title: Ochai Agbaji

text: Agbaji's father, Olofu, moved from Nigeria to the U.S. when he was 17. Agbaji's mother, Erica, and his father both played basketball at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. His older sister, Orie, played volleyball for Texas.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Qualin Dont'a Hightower (born March 12, 1990) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Alabama, receiving consensus All-American honors and winning two BCS National Championships. Hightower was selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Patriots, where he was named to two Pro Bowls and won three Super Bowl titles.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Hightower was born in Lewisburg, Tennessee. He attended Marshall County High School in Lewisburg, where he played for the Marshall County Tigers high school football team. He first drew recognition his sophomore year when the team's starting running back quit the team. In the last four games of the season, he rushed for over 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns. After growing to prior to his junior year, Hightower was moved to linebacker and tight end. He collected 98 tackles, two sacks, and seven forced fumbles as a linebacker and caught 18 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns at tight end.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Having grown to six feet, three inches tall as a senior, Hightower again switched positions to defensive end. After recording 168 tackles (14 for loss), five forced fumbles, five interceptions and four fumble recoveries, he was named 3A Mr. Football Lineman of the Year and The Tennesseans Defensive Most Valuable Player in 2007. He also added 875 yards and 19 touchdowns on offense.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Hightower was listed as the No. 15 inside linebacker in the nation in 2008. He chose Alabama over Auburn, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Hightower attended the University of Alabama, where he played for the Crimson Tide football team from 2008 to 2011.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: As one of only two true freshmen to be regular starter for the Crimson Tide in 2008, Hightower started 12 games while playing in all 14 at weakside inside linebacker ("Will") in the Alabama's 3–4 defense, next to Rolando McClain who occupied the other inside linebacker spot ("Mike"). Hightower recorded 64 tackles (4th on the team) and 2.5 tackles for loss, while also having one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries. He had at least one tackle in each game and had five or more stops in seven of 14 games, including 10 against Tulane and a career-high 11 at LSU. He was subsequently named to numerous Freshman All-American teams.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: For the 2009 season, during the Arkansas game, Hightower suffered a knee injury in the first quarter when he was cut blocked by an Arkansas lineman. He was diagnosed a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and missed the rest of the season with surgery. True freshman Nico Johnson replaced him at weak side linebacker. Hightower recorded 16 tackles including four tackles for loss. Having played only four games, he was granted a medical redshirt making him a redshirt sophomore in 2010.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Returning for the 2010 season, Hightower was expected to "be the nucleus of a young defense". He replaced McClain as Alabama's middle linebacker, and in 2011, he captained a defense that ranked No. 1 nationally in all five major categories—scoring defense (8.8 ppg), total defense (191.3 ypg), rushing defense (74.9 ypg), pass efficiency defense (83.9 ypg) and pass defense (116.3 ypg). Hightower led the team with a career-best 81 tackles, including 37 solo stops, as well as three sacks (−16 yards) and 9.5 tackles for loss (−35 yards). He also registered eight quarterback hurries, one interception, one blocked field goal and three pass breakups.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Hightower was a consensus first-team All-American by the Associated Press, AFCA and Walter Camp as well as Rivals.com and Pro Football Weekly. He was also a finalist for the Lombardi Award, Chuck Bednarik Award, the Butkus Award, and the Lott Trophy.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: As early as April 2011, Hightower was projected a potential first-round draft pick in the 2012 NFL Draft. Shortly after the 2012 BCS National Championship Game, he announced his decision to forgo his final year of eligibility. Right after the season ended, he was projected a late first-round selection. After solid performances at the NFL Combine and Alabama Pro Day, he was still regarded as a late first-rounder.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: The New England Patriots selected Hightower in the first round (25th overall) of the 2012 NFL Draft. He was the third linebacker selected in 2012, behind Boston College's Luke Kuechly (9th overall) and South Carolina's Melvin Ingram (18th overall).


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: On July 19, 2012, the New England Patriots signed Hightower to a four-year, $7.72 million contract that includes $6.28 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $4.05 million.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Throughout training camp, he competed for the job as the starting strongside linebacker against Rob Ninkovich. Head coach Bill Belichick named him the opening day starter, alongside Jerod Mayo and middle linebacker Brandon Spikes.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: He made his first career start and professional regular season debut in the New England Patriots' season-opener at the Tennessee Titans and recorded five combined tackles and returned a fumble recovery for a six-yard touchdown during their 34–13 victory. His touchdown in the second quarter marked the first of his career. On September 30, 2012, he recorded two solo tackles and made his first career sack on quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, before leaving in the first half of their 52–28 victory at the Buffalo Bills due to a hamstring injury. The injury sidelined him for the next two games (Weeks 5–6). In Week 7, Hightower collected a season-high seven solo tackles and sacked Mark Sanchez as the Patriots defeated the New York Jets 29–26 in overtime. On December 16, 2012, Hightower made a season-high eight combined tackles and broke up a pass during their 41–34 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. He finished the season with 60 combined tackles (43 solo), four sacks, three pass deflections, two fumble recoveries, and a touchdown in 14 games and 13 starts.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: The New England Patriots finished the 2012 season atop the AFC East with a 12–4 record, clinching home field advantage and a first round bye. On January 13, 2013, Hightower started his first career playoff game and recorded three combined tackles in the Patriots' 41–28 victory against the Houston Texans in the . The following week, he made three combined tackles as the Patriots lost 28–13 to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Baltimore Ravens, in the .


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia retained Hightower, Mayo, and Spikes as the starting linebackers to begin the 2013 regular season.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: On October 20, 2013, Hightower recorded 11 combined tackles (seven solo) during a 30–27 loss at the New York Jets. The following week, he collected ten combined tackles (five solo) and sacked quarterback Ryan Tannehill in the Patriots' 27–17 win against the Miami Dolphins. In Week 14, he tied his season-high of 11 combined tackles (seven solo) in a 27–26 win against the Cleveland Browns. He finished the season with 97 combined tackles (55 solo), three pass deflections, and a sack in 16 games and 14 starts.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: The New England Patriots clinched another AFC East title with a 12–4 record and received a first round bye. On January 11, 2014, Hightower collected eight combined tackles, broke up a pass, and intercepted a pass by Andrew Luck during a 43–22 win against the Indianapolis Colts in the . The following week, he made eight combined tackles as the Patriots lost 26–16 to the Denver Broncos in the .


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: During training camp, Hightower was moved to weakside linebacker, replacing Jerod Mayo who was named the starting middle linebacker after the departure of Brandon Spikes. Head coach Bill Belichick named Hightower and Jamie Collins Sr. the starting outside linebackers to start the regular season with Jerod Mayo starting at middle linebacker.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: On September 14, 2014, Hightower recorded eight combined tackles, broke up a pass, and had two sacks on Matt Cassel during the Patriots' 30–7 victory at the Minnesota Vikings. It marked his first career multi-sack game. Hightower missed two consecutive games (Weeks 5–6) due to a knee. In Week 7, he recorded a season-high 13 combined tackles (nine solo) and a sack in the Patriots' 27–25 win against the New York Jets. In Week 13, Hightower recorded ten combined tackles (four solo) and a sack on Aaron Rodgers during a 26–21 loss at the Green Bay Packers. He missed the following game (Week 14) due to a shoulder injury he sustained against the Packers. Hightower also missed the Patriots' Week 17 loss against the Buffalo Bills after aggravating his shoulder injury. Hightower finished the season with 89 combined tackles (51 solo), six sacks, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble in 12 games and 12 starts.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: The New England Patriots finished atop the AFC East with a 12–4 record and clinched home field advantage and a first round bye. They defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the and the Indianapolis Colts in the and went on to Super Bowl XLIX. On February 1, 2015, Hightower started in Super Bowl XLIX and recorded five combined tackles during the Patriots' 28–24 victory against the Seattle Seahawks. He made a key play near the end of the fourth quarter, tackling Marshawn Lynch at the one-yard line to prevent a touchdown that would have given the Seahawks the lead. The Patriots secured their victory the next play after teammate Malcolm Butler intercepted a pass by Russell Wilson. Because Butler caught the ball inside the one yard line, Hightower ensured he got out of the end zone to prevent a safety.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: On April 30, 2015, the New England Patriots exercised the fifth-year, $7.751 million option on Hightower's rookie contract.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: In Week 2, Hightower recorded a season-high 12 combined tackles (eight solo) and was credited with half a sack during a 40–32 win at the Buffalo Bills. On November 29, 2015, Hightower collected three combined tackles, but left the Patriots' 30–24 loss at the Denver Broncos after suffering a sprained MCL in his left knee. He went on to miss the next two games (Weeks 13–14) due to the injury to his MCL. Hightower was inactive for the Patriots' Week 17 loss at the Miami Dolphins due to a sprained MCL injury he aggravated the previous week. He finished the season with 61 combined tackles (51 solo), 3.5 sacks, two passes defended, and a fumble recovery in 12 games and 12 starts.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: The Patriots clinched another AFC East title with a 12–4 record and had a rematch with the Broncos in the , but lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions by a score of 20–18.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Hightower entered training camp as the starting middle linebacker after Jerod Mayo announced his retirement. Head coach Bill Belichick officially named Hightower the starting middle linebacker to start the regular season, alongside outside linebackers Jamie Collins and Jonathan Freeny. The New England Patriots announced Hightower was selected to be one of four team captains to represent the Patriots for the season.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: He started the New England Patriots' season-opener at the Arizona Cardinals, but left in the second quarter of their 23–21 victory with an MCL injury. The following day, it was reported that Hightower had suffered a slight tear to his meniscus and was sidelined for the next two games (Weeks 2–3).


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: On October 16, 2016, Hightower registered 13 combined tackles (ten solo), 1.5 sacks, and recorded his first career safety on a sack on Bengals' quarterback Andy Dalton during their 35–17 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. He was voted as the AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his Week 6 performance against the Bengals. On December 20, 2016, it was announced that Hightower was named to the 2017 Pro Bowl, marking the first of his career Hightower finished the season with 65 combined tackles (31 solo), 2.5 sacks, two passes defensed, and a safety in 13 games and 13 starts. Hightower received enough votes from his peers to finish 94th on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: The New England Patriots finished atop the AFC East and clinched a first round bye and a playoff berth with a 14–2 record. They went on to defeat the Houston Texans in the and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the . On February 5, 2017, Hightower appeared in Super Bowl LI and helped the Patriots overcome a 25-point deficit and defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34–28 in overtime. Hightower recorded two solo tackles, one sack, and forced a fumble.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: On March 15, 2017, the New England Patriots signed Hightower to a four-year, $35.5 million contract that includes $17 million guaranteed and a $10 million signing bonus. It was later reported that Hightower met with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Jets, but failed a physical with the Jets due to a slight tear in his pectoral muscle.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Head coach Bill Belichick named him the starting middle linebacker, along with outside linebackers David Harris and Kyle Van Noy. Hightower was the only returning starter after the Patriots traded Jamie Collins and Jonathan Freeny departed in free agency.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: He started the New England Patriots' season-opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, but left their 42–27 loss in the second quarter after sustaining a knee injury. The knee injury unfortunately sidelined Hightower for the next two games (Weeks 2–3). On October 15, 2017, Hightower recorded a season-high seven combined tackles and a sack as the Patriots defeated the New York Jets 24–17. In Week 7, he made one solo tackle in the Patriots' 23–7 win against the Atlanta Falcons before leaving in the third quarter with a shoulder injury. The following day, it was announced that it was discovered to be a torn pectoral muscle and would likely sideline Hightower for the remainder of the season. On November 7, 2017, the New England Patriots placed Hightower on injured reserve for the remainder of the season. Hightower finished the season with 14 combined tackles (12 solo) and two sacks in five games and five starts.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: The Patriots replaced Hightower with Elandon Roberts and managed to finish the season atop the AFC East with a 13–3 record. They went on to defeat the Tennessee Titans in the and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the before losing 41–33 to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: Hightower returned as a starter in 2018, alongside Kyle Van Noy and rookie Ja'Whaun Bentley. In Week 7, He blocked a punt that was recovered by Van Noy and returned for a touchdown, earning him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week. He finished the 2018 season with one sack, 48 total tackles, one interception, one pass defensed, and one fumble recovery in 15 starts. The Patriots finished the season 11–5, again clinching the AFC East. During Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams, Hightower finished with two sacks and a pass deflection as the Patriots won 13–3.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: In Week 5 against the Washington Redskins, Hightower recorded a team-high eight tackles and sacked Colt McCoy 1.5 times in the 33–7 win. In Week 8 against the Cleveland Browns, Hightower recovered a fumble lost by running back Nick Chubb and returned it for a touchdown in the 27–13 win. This was his first touchdown since Week 1 of the 2012 season. In the 2019 season, Hightower appeared in and started 15 games. He recorded 5.5 sacks, 71 total tackles, four passes defensed, and one fumble recovery for a touchdown.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: On August 2, 2020, Hightower announced his intention to opt out of the 2020 season, due to concerns over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Dont'a Hightower

text: In 2021, Hightower returned to the Patriots and played in 15 of the 17 regular season games and their Wild Card Round game against Buffalo. He finished with 64 total tackles, 1.5 sacks, and one pass defensed on the year. His contract expired on March 16, 2022.


title: White Sands National Park

text: White Sands National Park is an American national park located in the state of New Mexico and completely surrounded by the White Sands Missile Range. The park covers in the Tularosa Basin, including the southern 41% of a field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. This gypsum dunefield is the largest of its kind on Earth, with a depth of about , dunes as tall as , and about 4.5 billion short tons (4.1 billion metric tons) of gypsum sand.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Approximately 12,000 years ago, the land within the Tularosa Basin featured large lakes, streams, grasslands, and Ice Age mammals. As the climate warmed, rain and snowmelt dissolved gypsum from the surrounding mountains and carried it into the basin. Further warming and drying caused the lakes to evaporate and form selenite crystals. Strong winds then broke up crystals and transported them eastward. A similar process continues to produce gypsum sand today.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Thousands of species of animal inhabit the park, a large portion of which are invertebrates. Several animal species feature a white or off-white coloration. At least 45 species are endemic, living only in this park, with 40 of them being moth species. The Tularosa Basin has also seen a number of human inhabitants, from Paleo-Indians 12,000 years ago to modern farmers, ranchers, and miners.


title: White Sands National Park

text: White Sands National Park was originally designated White Sands National Monument on January 18, 1933 by President Herbert Hoover; it was redesignated as a national park by Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on December 20, 2019. It is the most visited NPS site in New Mexico, with about 600,000 visitors each year. The park features a drive from the visitor center to the heart of the dunes, picnic areas, backcountry campground in the dunefield, marked hiking trails, and sledding on the dunes. Ranger-guided orientation and nature walks occur at various times and months throughout the year.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The oldest known human footprints in North America have been discovered at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Researchers identified approximately 60 fossilized footprints buried in layers of gypsum soil on a large playa in the Tularosa Basin in findings published in the journal Science. By carbon dating seeds embedded in the footprints, the U.S. Geological Survey showed that humans have been living in this region for 23,000 years, whereas previous estimates of human arrival into North American were between 13,000 and 16,000 years ago.


title: White Sands National Park

text: A fossil trackway of footprints of humans and ground sloths found at White Sands shows that ground sloths were hunted by humans during the Last Glacial Maximum. Multiple human footprints are stratigraphically constrained and bracketed by seed layers that yield calibrated radiocarbon ages between ~23 and 21 thousand years ago. Paleo-Indians inhabited the shoreline of Lake Otero, a large lake that covered much of the Tularosa Basin. They used stone from the mountains to create projectile points, known as Folsom and Plano points, and attached them to spears for hunting mammoths, camels, ground sloths, and bison. Projectile points and stone tools have been found in the basin associated with ancient shorelines, streams, and hills. As the large ice sheet that capped the North American continent receded, Lake Otero began to evaporate, leaving behind Alkali Flat and Lake Lucero. The grassland died and the basin became increasingly arid, slowly changing into desert scrubland. The megafauna disappeared from the basin leaving behind fossil footprints.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The Archaic people improved upon the hand thrown spear used by Paleo-Indians with the invention of the atlatl. After Lake Otero dried out, wind carried large quantities of gypsum sand up from the basin floor which accumulated into a large dunefield. Archaic people entered the Tularosa Basin about 4,000 years ago, after the dunes had stabilized, possibly attracted by a cereal grass called Indian ricegrass. The first evidence of agriculture is found in the Archaic period. Archaic peoples would tend to wild plants so they would produce in a more reliable manner and in larger quantities than they did naturally. Archaic people started living in small villages throughout the year to tend their fields. Hearth mounds are found within the dunes, which are the remains of prehistoric fires containing charcoal and ash. When gypsum is heated to it becomes a plaster that hardens when moisture is added and subsequently evaporates. The plaster cements these hearths in place, preserving them for thousands of years.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The Jornada Mogollon people made pottery, lived in permanent houses, and farmed the Tularosa Basin. Evidence of their prehistoric presence dates back to about 200 CE. The Jornada Mogollon inhabited the basin until about 1350 CE when they moved away, leaving behind puddled adobe structures and pottery sherds.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Over 700 years ago, bands of Apaches followed herds of bison from the Great Plains to the Tularosa Basin. The Apaches were nomadic hunters and gatherers who lived in temporary houses known as wickiups and teepees. The Apaches had established a sizable territory in southern New Mexico by the time European explorers arrived. They fiercely defended the rights to their homeland against the encroachment of colonial settlers. Apache groups, led by Victorio and Geronimo, fought with settlers in the basin and engaged in military battles with Buffalo Soldiers. The Battle of Hembrillo Basin in 1880 was a military engagement between Victorio's warriors and the United States Army's 9th Cavalry Regiment of Buffalo Soldiers. The battleground, located on White Sands Missile Range, is the closest archaeological evidence of the Apache Wars (1849 to 1924). Conflict between the Apaches and the American settlers over their conflicting interests in the basin ultimately ended in the forceful removal of the Apaches from their homelands to the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation. The Mescalero Apache maintain an active cultural affinity to the landscape of their ancestors.


title: White Sands National Park

text: While a Spanish colony was established to the north around Santa Fe, the Tularosa Basin was generally avoided until the nineteenth century. The basin lacked any reliable water sources and was the primary stronghold of local Apaches who stole livestock from Pueblo and Spanish settlements near the basin. When Spaniards did enter the basin, they traveled along established trails to the salt pan north of Alkali Flat. Spanish colonists had established the salt trails in 1647, to connect the salt deposits with the Camino Real in El Paso del Norte (present-day Ciudad Juárez) and silver mines in Durango, Mexico. Salt is a fundamental element in the processing of silver ore. Expeditionary parties using mule-drawn carts with military escorts would be formed a few times each year for the journey to the salinas (salt pans).


title: White Sands National Park

text: Hispanic populations throughout the Spanish colonial and Mexican periods were allowed to gather salt from the salinas, which were considered public property. Texan-American settlers made private claims to the land to profit from mining of minerals on their property. James Magoffin held a title to the salt flats north of Lake Lucero but had been unsuccessful in collecting fees for salt gathering. In 1854, using military force, he intercepted a salt gathering expedition of Hispanos from Doña Ana at the salt flats and fatally wounded three members of the party. In response to Magoffin's use of extreme force during the Magoffin Salt War, the courts dissolved his property claim to the salt flats and established a precedent for free public access to salt deposits.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The first US Army exploration of south-central New Mexico was led by a party of topographical engineering officers in 1849. They passed west of the San Andres Mountains and Organ Mountains. A lieutenant was dispatched east across the basin with a scouting party to map a potential military wagon route to the Sierra Blanca.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Hispanic families started farming communities at Tularosa in 1861 and La Luz in 1863. The villagers mixed water with gypsum sand from the dunefield to create plaster for the adobe walls of their homes. The white color was not only decorative but functional in deflecting the rays of the summer sun.


title: White Sands National Park

text: In the 1880s, a brief period of heavy rainfall supported the return of lush grasslands in the Tularosa Basin which attracted the attention of goat, sheep, and cattle grazers, predominately from Texas. Large cattle drives pushed into the basin, and ranching became the dominant economy for the next sixty years. In 1897, the Lucero brothers, Jose, Felipe, and Estevan, began ranching on the south shore of the lake that would eventually bear their name. By 1940, Felipe consolidated the family's ranches into a property. Shortly afterward, the National Park Service took over ownership of the Lucero family properties with their appropriation of Lake Lucero and Alkali Flat. The remnants of the Lucero family ranch include the stock pens, watering trough, a water well, and a fallen windmill which visitors can see on a ranger-led tour to Lake Lucero once each month, in the cooler months of the year.


title: White Sands National Park

text: At the turn of the twentieth century, the discovery of oil, coal, silver, gold, and other precious mineral deposits inspired many settlers to cover the Tularosa Basin in mining claims. By 1904, over 114 people made mineral claims to more than of Lake Lucero; however, very few of the claims were developed. Eddy's Soda Prospect, developed by the same Eddy brothers that had founded the El Paso and Northeastern Railway and the town of Alamogordo, was a mineral recovery operation for glauberite salt mining along the southern shore of Lake Lucero. In 1907, J.R. Milner and Bill Fetz constructed a plaster of Paris batching plant along the southern edge of the dunes. The operation involved drilling long shafts into the dunes and extracting gypsum to cook into plaster at night. Though successful, the establishment of the national monument permanently shut down the plant.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The idea of creating a national park to protect the white sands formation dates to 1898 when a group from El Paso, Texas, proposed the creation of Mescalero National Park. The plan failed as it included a game hunting preserve that conflicted with the idea of preservation held by the Department of the Interior.


title: White Sands National Park

text: From 1912 to 1922, Albert B. Fall, a Senator from New Mexico—later appointed Secretary of the Interior—and the owner of a large ranch in Three Rivers northeast of the dune field, promoted four separate bills in Congress for a national park in the Tularosa Basin. Fall's ultimate plan was called the All-Year National Park as it would be open throughout the year, unlike more northerly parks. The bill included four geographically separate and diverse areas, to be administered as one national park. The proposed areas included a scenic portion of the Mescalero Indian reservation, of the dune field, 640 acres of a volcanic area to the north named Carrizozo Malpais, and the shoreline of the Elephant Butte Reservoir to the west, beyond the San Andres Mountains. Stephen Mather, the director of the National Park Service, criticized the proposal as having "disjointed boundaries, lack of spectacular scenery, and questionable usage." The National Parks Association and the Indian Rights Association campaigned against Fall's bill, mainly because of the appropriation of Indian reservation land and that it might establish a precedent of industrial usage within parks. The bill failed in Congress, and Fall resigned in 1923 during the Teapot Dome scandal.


title: White Sands National Park

text: During the 1920s, an Alamogordo businessman named Tom Charles promoted the potential economic benefits of protecting the white sands formation. Charles mobilized enough local support for the construction of an improved state route between Las Cruces and Alamogordo (now U.S. Route 70), passing the southern edge of the dune field. He lobbied to have the dunes declared a national park but was advised by Senator Bronson M. Cutting, who had influence with President Herbert Hoover, that national monument status would be much easier to obtain.


title: White Sands National Park

text: On January 18, 1933, President Hoover designated White Sands National Monument, acting under the authority of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The dedication and grand opening was on April 29, 1934. Tom Charles became the first custodian of the monument, and the first concessionaire in 1939, operating as White Sands Service Company.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The visitor center and a nearby comfort station, three ranger residences, as well as three maintenance buildings were constructed of adobe bricks as a Works Progress Administration project starting in 1936 and completed in 1938. The original eight adobe buildings and other nearby structures were designated the White Sands National Monument Historic District when they were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. The principal architects were Lyle E. Bennett and Robert W. Albers, who also designed NPS buildings together at Casa Grande and Bandelier national monuments. Bennett also designed the picnic table shelters at White Sands, the Painted Desert Inn at Petrified Forest, and buildings at Carlsbad Caverns and Mesa Verde national parks.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The park is completely surrounded by the military installations of White Sands Missile Range and Holloman Air Force Base, and has always had an uneasy relationship with the military. The missile range and air force base were established after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, with continuing operations after World War II and throughout the Cold War. Errant missiles often fell within the park's boundaries, occasionally destroying some of the visitor areas. Overflights from Holloman disturbed the tranquility of the area. Flight training missions continue over the dunefield, and the park closes temporarily for several hours during missile tests in the adjacent range and cooperative use area on the west side of the park.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Between 1969 and 1977, 95 oryx were released on the missile range and adjacent areas of the Tularosa Basin by the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish for hunting purposes. The oryx, having no natural predators, entered the park and competed with native species for forage. Thousands of oryx reside on the missile range presently, though annual hunts have occurred since 1974 to help control and stabilize the population. The National Park Service, concerned about the negative effects on native plants and animals within the park, erected a long boundary fence in 1996 to prevent oryx from entering.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Increasingly problematic alcohol abuse by students on spring break in the 1990s led to a ban on the consumption of alcohol. The possession of alcohol or alcohol containers is banned throughout the park from February 1 to May 31.


title: White Sands National Park

text: White Sands was placed on a tentative list of potential World Heritage Sites on January 22, 2008. The state's two U.S. Senators, Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, wrote letters of support of the application. U.S. Representative Steve Pearce declined to support the application, saying, "I would guarantee that if White Sands Monument receives this designation, that there will at some point be international pressures exerted that could stop military operations as we know them today."


title: White Sands National Park

text: The WHS application generated much controversy in Otero County, most of it taking place in meetings of the Otero County Commission. A petition with 1,200 signatures opposing the application was presented to the commission on August 16, 2007. The commission passed a resolution of opposition to the application on August 23, 2007, and passed Ordinance 07-05 on October 18, 2007, relating to any potential World Heritage Site designations within the county. The ordinance requires coordination with the county in following its environmental planning and review process through its Public Land Use Advisory Council, and states that "No world heritage site...will be located on or adjacent to any military land...within or adjacent to the boundaries of Otero County." On January 24, 2008, after the WHS tentative list was announced, the commission instructed the county attorney to write a letter to the Secretary of the Interior, demanding that WSNM be taken off the list.


title: White Sands National Park

text: In May 2018, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (Democrat, New Mexico) introduced a bill to designate White Sands a national park. Heinrich consulted with monument officials, the National Park Service, White Sands Missile Range, the U.S. Army and Holloman Air Force Base before the bill was introduced in Congress. The bill was supported by the Alamogordo City Commission, the Las Cruces City Council, the Mescalero Apache Tribal Council, the Town of Mesilla Board of Trustees, Alamogordo Mayor Richard Boss, New Mexico Senator Ron Griggs (Republican), the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce, the Las Cruces Green Chamber of Commerce, the National Parks Conservation Association and the Southern New Mexico Public Lands Alliance. The bill was opposed, however, by Otero County commissioners, who stated that the main argument in favor of national park status was the potential for increased visitation, while also noting that the monument is already the most-visited NPS site in the state. The commissioners were also concerned that "the change in status will affect filmmaking here either from higher fees or increased regulation." The commissioners only supported boundary adjustments and additional infrastructure, such as campgrounds and improved road access. The Doña Ana County commissioners also opposed the redesignation of White Sands as a national park. The redesignation bill was re-introduced on March 27, 2019.


title: White Sands National Park

text: On December 11, 2019, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020, which includes legislation redesignating White Sands National Monument as White Sands National Park. The Senate passed the act on December 16 and President Donald Trump signed the bill on December 20. The act includes the transfer of land management both to and from the missile range, as well as the protection of additional land, adding a net to the park.


title: White Sands National Park

text: White Sands, during its period as a national monument, has been used as a filming location for scenes in several westerns, including "Four Faces West" (1948), "Hang 'Em High" (1968), "The Hired Hand" (1971), "My Name Is Nobody" (1973), "Bite the Bullett" (1975), and "Young Guns II" (1990). Additional feature-length films with location shooting in the park include "King Solomon's Mines" (1950), "The Man Who Fell to Earth" (1976), "White Sands" (1992), "Transformers" (2007), "" (2009), "The Men Who Stare at Goats" (2009), "Year One" (2009), and "The Book of Eli" (2010). The opening scene in the music video for Lady Gaga's 911 (2020), and Wye Oak's title track for the album "The Louder I Call, the Faster It Runs" (2018) were filmed at White Sands. "Yoga Mind & Body" (1994), featuring yoga teacher Erich Schiffmann and actress Ali MacGraw, was also filmed on the dunes.


title: White Sands National Park

text: White Sands National Park is located in southern New Mexico, on the north side of U.S. Route 70 approximately southwest of Alamogordo and northeast of Las Cruces, in western Otero County and northeastern Doña Ana County. The closest commercial airport is in El Paso, Texas, about away. The park is situated in the Tularosa Basin with elevations ranging from at Lake Lucero, to at a former military site called NE 30.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The park's primary feature is the field of white sand dunes composed of gypsum crystals. The gypsum dunefield is the largest of its kind on Earth. The park protects of the dunefield, about 41%, while the remaining are located to the north within White Sands Missile Range. The depth of gypsum sand across the entire field is about below the interdunal surface, while the tallest dunes are about high. About 4.5 billion short tons (4.1 billion metric tons) of gypsum sand fill the dunefield, which formed about 7,000–10,000 years ago.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Total park acreage is which includes a net added in 2019 when the national park designation modified the boundaries between the park and the missile range. The missile range borders the park on all sides, with a cooperative use area designated in the park's western portion where public access is only allowed by permit. The cooperative use area includes most of the Alkali Flat region in the park's northwestern quadrant, as well as Lake Lucero and dome dunes in the southwestern quadrant. The San Andres Mountains rise beyond the park's western boundary, while Holloman Air Force Base is a short distance to the east. A rock formation called the Twin Buttes is located to the south on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management.


title: White Sands National Park

text: According to the Köppen climate classification system, White Sands National Park has a continental or cold semi-arid climate ("BSk"), bordering closely on a cold desert climate ("BWk"). Daily means resemble those of a humid subtropical climate ("Cfa"), though its relatively high elevation and low precipitation causes a higher diurnal temperature variation and shorter growing season than would be typical of such a climate. The growing season generally lasts less than six months, from April 27 to October 19 on average.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The warmest months are April through October when the average high temperature reaches or exceeds and the daily mean temperature is in the range . Afternoon temperatures in June and July average around . The highest recorded temperature is , set on June 22, 1981. The cooler months are November through March when the average low temperature is below and the daily mean temperature is in the range , with December and January being the coldest months. The lowest recorded temperature is , set on January 11, 1962.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The average annual precipitation is with the wettest month being August at . July through October have the most rainy days, averaging four to seven days per month. The remaining months have an average of two or three days with precipitation. Snow may occur from November through March, with an average accumulation of .


title: White Sands National Park

text: During the Permian Period, shallow seas covered the area that today forms White Sands National Park. The seas left behind gypsum (calcium sulfate), and subsequent tectonic activity lifted areas of the gypsum-rich seabed to form part of the San Andres and Sacramento Mountains. Over time, rain dissolved the water-soluble gypsum in the mountains, and rivers carried it to the Tularosa Basin, which has no outlet to the sea. The trapped water sank into the ground or formed shallow pools that subsequently dried out, leaving the gypsum on the surface in a crystalline form called selenite. Groundwater that flows out of the Tularosa Basin flows south into the Hueco Basin.


title: White Sands National Park

text: During the last ice age, a body of water named Lake Otero covered much of the basin. When it dried out, a large flat area of selenite crystals remained, which is named the Alkali Flat.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Lake Lucero is a dry lakebed in the southwest corner of the park, at one of the lowest points in the basin. Rain and snowmelt from the surrounding mountains and upwelling from deep groundwater within the basin periodically fill Lake Lucero with water containing dissolved gypsum. When filled, the lake covers about at a depth of . As the water evaporates, small selenite crystals about in diameter form on the surface of the lake. Most of the crystal formation occurs when large floods concentrate the mineralized water every ten to fourteen years. Wind and water break down the crystals into progressively smaller particles until they are fine grains of white gypsum sand.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The ground in the Alkali Flat and along Lake Lucero's shore is also covered with selenite crystals that measure up to long. Weathering and erosion eventually break the crystals into sand-size grains that are carried away by the prevailing winds from the southwest, forming the white dunes. The dunes constantly change shape and slowly move downwind. Since gypsum is water-soluble, the sand that composes the dunes may dissolve and cement together after rain, forming a layer of sand that is more solid, which increases the wind resistance of the dunes.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The increased resistance does not prevent dunes from quickly covering the plants in their path. Some species of plants can grow fast enough to avoid being buried by the dunes, while others utilize survival strategies such as the formation of a hardened pedestal around their roots to stabilize the plant amid the moving dunes.


title: White Sands National Park

text: White Sands contains various forms of dunes. Dome dunes are found along the southwest margins of the field, transverse and barchan dunes in the center of the field, and parabolic dunes along the northern, southern, and northeastern margins. Scientists have surveyed a long strip of dunes with lasers; installed shallow water wells across the dunefield; looked at the chemistry and age of the water below the dunes; measured hundreds of thousands of individual sand grains from across the dunes; and used satellites to see temperature and moisture changes throughout the year.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Toward the western side of the dunefield, the dunes are more than tall, and they become progressively smaller toward the eastern edge, until they come to an abrupt stop at the eastern boundary. Throughout the dunes, water is only a few feet (a meter) from the surface and very salty, but toward the western edge of the dunefield, the water is older and even saltier. The depth to groundwater also decreases from below the surface on the eastern end to only on the western end of the dunefield. The dunes at the western end have very little vegetation and move very quickly, while the dunes on the eastern end move very slowly and are very vegetated. Toward the western edge, the sand grains become larger and have all different shapes, while at the eastern edge they are all very small and round. The dunefield is much cooler and wetter than the surrounding hot, dry desert soils based on satellites images. Scientists have discovered what appear to be old lakeshores beneath the dunes using laser scanning technology. At each of these old lakeshore terraces, the dune movement and type of dunes changes greatly.


title: White Sands National Park

text: More than 600 invertebrates, 300 plants, 250 birds, 50 mammals, 30 reptiles, seven amphibians, and one fish species inhabit White Sands National Park. Animal species that have a white, or off-white, coloration include three mammals, three reptiles, one amphibian, and numerous insects. At least 45 species are endemic, living only in this park, with 40 of them being moth species, along with the Apache pocket mouse ("Perognathus flavescens Apachii"), White Sands woodrat ("Neotoma micropus leucophaea"), bleached earless lizard ("Holbrookia maculata ruthveni"), and two camel crickets.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The plants at White Sands National Park stabilize the leading edges of the dunes, providing both food and shelter for wildlife. Humans have made extensive use of the dunefield's native plant life, using some for food and others to create cloth and medicine. Native Americans wove mats with the thicker blades of grass, and consumed some of the grass seeds.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The park's flora must be tough to live in the nutrient-poor alkaline soil of the dunefield. Drought-tolerant plants are able to survive in temperatures that range from sub-freezing to over , depending on the season. Many of these plants also tolerate the high concentrations of salt, while gypsophiles thrive in these conditions.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The cane cholla and other cacti, as well as desert succulents like the soaptree yucca, are able to store water through the hot summers and dry winters, blooming in the spring. Desert grasses have developed a tolerance for the highly alkaline soil. Grass species like alkali sacaton and Indian rice grass provide food for many tiny animals, such as Apache pocket mice and kangaroo rats. Grass seeds produce a protein-rich kernel that dries well and fills many rodents' underground granaries.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Native Americans used many parts of the soaptree yucca. The young flower stalks are rich in vitamin C, while the flower pods can be boiled or roasted. The leaf fibers were used for the fabrication of rope, matting, sandals, baskets, and coarse cloth. The roots were chopped and boiled to produce soap to wash hair, blankets, and rugs.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Other plants include skunkbush sumac, Rio Grande cottonwood ("Populus deltoides wislizeni"), hoary rosemary mint, purple sand verbena ("Abronia angustifolia"), Mormon tea (also known as longleaf jointfir), and claret cup cactus whose fruit is among the sweetest of any


title: White Sands National Park

text: desert plant. American Indians used the hoary rosemary mint for seasoning foods, and the purple sand verbena as a mild sedative. They used the skunkbush sumac's berries to make a tart drink, while the flexible stems were used for basketry and binding. The sumac's branches contain tannin, which is useful in producing dyes, and its leaves were used as an astringent to treat stings, bites, rashes, and sunburn. The cholla's fruit can be eaten raw or cooked, while its flower buds were used as a diuretic, and a hair tonic was made from its roots. Strips of the cottonwood's branches and bark were woven into baskets. The tree's buds and flowers are edible, and its bark was used for treating bruises, strains, and sprains. A tea made from cottonwood bark is an anti-inflammatory agent and mild diuretic. The Mormon tea plant contains traces of ephedrine, which is a stimulant and decongestant effective in countering symptoms of the common cold.


title: White Sands National Park

text: More than 800 animal species inhabit the park, many of them nocturnal. Several species of animals have developed very specialized means of survival in this harsh environment, enabling them to thrive in a place with very little surface water and highly mineralized groundwater. Some species that inhabit the dunes have gradually changed color through centuries of evolution, becoming substantially lighter than their cousins elsewhere. Many of these white species are endemic to the park. The Apache pocket mouse, bleached earless lizard, sand-treader camel cricket, sand wolf spider, and moth species including "Protogygia whitesandsensis" and "Givira delindae" are among the white animals inhabiting the dunefield. Lighter colored animals blend in with their white surroundings better than darker animals, which helps them to avoid predation, allowing them more time to reproduce.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Invertebrates form the largest group with more than 600 species, including varied species of spiders, wasps, beetles and moths. Spider species include Apache jumping spider, burrowing wolf spider, funnel-web spider ("Agelenopsis longistylus"), tarantula, and western black widow spider. Other arachnid species include sand scorpion ("Paruroctonus utahensis"), and wind scorpion. Insect species include white-lined sphinx moth, yucca moth, bleached skimmer dragonfly, tarantula hawk wasp, minor ground mantis, toothpick grasshopper, walking stick, Maricopa harvester ant, and darkling beetle. The Maricopa harvester ant inhabits much of the Southwestern United States and is believed to have the most toxic insect venom in the world. Humans may experience up to four hours of intense pain, while the equivalent of twelve ant stings is capable of killing a rat.


title: White Sands National Park

text: , 246 species of birds have been recorded, including wrens, mockingbirds, and ravens, as well as larger species like roadrunners and raptors. Fourteen species are listed as "common" meaning they may be seen daily but not in large numbers, while the others are seen only a few times each month, each year, or every few years. The most commonly seen species are: mourning dove, turkey vulture, Swainson's hawk, red-tailed hawk, ash-throated flycatcher, Chihuahuan raven, common raven, northern mockingbird, house finch, Brewer's sparrow, black-throated sparrow, white-crowned sparrow, and great-tailed grackle. Cactus wrens have a long white streak over their eyes, a cluster of black spots on their breast, and make a somewhat ratchety call. They build their nests in cacti and feed by hopping under shrubs hunting insects, or picking insects off the radiator grills of parked cars. Birds are usually observed in vegetated areas of the park away from the heart of the dunefield, mainly near the visitor center and the edges of the dunefield, as well as Lake Lucero though it is open to the public only once each month by guided tour.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Most mammals of the Tularosa Basin have adapted to the hot summers by staying in their dens until evening. Visitors may see footprints along the dunes as evidence of the nightly hunting and foraging excursions of nocturnal animals. Carnivorans include coyotes, bobcats, badgers, and kit foxes. Rabbits include desert cottontails and black-tailed jackrabbits, with the jackrabbit capable of speeds as high as . Rodents include porcupines, pocket gophers, Apache pocket mice, and Merriam's kangaroo rats, the latter of which can jump up to high when frightened despite having only a body and an tail. The pallid bat eats insects in the air like other bats but locates most of its food on the ground while walking around. Four other bat species have also been observed in the park, though the pallid bat is the most commonly seen species, roosting under the visitor center's eaves during the summer.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Among reptiles, the most common lizards include the bleached earless lizard, little white whiptail ("Aspidoscelis gypsi" – a white species that will detach its tail as an escape strategy), southwestern fence lizard, and side-blotched lizard; while the most common snakes are the coachwhip, Sonoran gopher snake, prairie rattlesnake, western diamondback rattlesnake, and the massasauga which is another species of rattlesnake, all of them venomous. The sole resident turtle species is the desert box turtle.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Seven species of amphibians inhabit the park, including three species of toads: the Great Plains toad, the western toad, and the red-spotted toad; three species of spadefoot toads: Couch's spadefoot toad, the plains spadefoot toad, and the New Mexico spadefoot toad, all of which have a single hard, dark spade on the underside of each hind foot that is used to burrow into the ground to prevent water loss and hide from predators; and one salamander species, the barred tiger salamander.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The White Sands pupfish is the only species of fish endemic to the Tularosa Basin, and the only fish found in the park. The pupfish has dark eyes, silver scales, and grows from in length.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Before the Pleistocene epoch ended about 12,000 years ago, the land within the Tularosa Basin featured large lakes, streams, and grasslands. The climate was wetter and cooler, producing a lot more rain and snow than in the present. Lake Otero was one of the largest lakes in the southwest, covering , which is an area larger than the state of Rhode Island.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The basin teemed with life, including large ice age mammals that lived by the shores of Lake Otero and in the surrounding grasslands. Columbian mammoths, ground sloths, ancient camels, dire wolves, lions, and saber-toothed cats—also known as saber-toothed tigers, though not closely related to tigers—all crossed the Tularosa Basin where the dunes lie presently. The animals left fossil footprints as they walked the muddy shores of Lake Otero, their body weight compressing the wet clay and gypsum. The fragile tracks are uncovered by the wind, then rapidly erode away, with many tracks disappearing after only two years.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Scattered along the now dried lakebed are trackways of ancient camels and Columbian mammoths. The fossilized footprints appear to gather around ancient pools of water. For 80 years, only a small collection of fossil footprints had been found in the park; however, a group of scientists noticed dark spots dotting the expanse of the lakebed that appeared to be footprints. During the 2010s, footprints of a dire wolf were discovered beside ancient seeds dated to more than 18,000 years ago. The fossil footprints of ground sloths have also been found in the park. Paleolithic human footprints are sometimes found interacting with Ice Age animals. One set of footprints shows the stalking of sloths. The paleo-humans who lived in the Tularosa Basin left behind no other evidence of their passage. Though stone flakes from toolmaking, arrowheads, and spear points are found in surrounding areas, they are the artifacts of humans who lived after the Ice Age. The lakebed is nearly devoid of a single artifact from before the Spanish exploration in the 1500s. In a study of exposed outcrops of Lake Otero in 2021, Bennett et al. reveal numerous human footprints dating to about 23,000 to 21,000 years ago which provide strong evidence of pre-Clovis occupation of the American continents.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Dire wolves lived in North and South America during the Pleistocene. Standing at about 2.6–2.8 feet (80–85 cm) tall and weighing 130–150 pounds (60–68 kg), they were about the same size as modern gray wolves, but with a heavier, more muscular build. They had powerful jaws, with a stronger bite than modern wolves, and probably hunted in packs, allowing them to target larger prey such as horses and bison.


title: White Sands National Park

text: During the Pleistocene, large cats lived throughout the world, including lions in North America. About four feet (1.2 m) tall at the shoulder and weighing over 500 pounds (230 kg), American lions had long, slender legs for chasing down prey. They hunted by ambushing animals like deer, camels, ground sloths, bison, and young mammoths.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Saber-toothed cats, or tigers, are known for their oversized canine teeth, which could reach seven to ten inches (17–20 cm) in length. Standing around 3 feet (one meter) tall and weighing up to 750 pounds (340 kg), saber-toothed cats had a bulky, muscular build that allowed them to subdue large prey, like sloths, bison, and young mammoths. Some fossil evidence suggests that they may have hunted in packs.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Columbian mammoths stood up to 14 feet (over four meters) tall at the shoulder and weighed 18,000–22,000 pounds (8,000–10,000 kilograms). They had large tusks and ridged teeth for eating plants like modern elephants. These giant herbivores probably did not have much hair, unlike the woolly mammoths that evolved in colder regions. Columbian mammoths inhabited a range from Canada to Nicaragua and Honduras.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Camels are commonly associated with Africa, though they originated in North America. The ancient western camel probably resembled modern, one-humped dromedary camels, but with longer legs, standing up to seven feet (over two meters) tall at the shoulder. The camels were opportunistic herbivores, grazing over large ranges, and leaving distinctive footprints.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Ground sloths are the ancient relatives of modern tree sloths, armadillos, and anteaters. The Harlan's ground sloth dwarfed modern relatives, standing 10 feet (three meters) tall when upright and weighing over a ton (about 2,200–2,400 pounds or 1000–1090 kilograms). These giant herbivores had a slow, waddling walk and left kidney-bean shaped footprints, created as their back feet rotated inwards while walking. Some ground sloth prints appear bipedal, possibly caused by the large hind feet covering the tracks of the smaller front feet. Such tracks have sometimes been mistaken for the tracks of a giant human.


title: White Sands National Park

text: White Sands National Park is the most visited NPS site in New Mexico, with about 600,000 visitors each year. In year two of the pandemic, White Sands National Park saw more than 780,000 visitors from both locals and visitors. Many visitors arrive during the warmer months from March through August, but sledders and photographers can be seen throughout the dunes year round. March and July are the two busiest months with more than 60,000 visitors each, or about 2,000 per day, while November through February have the fewest visitors with less than 30,000 each month, or fewer than 1,000 per day.


title: White Sands National Park

text: The Dunes Drive leads into the dunes from the visitor center at the park entrance. Three picnic areas are available, as well as a backcountry campground with ten sites for overnight camping in the dunefield. Five marked trails totaling allow visitors to explore the dunes on foot. Ranger-guided orientation and nature walks occur at various times and months throughout the year. Sunset strolls are presented every evening of the year, while Lake Lucero hikes are offered once a month, from November to April, and full moon guided hikes from April to October, on the night before the full moon. The park participates in the Junior Ranger Program, with various age-group-specific activities.


title: White Sands National Park

text: Both the park and U.S. Route 70 between Las Cruces and Alamogordo are subject to closure for safety reasons when tests are conducted at White Sands Missile Range which completely surrounds the park. Dunes Drive may be closed for periods of up to three hours during missile tests. Park staff is usually notified two weeks in advance of scheduled tests; however, notifications from White Sands Missile Range may be received as little as 24 hours in advance of a test. All activity, including horseback riding, backcountry camping, hiking, sledding, and driving on Dunes Drive is prohibited during all missile tests that require road closure. According to a National Park Service report, in 2020, visitors spent roughly $22.5 million in nearby communities with more than 360,000 more guests in 2021, nearby towns felt the boost.


title: Great Grand Masti

text: Great Grand Masti () is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language supernatural horror adult black comedy film directed by Indra Kumar. It is the third installment in the Masti (film series) after "Masti" (2004) and "Grand Masti" (2013). It is produced by Sameer Nair, Aman Gill, Ashok Thakeria, Markand Adhikari and Anand Pandit.


title: Great Grand Masti

text: It features Riteish Deshmukh, Vivek Oberoi, Aftab Shivdasani and Urvashi Rautela in the lead roles along with Shraddha Das, Mishti Chakraborty, Pooja Bose and Sanjay Mishra in the pivotal roles. Originally scheduled to release on 22 July 2016, the date was advanced to 15 July 2016 after a pirated copy of the film was reportedly leaked online. Censor Board made 23 deletions from the film including some dialogue deletions and a complete scene and gave the film an A certificate.


title: Great Grand Masti

text: Amar, Meet, and Prem are three friends who always wanted fun. They are married to Sapna, Rekha, and Nisha and live an unhappy life with their wives because of their mother-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law respectively. Amar's mother-in-law wants her late husband to be reborn and on the order of a fraud Baba (honorific), she has stopped her daughter from having any physical relations with Amar for over 6 months to achieve the rebirth of her late husband. Meet's wife is a twin and whenever he tries to go near his wife, it turns on his brother-in-law (who is a bodybuilder). The connection between the twins causes great problems like Meet's wife beating him up unintentionally when her brother is beating up some goon. Prem's sister-in-law is very hot yet very silly, she comes to live with them and wants to sleep with her elder sister, forcing Prem to sleep on the couch away from his wife.


title: Great Grand Masti

text: One day they meet in a bar and decide to enjoy their lives together. They decide to go to Amar's village to sell off his family Haveli (old mansion) and meanwhile have fun with the hot and sexy ladies in the village. When they reach the village, they find out that people are scared of the Haveli. An old man tells them that there used to be a father-daughter duo who lived in the haveli 50 years ago, the daughter, Ragini was very beautiful and many boys were smitten by her beauty but her father never let any guy near her. At the age of 20, Ragini died due to snake bite but her soul still resides in the haveli in search of a man who'll do masti with her.


title: Great Grand Masti

text: The guys laugh it off and proceed towards the haveli, there they meet a very hot girl who's been living secretly in the haveli as she is alone and has nowhere to go. The boys hire her as their maid and each one starts trying to attract her. Soon it is revealed that she is indeed Ragini and she informs the boys that one of them must have sex with her in order to free her soul and whoever does so will die. The boys get scared and try escaping the mansion but to no avail. Prem commits to doing so in front of Ragini to buy them some time and meanwhile they hire Babu Rangeela, a male prostitute to have sex with Ragini. But on the last moment their wives show up and Ragini turns Babu into a chicken. Ragini makes the boys do weird stuff in front of their wives and in-laws who join them at the haveli so they would leave. When the boys see that their wives are secretly fasting for them even when Ragini depicted them off as such perverts in front of them, they decide to confront Ragini. They meet Ragini and tell her they won't have sex with her and she can't harm them as their wives are fasting for their long lives. Ragini hurts them but they light a fire around her and call her father's spirit to help them. Rather Babu's spirit comes (who was cooked by the three wives) and has sex with Ragini hence satisfying her urge. Babu and Ragini leave the world together and the three couples live happily ever after.


title: Great Grand Masti

text: The music for "Great Grand Masti" is composed by Sanjeev-Darshan, Shaarib-Toshi, Superbia (Shaan, Gourov & Roshin). The lyrics have been penned by Sameer Anjaan, Manoj Yadav and Kumaar. The music rights have been acquired by Zee Music Company. The first song "Teri Kamar Ko" was released on 21 June 2016. The song 'Lipstick Laga Ke' had become so much popular and was one of the top 20 songs of 2016.


title: Great Grand Masti

text: On 5 July 2016, two weeks ahead of its nationwide release on 22 July 2016, a pirated copy of the film was reported to be shared online on various sites and was hosted on several peer-to-peer sharing websites like Kickass Torrents and The Pirate Bay. According to investigators, the leaked copy carried a watermark, implying that it was created from the sample copy sent by the producers to the CBFC for reviewing purposes.


title: Great Grand Masti

text: The film collected around on its opening day and had a lifetime worldwide collection of against a budget of . The film was a box office bomb.


title: Great Grand Masti

text: On 15 July 2016, actor Shiney Ahuja sent a legal notice to the film's producers accusing them of criminal contempt for naming a maid Shiney in the film. A member of Ahuja's legal representation alleged that this was a reference to Ahuja's 2011 conviction for raping a maid in his employ.


title: The Asterisk War

text: The anime has been licensed by Aniplex of America in North America, Madman Entertainment in Australasia and MVM Films in the United Kingdom. The light novels and manga were licensed and localized by Yen Press from August 2016.


title: The Asterisk War

text: In the 21st century, Earth is in a rapidly declining economic state as megacorporations known as the , rose to power after the impact event destroyed most of the planet's cities and resulted in humans gaining superpowers to become the . The city of , also called "Asterisk", has six academies where the Genestella participate in tournaments called . Battle performances at , the city's fifth top-ranking academy, are falling significantly and the academy's incumbent student council president, Claudia Enfield, is determined to find a solution to the problem. Kirin Toudou is the academy's top fighter, but Claudia, as well as Lieseltanian princess, Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld, are close behind.


title: The Asterisk War

text: Meanwhile, Ayato Amagiri investigates the disappearance of his sister, Haruka, a former student at Seidoukan. During his first day at the academy, Ayato is forced to fight Julis after discovering her half-dressed when returning her handkerchief to her. Claudia voids their duel and enrolls Ayato in Seidoukan. After rescuing Julis from a plot to cripple the Phoenix Festa, he sets out to become her protector and close friend. Eventually, Ayato wins against Kirin and is named the new top student at the academy. After Ayato participates in the Phoenix Festa with Julis to solve Seidoukan's performance crisis, they continue to participate in various Festas and also fight threats outside of the academy.


title: The Asterisk War

text: The series is written by Yū Miyazaki and illustrated by Okiura. It is published by Media Factory. The first volume was released in September 2012, and its final volume, volume 17, was released on June 24, 2022. Yen Press licensed the novels for publication in North America. The first English volume was released on August 30, 2016. Volumes 1 through 5 were translated into English by Melissa Tanaka and the following volumes are translated by Haydn Trowell.


title: The Asterisk War

text: Yuu Miyazaki has also worked on a spinoff, focusing on Minato Wakamiya, the main protagonist, Chloe Flockhart, Minato's best friend, Sophia Fairclough, the younger sister of Ernest Fairclough, Nina Achenwall, a Strega whose powers are invoked through the mental image of a deck of cards, and Yuzuhi Renjouji, a childhood friend of Ayato Amagiri who trained in the Yatsuka Dojo of the Amagiri Shinmei Style, all students of Queenvale Academy for Young Ladies.


title: The Asterisk War

text: A manga adaptation by Ningen was published from 2013 to 2016 and has been compiled into five volumes. It was released in English by Yen Press. The English translation is by Melissa Tanaka. A manga adaptation of the spinoff "Wings of Queenvale" novels by Shou Akane premiered in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine in August 2014, and ended in September 2016. The spinoff manga adaptation was collected in four volumes.


title: The Asterisk War

text: Directed by Manabu Ono and Kenji Seto, an anime adaptation of the series was broadcast from October 3 to December 19, 2015, with a second season following from April 2 through June 18, 2016.


title: The Asterisk War

text: Four pieces of theme music are used for the two seasons: two opening themes and two ending themes. The opening themes, "Brand-new world" and "The Asterisk War", are both performed by Shiena Nishizawa. The first ending theme, titled "Waiting for the rain", is performed by Maaya Sakamoto, while the second ending theme is performed by Haruka Chisuga.


title: The Asterisk War

text: Aniplex of America licensed the series for an English-language release in North and South America and simulcasted the series on Crunchyroll's streaming services. Aniplex released the series on DVD and Blu-ray in four compilations, each containing 6 episodes, from September 20, 2016, to April 25, 2017.


title: The Asterisk War

text: A PlayStation Vita simulation game by Bandai Namco Games titled "The Asterisk War: Houka Kenran" was released in Japan on January 28, 2016.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: Interplay Entertainment Corp. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by developers Brian Fargo, Jay Patel, Troy Worrell, and Rebecca Heineman, as well as investor Chris Wells. As a developer, Interplay is best known as the creator of the "Fallout" series and as a publisher for the "Baldur's Gate" and "Descent" series.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: Prior to Interplay, the company's founding developers—Brian Fargo, Troy Worrell, Jay Patel, and Rebecca Heineman—worked for Boone Corporation, a video game developer based in California. When Boone eventually folded, the four got together with investor Chris Wells and, believing they could create a company that was better than Boone, founded Interplay in October 1983. The first projects were non-original and consisted of software conversions and even some military work for Loral Corporation. After negotiations with Activision, Interplay entered a US$100,000 contract to produce three illustrated text adventures for them. Published in 1984, "Mindshadow" is loosely based on Robert Ludlum's "Bourne Identity" while "The Tracer Sanction" puts the player in the role of an interplanetary secret agent. "Borrowed Time" which features a script by Arnie Katz' "Subway Software" followed in 1985. These adventures built upon work previously done by Fargo: his first game was the 1981-published "Demon's Forge".


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: The same year, Interplay Productions, then contracted out by Electronic Arts, ported EA's "Racing Destruction Set" to the Atari 8-bit family of computers. The conversion, entirely coded by Rebecca Heineman, was released in 1986 via Electronic Arts for the United States and Ariolasoft for the European market.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: Interplay's parser was developed by Fargo and an associate and in one version understands about 250 nouns and 200 verbs as well as prepositions and indirect objects. In 1986, "Tass Times in Tonetown" followed. Interplay made a name for itself as a quality developer of role-playing video games with the three-part series "The Bard's Tale" (1985–1988), critically acclaimed "Wasteland" (1988) and "Dragon Wars" (1989). All of them were published by Electronic Arts.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: Interplay started publishing its own games, beginning with "Neuromancer" and "Battle Chess", in 1988, and then moved on to publish and distribute games from other companies, while continuing internal game development. In 1995, Interplay published the hit game "Descent", developed by startup Parallax Software. Interplay published several "Star Trek" video games, including "Star Trek: 25th Anniversary" and and "". These games had later CD-ROM editions released with the original "Star Trek" cast providing voices. Interplay also published "" and "" games, and "Starfleet Command" series, beginning with "". Another game, "", was in development in the late 1990s but was never completed and much of its staff laid off due to budgetary cuts prompted by various factors. In 1995, after several years of delays, Interplay finally published its role-playing game "Stonekeep". Other PC games released during the mid- to late 1990s included "Carmageddon", "Fragile Allegiance", "Hardwar" and "Redneck Rampage".


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: In 1997, Interplay developed and released "Fallout", a successful and critically acclaimed role-playing video game set in a retro-futuristic post-apocalyptic setting. Black Isle Studios, a newly created in-house developer, followed with the sequel, "Fallout 2", in 1998. Another successful subsequent Interplay franchise was "Baldur's Gate", a "Dungeons & Dragons" game that was developed by BioWare and which spawned a successful expansion, sequel and spin-off series. The spin-off series started with ""; the game's success forged a sequel as well. Aside from "Dark Alliance", Interplay published a few notable console series such as "Loaded" and the fighting game series "ClayFighter" and the games by Shiny Entertainment, "MDK" and "Wild 9".


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: By 1998, the financial situation at Interplay was dire and the company was in bankruptcy court. To avert bankruptcy, Interplay went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the name Interplay Entertainment.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: Interplay continued to endure losses under Brian Fargo due to increased competition, less than stellar returns on Interplay's sports division and the lack of console titles. This forced Interplay to seek additional funding two years later with an investment from Titus Interactive, a Paris-based game company. Titus agreed to invest 25 million dollars in Interplay and a few months later this was followed up by an additional 10 million investment. Interplay also acquired a 49.9% ownership in publisher Virgin Interactive in February 1999. With this, Interplay would be able to distribute Virgin's games in North America, while Virgin would distribute Interplay's games in Europe.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: By 2001, Titus Interactive completed its acquisition of majority control of Interplay. Immediately afterwards, they shed most of Interplay's publisher functions and signed a long-term agreement under which Vivendi Universal Games would distribute Interplay's games. Eventually, Interplay founder Brian Fargo departed at the start of 2002 to found InXile Entertainment as Fargo's plan to change Interplay's main focus from PC gaming to console gaming failed. Herve Caen took over the role of CEO to perform triage and made several unpopular but arguably necessary decisions to cancel various projects, in order to save the company. Interplay sold Shiny Entertainment to Infogrames and several game properties while closing BlueSky Software. Due to a low share price, Interplay's shares were delisted from the NASDAQ in 2002 and now trade on the over the counter (OTC) market. Interplay's European operations were completely sold to Titus Interactive, which included their share of Virgin Interactive, which Titus renamed to Avalon Interactive in August 2003. With this, Titus had complete control over publishing and distributing Interplay's games in Europe under the Avalon Interactive name.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: On September 29, 2003, Interplay announced it had canceled its distribution deal with Vivendi Universal Games, due to Vivendi suing them for alleged breaches of the working agreement and failure of payment. On December 8, 2003, Interplay laid off the entire Black Isle Studios staff. The company was also involved in issues including debt. Feargus Urquhart later left Black Isle Studios and Interplay suffered a loss of US$20 million in that year.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: In 2005, Titus Interactive, S.A. filed for bankruptcy and closed down all their assets parts of which Interplay acquired. The bankruptcy of Titus led to Interplay being burdened with debt. Interplay faced bankruptcy again and was brought to bankruptcy court in 2006. To pay off creditors, the company altered its licensing agreement with Bethesda Software and then sold the Fallout IP to Bethesda Softworks in 2007.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: In September 2008, several games from Interplay's catalog were re-released on the digital distribution service GOG.com after being unavailable in retail distribution for years.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: In August 2013, Interplay acquired the remaining rights to the "FreeSpace" franchise for $7,500 after THQ went to bankruptcy court.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: In September 2016, Interplay announced its intent to sell off its intellectual property, composed of 70 games, working together with Wedbush Securities.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: Interplay is co-publishing, with 3D Realms, a remaster of Xatrix Entertainment's 1999 game "", which was originally published by Interplay. Known as "Kingpin: Reloaded", the game will be developed by Slipgate Ironworks. This was announced on January 17, 2020.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: In 2021 Interplay, via Black Isle Studios, re-released "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance" on modern consoles, and later that year also released a port of it on PC for the first time.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: In 2003 and 2004 Snowblind Studios and Interplay Entertainment were engaged in a dispute regarding the Dark Alliance Engine for "", "Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II", and the GameCube version of the original "Dark Alliance". The dispute was resolved and Interplay would be allowed to work with materials already using the Dark Alliance Engine.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: Bethesda Softworks sued Interplay in 2009, regarding the "Fallout Online" license and selling of "Fallout Trilogy" and sought an injunction to stop development of "Fallout Online" and sales of "Fallout Trilogy". After several trials spanning almost three years, and in exchange for $2 million dollars, Interplay gave Bethesda the full rights for "Fallout Online". Interplay's rights to sell and merchandise "Fallout", "Fallout 2," and "" expired on December 31, 2013.


title: Interplay Entertainment

text: In 2010, TopWare Interactive revealed that they were developing "Battle vs. Chess" to be published by SouthPeak Games. Interplay sued them and won an injunction to stop sales in the United States. In 2012, Interplay won the case via default and a settlement for $200,000 plus interest was agreed upon on November 15, 2012.


title: Après moi, le déluge

text: "'" (; ) is a French expression attributed to King Louis XV of France, or in the form "'" (; ) to Madame de Pompadour, his favourite. It is generally regarded as a nihilistic expression of indifference to whatever happens after one is gone, though it may also express a more literal forecasting of ruination. Its meaning is translated by Brewer in the forms "When I am dead the deluge may come for aught I care", and "Ruin, if you like, when we are dead and gone."


title: Après moi, le déluge

text: The phrase itself is in reference to the biblical flood and is believed to date from after the 1757 Battle of Rossbach, which was disastrous for the French. One account says that Louis XV's downcast expression while he was posing for the artist Maurice Quentin de La Tour inspired Madame de Pompadour to say: Another account states that the Madame used the expression to laugh off ministerial objections to her extravagances. The phrase is also often seen as foretelling the French Revolution and the corresponding ruin brought to France.


title: Après moi, le déluge

text: The remark is usually taken out of its original context. It was made in 1757, a year which saw the crushing defeat of the French army by the Prussians at the Battle of Rossbach and the assassination attempt on the King. The "Deluge" the King referred to was not a revolution, but the arrival of Halley's Comet, which was predicted to pass by the earth in 1757, and which was commonly blamed for having caused the Genesis flood, with predictions of a new deluge when it returned. The King was a proficient amateur astronomer, who collaborated with the best French astronomers. Biographer Michel Antoine wrote that the King's remark "was a manner of evoking, with his scientific culture and a good dose of black humor, this sinister year beginning with the assassination attempt by Damiens and ending with the Prussian victory". Halley's Comet finally passed the earth in April 1759, and caused enormous public attention and anxiety, but no floods.


title: Après moi, le déluge

text: Karl Marx and Fyodor Dostoevsky apply the phrase in their writings to describe the selfishness and apathy of certain corrupting values.


title: Après moi, le déluge

text: Karl Marx wrote in "Das Kapital" (Vol. 1, Part III, Chapter Ten, Section 5) " is the watchword of every capitalist and of every capitalist nation. Hence Capital is reckless of the health or length of life of the labourer, unless under compulsion from society."


title: Après moi, le déluge

text: During the trial of Dimitri Fyodorovich Karamazov in "The Brothers Karamazov" by Dostoyevsky, the prosecution uses the expression to describe the attitude of the defendant's reprobate father and to lament the deterioration of Russian values more generally. He previously used it in "The Idiot", as an epigraph for an article written by one of the characters of the novel.


title: Après moi, le déluge

text: In his writings of the 1920s, D. H. Lawrence uses the expression a number of times, calling it "the tacit utterance of every man", in his "crisis" of unbearable "loneliness ... surrounded by nullity". But "you mustn't expect it to wait for your convenience," he warns the dissolute "younger generation"; "the real deluge lies just ahead of us".


title: Après moi, le déluge

text: "" was adopted as the motto of the Royal Air Force 617 Squadron, which carried out the "Dambuster" raids on German dams in the Ruhr region on the night of 16–17 May 1943.


title: Après moi, le déluge

text: Kurt Vonnegut used "" in his novel "Player Piano" (1952) when the main character Paul talks to Doctor Pond.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) is a passerine bird of the family Icteridae found in most of North America and much of Central America. It breeds from Alaska and Newfoundland south to Florida, the Gulf of Mexico, Mexico, and Guatemala, with isolated populations in western El Salvador, northwestern Honduras, and northwestern Costa Rica. It may winter as far north as Pennsylvania and British Columbia, but northern populations are generally migratory, moving south to Mexico and the southern United States. Claims have been made that it is the most abundant living land bird in North America, as bird-counting censuses of wintering red-winged blackbirds sometimes show that loose flocks can number in excess of a million birds per flock and the full number of breeding pairs across North and Central America may exceed 250 million in peak years. It also ranks among the best-studied wild bird species in the world. The red-winged blackbird is sexually dimorphic; the male is all black with a red shoulder and yellow wing bar, while the female is a nondescript dark brown. Seeds and insects make up the bulk of the red-winged blackbird's diet.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The red-winged blackbird is one of five species in the genus "Agelaius" and is included in the family Icteridae, which is made up of passerine birds found in North and South America. The red-winged blackbird was formally described as "Oriolus phoeniceus" by Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his "Systema Naturae", but was later moved with the other American blackbirds to the genus "Agelaius" by Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816. Linnaeus specified the type location as "America" but this was restricted to Charleston, South Carolina in 1928. The genus name is derived from Ancient Greek , meaning "gregarious". The specific epithet, , is Latin meaning "crimson" or "red". The red-winged blackbird is a sister species to the red-shouldered blackbird ("Agelaius assimilis") that is endemic to Cuba. These two species are together sister to the tricolored blackbird ("Agelaius tricolor") that is found on the Pacific coast region of the California and upper Baja California in Mexico.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Depending on the authority, between 20 and 24 subspecies are recognised which are mostly quite similar in appearance. However, there are two isolated populations of bicolored blackbirds that are quite distinctive: "A. p. californicus" of California and "A. p. gubernator" of central Mexico. The taxonomy and relationships between these two populations and with red-winged blackbirds is still unclear. Despite the similarities in most forms of the red-winged blackbird, in the subspecies of Mexican Plateau, "A. p. gubernator", the female's veining is greatly reduced and restricted to the throat; the rest of the plumage is very dark brown, and also in a different family from the European redwing and the Old World common blackbird, which are thrushes (Turdidae). In the California subspecies, "A. p. californicus" and "A. p. mailliardorum", the veining of the female specimens also covers a smaller surface and the plumage is dark brown, although not in the "gubernator" grade; and also its superciliary list is absent or poorly developed. The male subspecies "mailliardorum", "californicus", "aciculatus", "neutralis", and "gubernator" lack the yellow band on the wing that is present in most male members of the other subspecies. The red-shouldered blackbird was formerly considered as a subspecies of red-winged blackbird. They were split by the American Ornithologists' Union in 1997.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Listed below are the red-winged blackbird subspecies and groups of subspecies recognized as of January 2014 with their respective distribution areas and the location of their wintering quarters:


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The common name for the red-winged blackbird is taken from the mainly black adult male's distinctive red shoulder patches, or "epaulets", which are visible when the bird is flying or displaying. At rest, the male also shows a pale yellow wingbar. The spots of males less than one year old, generally subordinate, are smaller and more orange than those of adults. The female is blackish-brown and paler below. The female is smaller than the male, at long and weighing , against his length of and weight of . The smallest females may weigh as little as whereas the largest males can weigh up to . Each wing can range from , the tail measures , the culmen measures and the tarsus measures . The upper parts of the female are brown, while the lower parts are covered by an intense white and dark veining; also presents a whitish superciliary list. Females exhibit a year or salmon pink stain on the shoulders and a clear pink color on the face and below this, while older show a stain usually more crimson on the shoulders and dark pink hue on and under the face. Observations in females in captivity indicate that small amounts of yellow pigment are present on the shoulders of these after leaving the nest, that the concentration of the pigment increases with the first winter plumage after the change of the feathers and that the passage from yellow to orange generally takes place in the second summer with the acquisition of the second winter plumage, after which no further changes in feather color occur. The colored area on the wing increases in surface with the age of the female, and varies in intensity from brown to a bright red-orange similar to that of the males in their first year.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Young birds resemble the female, but are paler below and have buff feather fringes. Both sexes have a sharply pointed bill. The tail is of medium length and is rounded. The eyes, bill, and feet are all black. Unlike most North American passerines which develop their adult plumage in their first year of life so that the one-year-old and the oldest individual are indistinguishable in the breeding season, the red-winged blackbird does not. It acquires its adult plumage only after the breeding season of the year following its birth when it is between thirteen and fifteen months of age. Young males go through a transition stage in which the wing spots have an orange coloration before acquiring the most intense tone typical of adults.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The male measures between in length, while the female measures . Its wingspan is between approximately. Both the peak male and the legs, the claws and the eyes are black; in the female beak is dark brown and clear in the upper half at the bottom, and the tail is medium in length and rounded. As in other species polygyny exists, the red-winged blackbird exhibit considerable sexual dimorphism both in plumage and size, males weighing between 65 and 80g the females about 35g. Males are 50% heavier than females, 20% larger in its linear dimensions, and 20% larger compared to the length of their wings. The trend towards greater dimorphism in the size of non-monogamous ichterid species indicates that the larger size of males has evolved due to sexual selection.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The male is unmistakable except in the far west of the US, where the tricolored blackbird occurs. Males of that species have a darker red epaulet edged with white, not yellow. Females of tricolored, bicolored, red-shouldered and red-winged blackbirds can be difficult to identify in areas where more than one form occurs. In flight, when the field marks are not easily seen, the red-winged blackbird can be distinguished from less closely related icterids such as common grackle and brown-headed cowbird by its different silhouette and undulating flight.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Two keto-carotenoids – carotenoid with a ketone group – reds synthesized by the birds themselves – namely astaxanthin and canthaxanthin – are responsible for the bright red color of the wing spots, but two yellow dietary precursor pigments – lutein and zeaxanthin – are also present in moderately high concentrations in red feathers. Astaxanthin is the carotenoid more abundant (35% of the total), followed by lutein (28%), canthaxanthin (23%) and zeaxanthin (12%). Such a balanced combination of dietary precursors and metabolic derivatives in colored feathers is quite unusual, not only within a species as a whole but also in individuals and particular feathers.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: After removing the carotenoids in an experiment, the red feathers acquired a deep brown coloration. This is because the feather barbles of the colored spot contain melanin pigments – mainly eumelanin, which was equivalent to 83% of all melanins, but also pheomelanin at a concentration approximately equal to that of carotenoids, which seems to be a rare trait for carotenoid-based ornamental plumage. On the other hand, the feathers of the yellow stripes of the males are devoid of carotenoids —except occasionally when they appear tinged with a pink coloration derived from small amounts of said pigments— and present high concentrations of pheomelanin —82% of all melanins. Melanin concentrations in the yellow band are even higher than in the red spot.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: These markings are vital in the defense of the territory. Males with larger spots are more effective at chasing away their non-territorial rivals and are more successful in contests within aviaries. When the red shoulder patches were dyed black as part of an experiment, 64% of males lost their territories, while only 8% of control subjects did. However, males whose wings had been dyed before they had mated could still attract females and successfully reproduce. In the red-winged blackbird, the spots on the wings are a sign of threat among males and have an unimportant role, if any, in intersex encounters. Therefore, the spots are likely to have evolved in response to pressures linked to intrasexual selection. Additionally, neither the size nor the coloration of the same are linked to the reproductive success of the males with those females that are not their mates, that is, those with which they eventually mate. It has been suggested that also in the case of females, the best explanation for the evolution of a variable coloration in the shoulder spots is that their intensity indicates their physical condition in aggressive encounters between them.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The fact that female red-winged blackbirds do not appear to consistently use variability in the size and color of male wing spots when choosing a mate runs counter to the classic role of carotenoid pigmentation ornamental feathers, mostly used in the attraction of a couple. In turn, its use as a sign of aggressiveness and social status against rival males is not a common trait in carotenoid ornaments. On the other hand, ornaments with a preponderance of melanin do tend to have an important role as an indicator of status in avian populations, so the spots of red-winged blackbirds seem to work more as melanin ornaments than as carotenoids.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The calls of the red-winged blackbird are a throaty "check" and a high slurred whistle, '. The male's song, accompanied by a display of his red shoulder patches, is a scratchy ', except that in many western birds, including bicolored blackbirds, it is '. The female also sings, typically a scolding chatter '.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The most critical period of feather molting runs from late August to early September. When viewed in flight, they have a misaligned or "moth-eaten" appearance and generally slower and more laborious travel. Their mobility is reduced due to the lack of several remiges or rectrices or these are not entirely renewed. Most of the red-winged blackbirds have moved almost entirely by October. By then, some birds have not completed the molt of the feathers of the capital region and the helmsmen of the center of the tail and the internal secondary sprouts have only partially emerged from the pod. Virtually all individuals have completed their molts by mid-October.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Birds do not begin their migration to wintering quarters until the two outer primary sprouts and the two inner or central rectrices have completed at least two-thirds of their development. Therefore, there is a correlation between molting, particularly replacement of the remiges and rectrices, and fall migration in red-winged blackbirds.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Despite the fact that the brown or white tips on the feathers of the males are larger just after the molt and that they wear out throughout the year, the individuals vary considerably regarding the size of these non-black tips on the feathers in spring.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Complete replacement of wing feathers takes about eight weeks. However, birds in their first year frequently retain some of the under-wing coverts and juvenile tertiary remiges after post-juvenile moulting. Of seventy immature males examined during the last week of October, it retained 70% of older lower primary blankets. In most cases where partial replacement of the covert feathers occurs, it is the proximal coverts that the bird retains.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: Primary remiges are one of the first feathers to molt. The molt of these feathers proceeds regularly from the innermost primary—primary I—to the outermost—primary IX. By October 1, most birds have either acquired the three new external primaries—VII, VIII, and IX—or they are at some advanced stage of development. The average dates for completion of the development of the new primary springs are: August 15 for primary I; September 1, primary II-IV; September 15, primary V and VI; and October 1, primaries VII-IX.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The molting of the secondary remiges begins with the most external—secondary I— and proceeds inward to secondary VI. The secondary I sheath appears around the same time that all the secondary covers have been replaced and rarely before mid-August. These feathers are not completely renewed until the beginning of October.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The molt of the tertiary remiges begins more or less at the same time as that of the secondary ones. The middle tertiary falls first, followed by the internal tertiary. Both feathers are often well developed again before the outer tertiary leaves the sheath.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The major primary blankets are changed along with their respective primary springs. Unlike the major primary coats, the major secondary coats molt earlier than the secondary spruces. The molting of these feathers is rapid, with several of them at the same stage of development simultaneously. The progression of the molt in these feathers is from the outside to the inside, as in the secondary remiges. Most birds has completed the change of the secondary coverts to August 15, more or less at the time is appreciable only secondary sheath remige I.


title: Red-winged blackbird

text: The molting of the lesser coverts begins early, often being the first feathers to fall. The onset of molting in male juveniles is particularly noticeable because it involves the replacement of the minor covers and results in the appearance of the reddish or orange wing spot. The new wing spot contrasts sharply with the yellowish-brown juvenile plumage in this area of the wing. The move of the minor blankets has generally been completed by September 1.