidified and mated with a fertile male, perhaps she would produce fewer chicks than she would have had if her first clutch would have been fertile.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The number of fertile clutches in a male's territory may be limited through the sterilization of that male, but the degree to which that number decreases will depend on the disposition of the neighboring fertile territorial males and perhaps also on the number of fertile non-territorial males. in the population. Studies with artificial eggs suggest that incubation of sterile eggs would be prolonged, 98 since females normally incubate artificial eggs for around 20 days. An extended incubation of unviable eggs would result in fewer renidification attempts and, therefore, it decreased the opportunities to find a fertile mate for a female who originally mated with a sterile male.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Farmers have been known to use pesticides—such as parathion—in illegal attempts to control their populations. In the United States, such efforts are illegal because no pesticide can be used on non-target organisms, or for any use not explicitly listed on the pesticide's label. However, the USDA has deliberately poisoned this species in the past: in 2009, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reported poisoning over 950,000 red-winged blackbirds in Texas and Louisiana. This poisoning has been implicated as a potential cause of the decline of the rusty blackbird, a once abundant species that has declined 99% since the 1960s and has been recently listed as Threatened on the IUCN Red List.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In the Anishinaabe languages, an indigenous language group spoken throughout much of the bird's northeastern range, this bird's names are diverse. In the Oji-Cree language, the northernmost of the Anishinaabe languages, it is called "jachakanoob", while the Ojibwa language spoken in Northwestern Ontario and into Manitoba ranging immediately south of the Oji-Cree's range, the bird is called "jachakanoo" (with the cognates "cahcahkaniw" (Swampy Cree), "cahcahkaluw" (coastal Southern East Cree), "cahcahkayuw" (inland Southern East Cree), "cahcahkayow" (Plains Cree); the northern Algonquian languages classify the red-winged blackbird as a type of a junco or grackle, deriving the bird's name from their word for "spotted" or "marked". In the vast majority of the other Ojibwa language dialects, the bird is called "memiskondinimaanganeshiinh", literally meaning "a bird with a very red damn-little shoulder-blade". However, in the Odawa language, an Anishinaabe language in southwestern Ontario and in Michigan, the bird is instead called either "memeskoniinisi" ("bird with a red [patch on its wing]") or "memiskonigwiigaans" ("[bird with a] wing of small and very red [patch]"). In N'syilxcn (Colville-Okanagan, Interior Salish language) the bird is known as ƛ̓kƛ̓aʕkək. In the Hoocąk language they are known as "cooxją́ aporošucra", which describes the round red spot on its wing as well as identifying it as a blackbird.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In the Great Plains, the Lakota language, another Indigenous language spoken throughout much of the bird's range, the bird is called "wabloša" ("wings of red"). Its songs are described in Lakota as "tōke, mat'ā nī" ("oh! that I might die"), as "nakun miyē" ("...and me"), as "miš eyā" ("me too!"), and as "cap'cehlī" ("a beaver's running sore").


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: It is a species of least-concern. Being one of the largest and most widely distributed birds in North America, little has been done to protect it from the effects of habitat destruction and urbanization. It can survive in a wide range of environments, many populations manage to overcome the loss of natural habitats. However, red-winged blackbirds thrive in wetland areas and with the destruction of natural wetlands their population is likely to shrink. The species is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act 1918, a formal treaty between the United States and Canada that was later expanded to include Mexico. This law gives them legal protection in the United States, but they can be killed "when they are found preying or about to prey on ornamental trees or trees planted for shade, crops, livestock or wildlife."


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: A study in Illinois indicated that red-winged blackbird populations doubled between 1908 and 1958. It had traditionally reproduced in wetlands, with Ohio primarily inhabiting swamps associated with lakes and rivers. During the 20th century, however, it adapted to man-made habitat changes and now often nests in hayfields, along roads and ditches, and elsewhere in the highlands.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Despite its successful adaptation to changes in practices related to land use, populations of red-winged blackbird have reduced the width of its range during the second half of the twentieth century, and Changes in the abundance and adequacy of grasslands have been implicated in this. In Ohio, the red-winged blackbird was negatively affected between 1966 and 1996 by the decrease in hay production, the earlier harvest of hay and the increase in crops planted in furrows, a situation homologous to that suffered by other species of birds from less numerous grasslands. Although the negative effect of the increased efficiency and the diminishing diversity of modern agricultural practices on the populations of red-winged blackbird in this state may be perceived as a positive event by the producers of corn and sunflower, the agricultural practices that have precipitated the numerical decline of this species may have caused more severe repercussions for birds from less common grasslands, such as the upland sandpiper and the Grasshopper sparrow.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In the late 1970s, Ohio hosted the highest density of blackbirds during the breeding season among all US states and Canadian provinces, However, between 1966 and 1996, the reproductive populations in this state showed a marked decrease. Decreasing the area under hay other than alfalfa between those same years was likely to reduce the availability of quality nesting habitats. Likewise, corn even though it attracts insects that red-winged blackbirds consume and despite the fact that their grains represent in themselves an energy source and soybeans which do not constitute a food source for the species, which together made up 1966 to 1996, an average of 70% of the cultivated area in Ohio, do not provide adequate nesting habitat. In turn, the large annual fluctuations in the area cultivated with hay, both from one year to the next and within the same year of a certain reproductive season, Similarly, in Ontario between 1974 and 1995, the average size of harems in a given year was positively related to hay production from the previous year, although the percentage variation in the size of harems from one season to the next the following was not linearly related to the annual percentage change in hay production; Hay production declined during this period and the size of the harems decreased from approximately three females per male to 1.6 females.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: In addition in Ontario, a negative relationship was found between the North Atlantic Oscillation Index (NAO) in the six months prior to a certain reproductive season and the size of the harems. If winter mortality contributes to the decrease in the size of the harems, the annual variations in their size should be related to the annual changes in the rates of return of marked territorial males. Variations in the size of harems and male return rates per year were indeed found to be positively correlated. Although not as pronounced, the relationship between male return rates and winter NAO values was similar to that between changes in harem size and NAO.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: On the other hand, in southwestern Quebec, red-winged blackbird populations doubled between 1966 and 1981, apparently in response to the development of maize production. The increased availability of residual grains in spring and summer. the reproductive season will probably play a fundamental role in the growth of this bird's population. Likewise, in the mid-1990s, the reproductive population of North Dakota which at least between 1994 and 2002 was at the forefront among all the American states and Canadian provinces in terms of population density of this species began to increase rapidly.


title: Anne Burrell

text: Anne W. Burrell (born September 21, 1969) is an American chef, television personality, and former instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education. She is the host of the Food Network show "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef" and co-host of "Worst Cooks in America". She was also one of the Iron Chefs, Mario Batali's sous chefs in the "Iron Chef America" series and appears on other programs on the network such as "The Best Thing I Ever Ate". She was a contestant on the fourth season of The Food Network competition show, "The Next Iron Chef" Super Chefs being eliminated in episode 6. She was also a contestant on the first season of Chopped All-Stars Tournament, winning the "Food Network Personalities" preliminary round to advance to the final round, where she placed second runner up to Nate Appleman (winner) and Aarón Sanchez. In 2015, Burrell won the fourth installment of the Chopped All-Stars tournament winning $75,000 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. She also hosted the series "Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell" in 2012–2013.


title: Anne Burrell

text: Burrell was born September 21, 1969, in Cazenovia, New York. She attended Canisius College in Buffalo and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in English and Communications in 1991.


title: Anne Burrell

text: A year later, Burrell enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America, eventually graduating in 1996 with an Associate in Occupational Studies (A.O.S.). She also studied at the Italian Culinary Institute for Foreigners in Asti in the Piedmont region.


title: Anne Burrell

text: After the ICIF experience, Burrell remained in Italy, working in various restaurants for nine months. She worked at La Bottega del '30, a small restaurant in Tuscany with one seating each night.


title: Anne Burrell

text: Burrell returned to the U.S. as a sous chef at Felidia, owned by celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich. She became the chef at Savoy, a small prix fixe dining room. After Savoy, Burrell began teaching at the Institute of Culinary Education. Lidia Bastianich's son and restaurateur, Joseph Bastianich, and Chef Mario Batali named Burrell the chef for Italian Wine Merchants, their New York wine store. The Batali connection would further propel her career.


title: Anne Burrell

text: She later became the executive chef of Centro Vinoteca, an Italian restaurant in New York City's West Village area which opened in 2007. She left the restaurant in September 2008 due to her busy schedule and many commitments. The departure also meant that she would not start at Gusto Ristorante, as both of the restaurants are part of Mangia Hospitality Group. Burrell planned to open her first restaurant in 2010 in New York City. Burrell opened her restaurant, Phil & Anne's Good Time Lounge, in Brooklyn in spring 2017, though as of April 2018, the restaurant has closed.


title: Anne Burrell

text: In 2005, Iron Chef Mario Batali asked Burrell to serve as one of his sous chefs, along with chef and restaurateur Mark Ladner, for a pilot taping of Food Network's "Iron Chef America" series. She continued to serve as his sous chef during his tenure with the show.


title: Anne Burrell

text: Burrell's Food Network series "Secrets of a Restaurant Chef" debuted June 29, 2008. In 2009, she appeared on another Food Network show, "The Best Thing I Ever Ate", in which chefs recount their favorite dishes.


title: Anne Burrell

text: In 2010, Burrell and Chef Beau MacMillan hosted a Food Network reality series named "Worst Cooks in America". Burrell and her co-host lead contestants through a "culinary boot camp" on their journey to become better cooks. The first season premiered on January 3, 2010. Chef Burrell won the challenge when her recruit, Rachel Coleman, edged out MacMillan's recruit, Jenny Cross.


title: Anne Burrell

text: The second season premiered on January 2, 2011, with Chef MacMillan being replaced by Chef Robert Irvine. To raise the stakes, Irvine and Burrell made a side bet, in which Burrell risked losing her signature hair and Irvine risked going platinum. Chef Burell won both the competition and the side-bet, when her recruit, Joshie Berger, edged out Irvine's recruit, Georg Coleman.


title: Anne Burrell

text: Also in 2011, Burrell became the fourth runner up in the culinary competition, "The Next Iron Chef" on the Food Network, being eliminated in of the competition.


title: Anne Burrell

text: The third season of "Worst Cooks in America" premiered on February 12, 2012. Chef Bobby Flay was the new co-host/chef for season three. Chef Burrell again won the competition, when her recruit Kelli Powers edged out Flay's recruit, Vinnie Caligiuri. Season four started on February 17, 2013. Season four concluded with Flay's team finally defeating Burrell's team, when his recruit, Alina Bolshakova, edged out Burrell's recruit, Rasheeda Brown.


title: Anne Burrell

text: In 2009, Burrell also appeared with fellow Food Network personality Guy Fieri on the "Guy Fieri Roadshow".


title: Anne Burrell

text: Burrell, along with fellow Food Network personalities Sunny Anderson and Claire Robinson, appeared in the 2009 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the Food Network float.


title: Anne Burrell

text: Burrell hosted an 11-day Food Network cruise throughout the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic aboard the brand new "Celebrity Silhouette" in late 2011.


title: Anne Burrell

text: From June 2012 through October 2013, Burrell hosted "Chef Wanted with Anne Burrell" on the Food Network. The show ran for three seasons and 36 episodes.


title: Anne Burrell

text: Burrell released a statement to the "New York Post" in 2012 confirming that she had been in a relationship with her girlfriend, chef Koren Grieveson, for two years after cookbook author Ted Allen seemingly outed her on a radio show. Burrell disputed the notion she had been outed, saying she had not kept her sexuality a secret.


title: Anne Burrell

text: On December 31, 2012, Burrell publicly tweeted that she was engaged to Koren Grieveson, but as of 2018, she was dating Stuart Claxton. On April 21, 2020, Anne announced that she and Claxton were engaged. The two married on October 16, 2021.


title: Rose water

text: Rose water () is a flavoured water made by steeping rose petals in water. It is the hydrosol portion of the distillate of rose petals, a by-product of the production of rose oil for use in perfume. Rose water is also used to flavour food, as a component in some cosmetic and medical preparations, and for religious purposes throughout Asia and Europe.


title: Rose water

text: Rose syrup (not to be confused with rose hip syrup) is a syrup made from rose water, with sugar added. Gulkand in South Asia is a syrupy mashed rose mixture.


title: Rose water

text: Central Iran is home to the annual Golabgiri festival each spring. Thousands of tourists visit the area to celebrate the rose harvest for the production of "golâb" (). Iran accounts for 90% of world production of rose water.


title: Rose water

text: Rose perfumes are made from rose oil, also called "attar of roses", which is a mixture of volatile essential oils obtained by steam-distilling the crushed petals of roses. Rose water is a by-product of this process. The cultivation of various fragrant flowers for obtaining perfumes, including rose water, likely originated in Persia, where it was known as "gulāb" (), from "gul" ( flower) and "ab" ( water). The term was adopted into Medieval Greek as "zoulápin". The process of creating rose water through steam distillation was refined by Persian chemists in the medieval Islamic world which led to more efficient and economic uses for perfumery industries.


title: Rose water

text: Rose water is sometimes added to lemonade. It is often added to water to mask unpleasant odours and flavours.


title: Rose water

text: In South Asian cuisine, rose water is a common ingredient in sweets such as laddu, gulab jamun, and peda. It is also used to flavour milk, lassi, rice pudding, and other dairy dishes.


title: Rose water

text: In Malaysia and Singapore, sweet red-tinted rose water is mixed with milk, making a sweet pink drink called bandung.


title: Rose water

text: American and European bakers often used rose water until the 19th century, when vanilla became popular. In Yorkshire, rose water has long been used as a flavouring for the regional specialty, Yorkshire curd tart.


title: Rose water

text: In Iran, it is added to tea, ice cream, cookies, and other sweets. Rosewater is also used in some savoury dishes, such as Khoresh Gheymé, Shirin Polow (cherry rice), Tahchin or during steaming of Persian rice.


title: Rose water

text: In Middle Eastern cuisines, rosewater is used in various dishes, especially in sweets such as Turkish delight, nougat, and baklava. Marzipan has long been flavoured with rose water. In Cyprus, Mahaleb's Cypriot version known as μαχαλεπί, uses rose water (ροδόσταγμα). Rose water is frequently used as a halal substitute for red wine and other alcohols in cooking. The Premier League offer a rose water-based beverage as an alternative for champagne when awarding Muslim players. In accordance with the ban on alcohol consumption in Islamic countries, rose water is used instead of champagne on the podium of the Bahrain Grand Prix and Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.


title: Rose water

text: In medieval Europe, rose water was used to wash hands at a meal table during feasts. Rose water is a usual component of perfume. Rose water ointment is occasionally used as an emollient, and rose water is sometimes used in cosmetics such as cold creams, toners and face wash.


title: Rose water

text: Some people use rose water as a spray applied directly to the face as a perfume and moisturiser, especially during the winter. It is also often sprinkled in Indian weddings to welcome guests.


title: Rose water

text: Rose water is used in the religious ceremonies of Christianity (in the Eastern Orthodox Church), Zoroastrianism, and Baháʼí Faith (in Kitab-i-Aqdas 1:76).


title: Rose water

text: Depending on the origin and manufacturing method, rose water is obtained from the sepals and petals of "Rosa × damascena" through steam distillation. The following monoterpenoid and alkane components can be identified with gas chromatography: mostly citronellol, nonadecane, geraniol and phenyl ethyl alcohol, and also henicosane, 9-nonadecen, eicosane, linalool, citronellyl acetate, methyleugenol, heptadecane, pentadecane, docosane, nerol, disiloxane, octadecane, and pentacosane. Usually, phenylethyl alcohol is responsible for the typical odour of rose water but is not always present in rose water products.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Joseph Rolando Benavidez (born July 31, 1984) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. He competed in the Flyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez was born on July 31, 1984, in San Antonio, Texas, and is of Mexican descent. Benavidez grew up with his single mother and two brothers. He attended Las Cruces High School, where he began training boxing. At the age of 16, he also began wrestling, discipline in which he became a New Mexico State champion. He continued to wrestle for one semester at William Penn University before dropping out. From college onwards Benavidez struggled with alcohol and drug abuse before becoming sober, subsequently turning his interest into mixed martial arts.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: After fighting in smaller shows while working as a screen printer in Las Cruces, New Mexico, he joined up with Urijah Faber's Team Alpha Male in 2007. Benavidez has since fought in Dream, WEC and most recently the UFC. His fighting style has drawn comparisons to training partner and former WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber. On April 27, 2010, the Mayor and City Council of the City of Las Cruces proclaimed April 27 as Joseph Benavidez Day in Las Cruces.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Before joining up with Urijah Faber, Benavidez fought in smaller shows and trained while working as a screen printer in New Mexico. Hoping to eventually make a living fighting MMA, he sought out Faber on a trip to California in January 2007. Unable to find Faber's gym, he visited one in Roseville hoping to locate him. There his fighting ability impressed the members and instructors enough (or, in Faber's words: ""[he] basically beat the crap out of everyone"") to refer him to Faber. This was only hours before Benavidez' flight home was due and he had to leave for the airport, unable to meet up with him.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: His flight was then canceled, giving him the chance to meet up with Faber as he had hoped. Benavidez impressed Faber enough to offer him a job at the front desk of his gym, enabling him to leave New Mexico to come train with him and his team. Benavidez then went back to New Mexico, ""jammed everything into his car"" and moved to California. After fighting with smaller US-based promotions, Benavidez was offered a fight with Norifumi Yamamoto by Japanese MMA-promoter Dream in July 2008 at "Dream 5". The bout was canceled only days before the fight, and Benavidez was instead matched against Junya Kodo whom he defeated by guillotine choke submission.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez was then signed by US-based World Extreme Cagefighting. On December 3, 2008, he fought Danny Martinez at "WEC 37" and won by unanimous decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Jeff Curran on April 5, 2009 at WEC 40. Benavidez dominated Curran from the opening bell with superior grappling and striking, knocking the opponent down in the first round. Curran unsuccessfully attempted an armbar in the second round and a triangle choke in the third round.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Next, Benavidez faced Dominick Cruz on August 9, 2009 at WEC 42. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez fought Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Rani Yahya on December 19, 2009 at WEC 45. Benavidez won via first round TKO.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez defeated former WEC Bantamweight Champion Miguel Torres on March 6, 2010 at WEC 47. He dominated the former Bantamweight Champion before opening a huge cut on Torres' forehead and submitting the bloodied Torres via guillotine choke.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez fought Dominick Cruz in a rematch for the WEC Bantamweight Championship on August 18, 2010 at WEC 50. Benavidez lost to Cruz for a second time via split decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Wagnney Fabiano on November 11, 2010, replacing an injured Brian Bowles. Benavidez defeated Fabiano via second round submission. After an uneventful first round of striking between the two, Benavidez stung Fabiano with a left and pounced, submitting the 3rd degree black belt with a guillotine choke at 2:45 of the second round.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: On October 28, 2010, World Extreme Cagefighting merged with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As part of the merger, all WEC fighters were transferred to the UFC.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: In his UFC debut, Benavidez faced Ian Loveland on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez next fought Eddie Wineland on August 14, 2011 at UFC on Versus 5. Benavidez defeated Wineland by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27).


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: At the UFC 140 post-fight press conference, Dana White announced that Benavidez would be a participant in a four man tournament to crown the new newly created UFC Flyweight Championship. Benavidez faced Yasuhiro Urushitani on March 3, 2012 at UFC on FX 2 and won via TKO in the second round, earning "Knockout of the Night" honors for his performance.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Demetrious Johnson on September 22, 2012 at UFC 152 for the inaugural UFC Flyweight Championship. In an incredibly closely contested fight that contained nonstop action at a frenetic pace, he lost the fight in via split decision (48-47, 47-48, 49-46).


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez then faced Darren Uyenoyama on April 20, 2013 at UFC on Fox 7. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Jussier Formiga on September 4, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 28. He won the fight by TKO in round 1 after dropping Formiga with a knee to the body and following up with punches.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: A rematch with Demetrious Johnson was expected for November 30, 2013 at . However the bout was shifted to December 14, 2013 at UFC on Fox 9 after that event's headliner was postponed due to injury. Benavidez lost via knockout in the first round, the first time he has been stopped in his MMA career.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Tim Elliott on April 26, 2014 at UFC 172. Benavidez won the fight in the first round via modified guillotine choke. Elliot was forced to tap with his feet as his arms were trapped by Benavidez's legs. Benavidez has called this submission the "Joa Constrictor". The win also earned Benavidez his first "Performance of the Night" bonus award.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Dustin Ortiz on November 22, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 57. Benavidez won the back-and-forth fight via unanimous decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced John Moraga on May 23, 2015 at UFC 187. Benavidez won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez was briefly linked to a bout against former Olympic Gold Medalist Henry Cejudo on September 5, 2015 at UFC 191. However, the fight never materialized. In turn, Benavidez faced Ali Bagautinov on October 3, 2015 at UFC 192. Benavidez won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Zach Makovsky on February 6, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 82. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: In May 2016, the UFC announced that Benavidez would be one of the coaches, opposite Henry Cejudo on . The pairing faced each other on December 3, 2016 at . Benavidez won the back and forth fight via split decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benevidez was expected to face Ben Nguyen on June 11, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 110. However, Benavidez pulled out of the fight on May 10 with a knee injury and was replaced by Tim Elliott.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Sergio Pettis on June 9, 2018 at UFC 225. He lost the back and forth fight via split decision.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez was expected to face Ray Borg on November 10, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 139. However on November 7, 2018 it was reported that the bout was cancelled due to undisclosed medical issue for Borg.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Alex Perez on November 30, 2018 at . He won the fight via technical knockout out in round one. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez was briefly scheduled to face Deiveson Figueiredo on January 19, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 143. However, the promotion clarified plans indicating that the pairing was off and that Benavidez would be an alternate for the headliner bout in the event that either Henry Cejudo or T.J. Dillashaw would be forced from the main event. Subsequently, Benavidez indicated that he would like to compete on the card, so while being an alternate for the headliner, a rematch with Dustin Ortiz took place at the event. Benavidez would win the fight via unanimous decision. Benavidez signed a new, four-fight contract with the UFC before the fight with Ortiz.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced Jussier Formiga in a rematch on June 29, 2019 at UFC on ESPN 3. He won the fight via technical knockout in the second round. This fight earned him the "Performance of the Night" award. After the fight, in the post-fight interview, he declared himself "Joey Two Times".


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez fought Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant UFC Flyweight Championship at UFC Fight Night 169 on February 29, 2020. At the weigh-ins on February 28, Figueiredo missed weight, weighing in at 127.5 pounds and became ineligible to win the Flyweight championship. In addition, Figueiredo was fined 30 percent of his purse which went to Benavidez. Benavidez lost the fight by TKO in round two.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez rematched with Deiveson Figueiredo for the vacant UFC Flyweight Championship at UFC Fight Night 172 on July 19, 2020. On July 11, 2020, Figueiredo tested positive for COVID-19. According to Figueiredo's manager, the bout had yet to be officially removed and Figueiredo was administered a second COVID-19 test on July 12, 2020 where the result would be back on July 13, 2020 to determined if Figueiredo was free to fight. Figueiredo passed multiple COVID-19 tests, clearing the fight to proceed as the main event. Benavidez lost the fight via a technical submission in round one.


title: Joseph Benavidez

text: Benavidez faced off against Askar Askarov on March 6, 2021 at UFC 259. At the weigh-ins, Askar weighed in at 127 pounds, one pound over the flyweight non-title fight limit. The bout proceeded at a catchweight and Askarov was fined a percentage of his individual purse, which went to Benavidez. Benavidez lost the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Art Davie

text: Art Davie (born April 5, 1947) is a business executive and entrepreneur formerly active in Southern California advertising circles. In 1993, he created and co-produced the tournament which became the televised Ultimate Fighting Championship. In 1998, Davie, as vice-president of K-1 USA, brought the successful K-1 kickboxing franchise from Japan to Las Vegas and North American pay-per-view television. In 2003, Davie was an executive producer with Mandalay Sports Entertainment. In 2006, he became vice-president of television at Paradigm Entertainment Group. In 2014, Ascend Books published Davie's book, "Is This Legal?: The Inside Story of the First UFC from the Man Who Created It". Sean Wheelock assisted in the book's research and writing.


title: Art Davie

text: In November 2014, Davie was inducted into the Legends of MMA Hall of Fame, alongside Big John McCarthy, Pat Miletich, Fedor Emelianenko, and Rickson Gracie. On 5 July 2018 he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in the Contributors wing.


title: Art Davie

text: Davie's new venture, XARM, is a hybrid sport that combines kickboxing and arm wrestling. While at a meeting in 2008 with executives from Piranha entertainment in Seattle, Davie announced he wanted back into the MMA industry, but estimated it would take millions of dollars to create a new brand that could compete with the UFC. Rather than do that he decided to brand a whole new sport all together, and XARM was created. Contested across a table, adjustable for height from , bouts consist of three one-minute rounds, with a one-minute rest period between rounds. Athletes are allowed one assistant (second) at table-side. To prevent the fighters from separating, their arms used for the arm wrestling portion are bound together with a strap, leaving the other arm free to punch and submit the other fighter. In June 2008, Davie teamed up with fight promoter Ted Williams to film the first pilot. Williams provided Davie with his main card fighters from Gladiator Challenge. XARM was originally scheduled to have its first TV air date in 2012, but was put on hold. Davie, in 2011, announced a partnership with Sallyann Salsano, the show runner for Jersey Shore. The Show was hosted and coached by professional movie actor and Arm Wrestling legend, Andrew “Cobra” Rhodes, with longtime MMA Fighter Cal Worsham as the referee. In 2012, XARM announced a partnership with Machinima to produce online reality show episodes.


title: Art Davie

text: Davie wrote, with Sean Wheelock, "Is This Legal?: The Inside Story of The First UFC From the Man Who Created It". It was published by Ascend Books on July 4, 2014. It chronicles the period October 1989 through November 13, 1993, when Davie worked on the first UFC event. The book also recounts Davie's military service after attending New York Military Academy, where he roomed with classmate Donald Trump for a semester.


title: Art Davie

text: In 2015, the book was optioned by Legacy Entertainment Partners to make into a feature movie. In 2017, the book was optioned by Nimitt Mankad of Inimitable Pictures.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 7)

text: The seventh and final season of "Gilmore Girls", an American dramedy television series, began airing on September 26, 2006 on The CW. The season and series concluded on May 15, 2007, after 22 episodes. This was the first and only season to air on The CW, which was a merge of UPN and the show's previous home, The WB. The season aired Tuesday nights at 8/7c.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 7)

text: This is the only season to not have Amy Sherman-Palladino or Daniel Palladino as a showrunner or a writer. The newly formed CW network claimed their departure was due to a salary dispute. Amy Sherman-Palladino later insisted that she and Daniel Palladino could not come to an agreement with CW because they needed a short series hiatus to rest, the hiring of more writers to relieve their work load, and an additional eighth season to finish the story lines properly. Because of this change, this season received mixed reviews from television critics and fans.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 7)

text: On May 3, 2007 The CW announced that the show was cancelled, and that the finale, which was filmed in April, would air on May 15.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 7)

text: This was to be the last of the series to air, until November 2016, when it returned as a limited series on Netflix consisting of four 90-minute films. Sherman-Palladino was in charge of the new revival.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 7)

text: The season picks up with Lorelai having slept with Christopher immediately after ending her engagement to Luke, while Rory is attempting a long-distance relationship with Logan. Lorelai and Christopher attempt a relationship and, after going to Paris together, come back married. The marriage lasts until midway through the season but Christopher struggles to fit into Lorelai's life in Stars Hollow. Luke learns Anna is moving to New Mexico with April and applies for joint custody, winning after Lorelai gives him a glowing character reference. Christopher finds out and he and Lorelai argue, with Christopher feeling like second choice. Richard, who has just started working at Yale as a lecturer, has a heart attack during a class and Christopher stays away from the hospital while everyone worries about him. He and Lorelai eventually admit their marriage isn't right and divorce, though the divorce is never mentioned or shown. Emily struggles with the finances while Richard is convalescing and Lorelai helps her out.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 7)

text: Lane comes back from her honeymoon pregnant with twins. Her mother moves in with her and Zach, sending Brian to live with her relatives, but is eventually convinced to back off, with Lane giving birth to sons Steve and Kwan. Sookie also becomes pregnant for the third time, since Jackson never had the vasectomy she arranged for him. Michel's dog Chin Chin dies and Lorelai organises a memorial at the inn. Luke sells the boat he inherited from his father to Kirk and buys a larger one so he can take a trip with April over the summer, but she has to cancel when she is accepted to science camp.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 7)

text: Rory and Logan try to spend time together while he works in London and New York. Rory feels awkward living in his old apartment rent-free so moves back in with Paris and Doyle. She also befriends Lucy and Olivia, two girls she met at an art exhibition. Lucy's boyfriend turns out to be Marty, who pretends not to know Rory. Rory goes along with it, upsetting Lucy when Logan tells her the truth, but Lucy breaks up with Marty and reconciles with Rory. Logan pursues a software deal against Mitchum's wishes, losing his trust fund and costing the company a multimillion-dollar lawsuit for patent infringement. Logan resigns and takes a job in San Francisco. Paris is accepted into every grad school she applies to but Rory is rejected for an internship. In the penultimate episode, Paris and Doyle depart for Harvard Medical. Logan proposes to Rory at a graduation party thrown by Richard and Emily but she turns him down, not willing to put him ahead of her career, and he breaks up with her.


title: Gilmore Girls (season 7)

text: In the series finale, Rory gets a job covering Barack Obama's election campaign for an online newspaper but has to leave in three days, throwing off plans for a graduation re-enactment. Luke organises a farewell party for her with the town. Emily tries to find a way to get involved in the running of the inn in order to stay close to Lorelai, but Lorelai assures her she will keep attending Friday night dinners. Lorelai and Luke share a kiss at the party and the show ends with Lorelai and Rory sharing a last meal at Luke's diner.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southampton, south-west of London, 27 miles (43 km) west of Guildford, south of Reading and north-east of the county town and former capital Winchester. According to the 2016 population estimate, the town had a population of 113,776. It is part of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane and part of the parliamentary constituency of Basingstoke.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke is an old market town expanded in the mid-1960s, as a result of an agreement between London County Council and Hampshire County Council. It was developed rapidly after the Second World War, along with various other towns in the United Kingdom, in order to accommodate part of the London 'overspill' as perceived under the Greater London Plan in 1944. Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 and it remained a small market town until the early 1960s. At the start of World War II, the population was little more than 13,000. It still has a regular market, but is now larger than Hampshire County Council's definition of a market town.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke became an important economic centre during the second half of the 20th century and houses the locations of the UK headquarters of Motorola, The Automobile Association, De La Rue, Sun Life Financial, ST Ericsson, GAME, Barracuda Networks, Eli Lilly and Company, FCB Halesway part of FCB, BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions (the leasing arm of BNP Paribas in the UK) and Sony Professional Solutions. It is also the location of the European headquarters of the TaylorMade Golf Company. Other industries include IT, telecommunications, insurance and electronics.


title: Basingstoke

text: The name Basingstoke (A.D 990; Embasinga stocæ, Domesday; Basingestoches) is believed to have been derived from the town's position as the outlying, western settlement of Basa's people. Basing, now Old Basing, a village to the east, is thought to have the same etymology, and was the original Anglo-Saxon settlement of the people – Basingas – led by a tribal chief called "Basa". It remained the main settlement until changes in the local church moved the religious base from St Marys Church, Basing, to the church in Basingstoke.


title: Basingstoke

text: A Neolithic campsite of around 3000 BC beside a spring on the west of the town is the earliest known human settlement here, but the Willis Museum has flint implements and axes from nearby fields that date back to Palæolithic times. The hillfort at Winklebury ( west of the town centre), known locally as Winklebury Camp or Winklebury Ring dates from the Iron Age and there are remains of several other earthworks around Basingstoke, including a long barrow near Down Grange. The site of Winklebury camp was home to Fort Hill Community School (this school has shutdown). Nearby, to the west, Roman Road marks the course of a Roman road that ran from Winchester to Silchester. Further to the east, another Roman road ran from Chichester through the outlying villages of Upton Grey and Mapledurwell. The Harrow Way is an Iron-age ancient route that runs to the south of the town. The first recorded historical event in the area was the defeat of King Æthelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred the Great at Old Basing by the Danes in 871.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke is recorded as a weekly market site in the Domesday Book, in 1086, and has held a regular Wednesday market since 1214.


title: Basingstoke

text: During the Civil War, and the siege of Basing House between 1643 and 1645, the town played host to large numbers of Parliamentarians. During this time, St. Michael's Church was damaged whilst being used as an explosive store and lead was stripped from the roof of the Chapel of the Holy Ghost, Basingstoke leading to its eventual ruin. It had been incorporated in 1524, but was effectively out of use after the Civil War. The 17th century saw serious damage to much of the town and its churches, because of the great fires of 1601 and 1656. Cromwell is thought to have stayed here towards the end of the siege of Basing House, and wrote a letter to the Speaker of the House of Commons addressed from Basingstoke.


title: Basingstoke

text: The cloth industry appears to have been important in the development of the town until the 17th century along with malting. Brewing became important during the 18th and 19th centuries, and the oldest and most successful brewery was May's Brewery, established by Thomas and William May in 1750 in Brook Street.


title: Basingstoke

text: The London and South Western Railway arrived in 1839 from London, and within a year it was extended to Winchester and Southampton. In 1848 a rival company, sponsored by the Great Western Railway built a branch from Reading. In 1854 a line was built to Salisbury by the London and South Western. In the 19th century Basingstoke began to move into industrial manufacture, Wallis and Haslam (later Wallis & Steevens), began producing agricultural equipment including threshing machines in the 1850s, moving into the production of stationary steam engines in the 1860s and then traction engines in the 1870s.


title: Basingstoke

text: Two traders who opened their first shops within a year of each other in the town, went on to become household names nationally: Thomas Burberry in 1856 and Alfred Milward in 1857. Burberry became famous after he invented Gabardine and Milward founded the Milwards chain of shoe shops, which could be found on almost every high street until the 1980s.


title: Basingstoke

text: John May, a member of the brewery family, was several times mayor of the town. A benefactor to the town, he paid for the building of a drill hall in Sarum Hill for the use of the Hampshire Volunteers (later used as a cinema and then a furniture shop) and a wing for the Cottage Hospital in Hackwood Road. The drill hall was opened in 1885 and also used for concerts and exhibitions. He also bought a piece of open space that was about to be sold for housing and let it at a low rent to the Basingstoke Cricket Club. This cricket ground is still in use and is called "May's Bounty".


title: Basingstoke

text: Ordinary citizens were said to be shocked by the emotive, evangelical tactics of the Salvation Army when they arrived in the town in 1880, but the reaction from those employed by the breweries or within the licensed trade quickly grew more openly hostile. Violent clashes became a regular occurrence. On Sunday 27 March 1881 troops were called upon to break up the conflict after the Mayor had read the Riot Act. The riot and its causes led to questions in Parliament and a period of notoriety for the town. The town was described as 'Barbarous Basingstoke' by one London newspaper in 1882 but by March 1882 the disturbances were dying down.


title: Basingstoke

text: In 1898 John Isaac Thornycroft began production of steam-powered lorries in the town and Thornycroft's quickly grew to become the town's largest employer.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke suffered very little bomb damage during the Second World War. A stick of German bombs did fall in the Church Square area on 16 August 1940. The same day bombs destroyed part of a row of houses in Burgess Road. Six people were killed in the raid. Overall, 13 civilians died from enemy action during the war in the town. After the war, the town had a population of 25,000.


title: Basingstoke

text: As part of the London Overspill plan, along with places such as Ashford and Swindon, Basingstoke was rapidly developed in the late 1960s as an 'expanded town', in similar fashion to Milton Keynes. As the population increased, the town produced more figures of national importance, such as the art critic Waldemar Januszczak and the actress Elizabeth Hurley. Many office blocks and large estates were built, as well as a ring road. The shopping centre was built in phases. The first phase was completed by the 1970s and was later covered in the 1980s, and was known as The Walks. The second phase was completed by the early 1980s, and became The Malls. The third phase was abandoned and the site was later used to build the Anvil concert hall. The central part of the shopping centre was rebuilt in 2002 and reopened as Festival Place. This has brought a dramatic improvement to shoppers' opinions of the town centre, but it is unclear if it has softened the town's overall image.


title: Basingstoke

text: Situated in a valley through the Hampshire Downs at an average elevation of Basingstoke is a major interchange between Reading, Newbury, Andover, Winchester, and Alton, and lies on the natural trade route between the southwest of England and London. The area had been something of an interchange even in ancient times. It had been cut by a Roman roadway that ran from northeast to southwest, from Silchester towards Salisbury (Sorbiodunum), and by another Roman road that linked Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) in the north with Winchester (Venta Belgarum) to the south. These cross-cutting highways, along with the good agricultural land hereabouts, account for the many "Roman" villas in the area, mostly put up by Romanized native nobility (Roman villa). Even more ancient was the Harrow Way, a Neolithic trackway, possibly associated with the ancient tin trade, that crossed all of southern England from west to east, from Cornwall to Kent, passing right through Andover and Basingstoke.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke has no single boundary that encompasses all the areas contiguous to its development. The unparished area of the town represents its bulk, but several areas popularly considered part of the town are separate parishes, namely Chineham, Rooksdown, and parts of Old Basing and Lychpit. The unparished area includes Worting which was previously a separate village and parish,


title: Basingstoke

text: extending beyond Roman Road and Old Kempshott Lane, which might otherwise be considered the town's 'natural' western extremity.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke is situated on a bed of cretaceous upper chalk with small areas of clayey and loamy soil, inset with combined clay and flint patches. Loam and alluvium recent and pleistocene sediments line the bed of the river Loddon. A narrow line of tertiary Reading beds run diagonally from the northwest to the southeast along a line from Sherborne St John through Popley, Daneshill and the north part of Basing. To the north of this line, encompassing the areas of Chineham and Pyotts Hill, is London clay, which has in the past allowed excavation for high quality brick and tile manufacture.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke's expansion has absorbed much surrounding farmland and scattered housing, transforming it into housing estates or local districts. Many of these new estates are designed as almost self-contained communities, such as Lychpit, Chineham, Popley, Winklebury, Oakridge, Kempshott, Brighton Hill, Viables, South Ham, Black Dam, Buckskin and South Ham Extension and Hatch Warren. The M3 acts as a buffer zone to the south of the town, and the South West Main Line constrains the western expansion, with a green belt to the north and north-east. The villages of Cliddesden, Dummer, Sherborne St John and Oakley, although being very close to the town limits, are distinct parishes. Popley, Hatch Warren and Beggarwood saw rapid growth in housing in the mid to late 2000s.


title: Basingstoke

text: The population of Basingstoke increased from around 2,500 in 1801 to over 52,000 in 1971; the most significant growth occurring during the latter half of the 20th century. The borough of Basingstoke was merged with other local districts in 1974 to form the borough of Basingstoke and Deane, and census data from that point covers the whole borough.


title: Basingstoke

text: Figures published for the UK census in 2011 for the Borough of Basingstoke and Deane give a population of 167,799 and a population density of 2.7 persons per hectare—only about half the national figure. The number of women slightly exceeded that of men, and a slight increase in the percentage of residents over 65 was also noted. Among other findings in 2001 were that 74.33 per cent felt they were in good health, 50.98 per cent were economically active full-time employees (over 10 per cent higher than the national average) and 48.73 per cent were buying their property with a mortgage or loan (almost 10 per cent higher than the national average).


title: Basingstoke

text: Amongst the working population, 64.2 per cent travelled less than to work. The biggest percentage of employees, 17.67 per cent, worked in real estate, renting and business activities.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke is part of a two-tier local government structure and returns county councillors to Hampshire County Council. It is the third largest settlement in the ceremonial county, but when the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth attained unitary authority status in 1998, Basingstoke became the largest settlement in the county administered by the county council.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council is the lower-tier local authority for the town, and has its offices in the town centre. Elections to the council take place in 3 out of every 4 years.


title: Basingstoke

text: Under the town twinning scheme, the local council have twinned Basingstoke with Alençon in France, Braine-l'Alleud in Belgium, and Euskirchen in Germany.


title: Basingstoke

text: The Top of Town is the historic heart of Basingstoke, housing the Willis Museum in the former Town Hall building (rebuilt 1832) as well as several locally run shops and the market place.


title: Basingstoke

text: Basingstoke is home to two theatrical organisations: the Haymarket, which is situated in the former Corn Exchange, and The Anvil, which is near the railway station.


title: Basingstoke

text: The Willis Museum was founded and directed by Alderman George W. Willis, a local clocksmith, who served as Mayor of Basingstoke in 1923–24. Willis established the museum in 1931 with much public support, and built its holdings up into a major collection on local history, with a particularly extensive collection of prehistoric implements and of antique clocks and watches. His association with the expanding museum continued for forty years. The museum's central location today is where, once upon a time, Jane Austen and her sister used to go to dances, and a statue of Jane Austen was installed outside the museum in 2017, on the 200th anniversary of her death. Although ostensibly set in Hertford, Austen's novel "Pride and Prejudice", written in 1797, is thought to have been based on her view of Basingstoke society two centuries ago.


title: Basingstoke

text: The major shopping area is Festival Place, which opened in October 2002. Festival Place gave a huge boost to the town centre, transforming and replacing what was the former The Walks Shopping Centre and the New Market Square. Aside from a wide range of shops, there is also a range of cafés and restaurants as well as a large multiscreen Vue cinema (formerly Ster Century from Festival Place's opening until their takeover in 2005; the pre-existing Vue in the Leisure Park was sold to Odeon).


title: Basingstoke

text: The Malls is a shopping area linked by a gateway entrance to the rail station. It had declined since the opening of Festival Place and the closure of its Allders department store. The leasehold was purchased in 2004 by the St Modwen development group in partnership with the Kuwait property investment company Salhia Real Estate, with provision for redevelopment The redevelopment of The Malls started in late 2010. A clear roof canopy was installed to protect the Malls from bad weather while still allowing natural light and air in. The Malls has been repaved and new street furniture installed. The redevelopment was completed in the last quarter of 2011. The redevelopment work was carried out by Wates Group using a variety of subcontractors.


title: Basingstoke

text: A John Lewis at home and Waitrose co-located store is near the station. It was built in November 2015 as part of the redevelopment of Basing View.


title: Basingstoke

text: The town's nightlife is split between the new Festival Square, and the traditional hostelries at the Top of Town, with a few local community pubs outside the central area. The town has four nightclubs, two in the town itself, one on the east side and one out to the west.


title: Basingstoke

text: The Basingstoke Sports Centre is located in Portchester Square. The sports centre has a subterranean swimming pool, sauna, jacuzzi and steam room. Above ground there is a gym, aerobics studios, squash courts and main hall. There is also an Ofsted-registered crèche.


title: Basingstoke

text: Outside the town centre there is a leisure park featuring the Aquadrome swimming pool, which opened in May 2002. Also located at the leisure park are an ice rink, a bowling alley, an indoor sky-diving centre with ski and surf machines, a Bingo club and a ten-screen Odeon (formerly Vue prior to the takeover of the Ster Century cinema in Festival Place, and before that, Warner-Village) cinema, as well as a restaurant and fast food outlets. The leisure park is home to the Milestones Museum, a living history museum which contains a network of streets and buildings based on the history of Hampshire.