Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist. One of the major composers of the 20th century, he was also an outstanding teacher of composition and musical analysis.
There are two species of passerine birds commonly called chough that constitute the genus Pyrrhocorax of the Corvidae (crow) family of birds. These are the red-billed chough and the Alpine chough. The white-winged chough of Australia, despite its name, is not a true chough but rather a member of the family Corcoracidae and only distantly related.
The yellowhammer is a passerine bird in the bunting family that is native to Eurasia and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. Most European birds remain in the breeding range year-round, but the eastern subspecies is partially migratory, with much of the population wintering further south. The male yellowhammer has a bright yellow head, streaked brown back, chestnut rump, and yellow under parts. Other plumages are duller versions of the same pattern. The yellowhammer is common in open areas with some shrubs or trees, and forms small flocks in winter. Its song has a rhythm like "A little bit of bread and no cheese". The song is very similar to that of its closest relative, the pine bunting, with which it interbreeds.
Metaxades is a large village and a former municipality in the Evros regional unit, East Macedonia and Thrace, Greece. This lowland settlement, positioned at an altitude of 120 meters, is celebrated as the most picturesque in the wider area, thanks to its traditional stone architecture.
Paul Kim is a Korean-American classical pianist.
In the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, published in 1758, the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus described 554 species of bird and gave each a binomial name.
Quatre Études de rythme is a set of four piano compositions by Olivier Messiaen, written in 1949 and 1950. A performance of them lasts between 15 and 20 minutes.
Chouette is a French word meaning "owl", specifically owls without visible ear tufts. Owls with visible ear tufts are known as "Hibou".
Birdsong has played a role in Western classical music since at least the 14th century, when composers such as Jean Vaillant quoted birdsong in some of their compositions. Among the birds whose song is most often used in music are the nightingale and the cuckoo.
Petites esquisses d'oiseaux, is a piano work by Olivier Messiaen composed in 1985, dedicated to his wife Yvonne Loriod. It has six parts, three of which are devoted to robins.
Cécile Anne Marie Antoinette Sauvage was a French poet. She was the author of collections Tandis que la terre tourne (1910) and Le Vallon (1913). Her love poetry was posthumously collected and published by Béatrice Marchal in the volume Cécile Sauvage: Écrits d'amour (2009). Sauvage was the mother of French composer Olivier Messiaen.
