Fun Trivia » Animals » Wild Birds » Regional Quizzes

The monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), also known as the quaker parrot, has proved to be a very adaptable species, now ranging through most of Western Europe (especially Spain, Italy and Belgium, with a variable and almost controlled population in the UK), the Caribbean and some major cities of the United States of America. The main methods proposed for controlling the population of this parakeet include destroying their nests (by taking them to pieces, burning them or even watering them before a freezing night) and mass-sterilization.

Although also being an invasive species, the rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri) doesn't match with the description given.

The other two species, the white-cheeked turaco (Tauraco leucotis) and the brown-necked parrot (Poicephalus robustus), aren't reported from countries outside their native regions apart from eventual escapes. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Rose-ringed parakeet, White-cheeked turaco, Brown-necked parrot

The house sparrow is about 16 cm long and wears a grey or brown plumage. Males have brighter colours than the females or the youngsters. House sparrows are native to Europe and greater parts of Asia. The most common subspecies lives in Europe and Siberia, while other subspecies inhabit Spain and the Baleares (Passer domesticus balearibericus); Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya (Passer domesticus tingitanus); Egypt and Sudan (Passer domesticus niloticus; Iran and Afghanistan (Passer domesticus persicus) or Cyprus and the Arabian peninsula (Passer domesticus biblicus). They are omnivores, but they greatly favour oats.
The black scoter (Melanitta Americana) is a large American duck, black in colour. They nest rarely in Europe.
The willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) is a medium to large ground-dwelling bird, closely related to the grouse and the pheasant.
The red-necked grebe (Podiceps grisegna) is a water bird breeding in Siberia and in Canada. During the winter they migrate to the Baltic Sea, the North Sea or the shores of California. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Black scoter, Willow ptarmigan, Red-necked grebe

Spurwing plover is indeed the other commonly used name. There are a number of other lapwings/plovers including the yellow wattled lapwing. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Pied lapwing, Pied plover, Egyptian goose

The cackling goose was split from the Canada goose in 2004. The most noticeable difference is the small size of the cackling compared to the Canada goose. There can be some overlap in size, so other features such as head and bill shape, grin patch, and breast color should also be used in identifying the species. Difficulty: Hard.

 

hag duck, hooded warbler, sharp-shinned hawk

The great bustard (Otis tarda) is considered Vulnerable by the IUCN. The main threat to this species is the loss of its steppe habitat, which also supports several other avian species. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Ostrich, Sandgrouse, Spanish imperial eagle

The Turtle dove's call is a gentle purr. The Laughing dove, also known as the Senegal or Palm dove, is an introduced species and found in all human settlements throughout the year. The Collared dove is found in rural areas and the edges of cities. The Town pigeon is actually the same bird as the Rock dove which still nests wild in the Judean desert.
Difficulty: Hard.

 

Laughing dove, Collared dove, Town pigeon

Widespread across the globe, anhingas are represented by four species, the African darter being one of them. These birds are also called 'snake birds' because of their habit of swimming along with just their necks out of the water. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Pied Grebe, Hammerkop, White-faced Whistler

Odin was the king of all the Norwegian gods and also the god of war. He's often shown with a spear and two ravens (Corvus corax). His two black ravens, Huginn (Thought) and Muninn (Memory), flew forth daily to gather news of events all over the world. In Germanic and Teutonic mythology he's known as Wodan. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Crow (Corvus corona), Eagle (Aquila sp.), Swan (Cygnus sp.)

The bird lives in Tonga, Fiji and Samoa, where it is known as manuma, meaning 'shy bird'. It is an attractive bird, mainly white with a red head and red and green back.

Unfortunately, its numbers are decreasing, mainly due to habitat loss and storms. An animal that lives on fruit is called a frugivore.

This question just flew into the quiz, and was composed by ozzz2002. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Pineapples, Coconuts, Apples

The male orange tufted sunbird has an iridescent green and purple sheen though he seems black at a distance. The female is modest brown/grey. These birds have spread successfully throughout the country, enjoying the nectar of flowers in gardens and parks.
The other birds are fictional :). Difficulty: Hard.

 

Jordanian sapphirewing, Middle-eastern jewelbird, Syrian flowerpecker

A fairly large raptor with noticeably bare facial skin, this bird is renowned for searching cracks and holes in trees for vertebrates and invertebrates. To achieve this the bird has evolved long bare legs with flexible joints. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Swooping raptor specilizing on waterbirds, Swooping raptor specilizing on rock hyrax, Pursuit raptor specilizing on small passerines

The Sheld Duck (T. tadorna) lives along coasts and feeds upon crustaceans and molluscs. The Eider (S. mollissima) spends most of his time on sea. The Tufted Duck (A. fuligula) is a small duck that's very fond of diving. It often nests in Black-headed Gull-colonies. The Shoveler (A. clypeata) has a rather unusual beak which he uses to sift out small crustaceans. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Eider (Somateria mollissima), Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula), Shoveler (Anas clypeata)

The Pacific imperial pigeon (Ducula pacifica) is found in a number of the Pacific islands including the Cook Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. It is medium sized with a mostly grey body, with green wings. They can form large flocks that feast on fruiting trees. They generally lay a single egg in a untidy twiggy nest.

Red Team's smpdit curtseys to royalty. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Red footed booby, Blue winged teal, White bellied cuckoo shrike

The Egyptian goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca), despite being a colourful and extraordinary sighting, poses a great risk to wild populations of ducks, geese and other aquatic birds due to their currently vast population, thus occupying the ecological niches of native species. It is particularly well-known its aggressiveness towards other wildfowl. This goose is native to Central and Southern Africa.

The ruddy shelduck (Tadorna ferruginea) has its nearest native populations in SE Europe on one side and in the Canary Islands on the other, with very small, non-established, feral populations in the UK, Belgium and other NW European countries, which means it is not even near being an invasive species.

Both the red-breasted goose (Branta ruficollis) and the red-breasted merganser (Mergus serrator) are native species to Europe. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Ruddy shelduck, Red-breasted goose, Red-breasted merganser

Yup, that's right, the answer is the grey crowned crane, also known as the 'crested crane'. An impala is actually an antelope-like creature which is also on the coat of arms. The shoebill stork, though a very famous bird and also associated largely with Uganda, is not the national bird, and the crested francolin is a small, fat bird, which also feeds on insects and grass seeds. Moving on! Difficulty: Hard.

 

Shoebill stork, Impala, Crested francolin

Common in Central and South America, the snail kite is limited in North America to freshwater marshes in central and south Florida, mostly in the Everglades. Its diet consists almost exclusively of snails, primarily apple snails. The Florida specimen was formerly called the Everglades kite. Difficulty: Hard.

 

marsh hawk, florida buteo, white-tailed hawk

'Dukifat' in Hebrew, the English name echoes the bird's owl like call. This bird is commonly found on lawns and trees in parks throughout the country. Difficulty: Hard.

The Great Bustard looks a bit like a crossbreed of a turkey and a small ostrich. The males have got a small moustache. The male's love dance is very impressive. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes), Ring Ouzel (Turdus torquatus), Pratincole (Glareola pratincola)

The Canadian dollar coin, which bears the image of Queen Elizabeth on one side and the common loon on the other, was introduced in 1987 and was quickly dubbed the "loonie". Loons are called divers in Europe. Difficulty: Easy.

 

ruddy duck, hooded merganser, bufflehead

These Grackles are common around the Dea Sea area, though flocks are known to roam the entire country outside the breeding season. Many birds show up in Jerusalem to the north, several thousand feet above their usual Dead Sea haunts.
Jackdaws are small crows common on city outskirts. They have greyish heads and raucous, slightly nasal sounding calls.
Blackbirds are thrushes and beautiful songsters, often heard making their music in the parks and gardens of the region. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Jackdaw, Blackbird, Raven

The female is sealed in a cavity by the male. He plugs up the hole entrance with mud and vegetation and she remains in the nest, shedding feathers to make a nest. During this time the male brings food to her and feeds her and the chicks through a slit in the seal. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Communual nesters with group care by young males., Biparental care with the male killing the weaker chick., Biparental care with the female killing the weaker chick.

The magpie is a close relative of the crow (C. corona) and the raven (C. corax). For many years, it was thought magpies were fascinated by shiny objects but research in 2014 dispelled this notion, even suggesting that magpies were afraid of unfamiliar, shiny objects. Difficulty: Hard.

The only species of kingfisher you can find in Europe is the common Alcedo atthis, which is spread across most of the continent. Difficulty: Hard.

 

20, 12, 4

This bird's call is a frequent "hoop-hoop-hoop". The hoopoe is a widespread species, ranging as far north as Spain, but is commonly seen throughout southern Africa often in gardens. Difficulty: Hard.

 

It was named for the unusual noise that is heard when it defecates., Latin for "crested seeker", Greek for "crested seeker"

Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes): a brown bird with white spots about the size of a pigeon.
Golden Oriole (Oriolus oriolus): the male is yellow, the female olive green.
Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus): lays its eggs in another bird's nest.
Kingfisher (Alcedo atthis): the European Kingfisher is a beautiful bird with a sky blue coat and an orange breast. Difficulty: Average.

 

The Golden Oriole, The Cuckoo, The Kingfisher

The English partridge, also known as the Hungarian partridge or the grey partridge, is about 30 cm tall. It is native to most of Europe and Central Asia and has successfully been integrated in North American wildlife. The well-known song about the Twelve Days of Christmas, misplaces this bird in a surrounding not fit for it: it would be quite unlikely to find a partridge in a pear tree (or whatever other tree).
Partridges feed mainly on seeds. Especially during their youth they consume some insects, too. Although there still is quite an amazing number of partridges (at least 1.6 million breeding pairs), the latest number show a decline in the population in most areas.
The Alpine swift (Tachymarptis melba) is a black-and white plumed bird that vaguely resembles a barn swallow, although it is not related to it.
The Dalmatian pelican (Pelecanus crispus) is a huge white bird, with a two-coloured beak: the upper half is greyish, the bottom half of the beak is bright orange.
The Caspian plover (Charadrius asiaticus) is a small wading bird (about 19cm tall) native to the shores of the Caspian Sea. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Alpine swift, Dalmatian pelican, Caspian plover

Goatsuckers, also called nightjars, are represented in North America by such species as the common nighthawk, the whip-poor-will, and the common poorwill. They are nocturnal, insect eating birds. They are part of the family called Caprimulgidae, which comes from the Latin Caprimulgus, meaning goatsucker. It was at one time thought that they sucked milk from goats. Difficulty: Hard.

 

the blood of goats, small rodents, fruit and nectar

These birds are mostly white, but develop rusty/orange plumage during the breeding season. They follow grazing herbivores and even farm tractors, searching for small invertebrates in the soil. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Snowy owl, Great white pelican, Purple heron

These birds are called 'Chasida' in Hebrew. This means bird of loving-kindness because of the dedication the parents have for their chicks. Difficulty: Hard.

Oxpeckers, relations of the starlings, are often seen on large herbivores gleaning parasites from the fur and skin. They serve their hosts by providing an alarm system, giving a harsh churring call when a predator approaches. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Redbilled Oxpecker, Barbet Oxpecker, Burnett's Oxpecker

The Eurasian, or European, eagle-owl is one of the largest members of the owl family and has distinctive ear tufts. They cover a wide range, primarily in mainland Europe, although the UK does have a few pairs, and parts of Asia, such as Russia and central Asia. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Falcon, Finch, Penguin

The streaked shearwater is a pelagic seabird of the Calonectris genus which comprises four species of shearwaters. The bird is notorious for following fishing boats so closely that they often get entangled in fishing nets and drown or get caught. The range of the streaked shearwater at different times of year includes the coasts of Japan, New Guinea and down to the South Pacific and New Zealand.

This question was flown into the quiz while fully clothed by Phoenix Rising teammate and Red Crew member Triviaballer as part of the team's 2022 World Tour. Difficulty: Average.

 

Pelagic cormorant, Short-tailed albatross, Wedge-rumped storm petrel

Although in the past some ringed individuals, escapees from private collections, had been seen in different parts of Europe, increasing numbers of wild lesser flamingoes (Phoeniconaias minor) are being seen - mainly in west and southwest Europe, and they have even nested in Southern Spain at the Fuentedepiedra Lagoon.

This last wetland is home to the second largest European colony of greater flamingoes (Phoenicopterus roseus), which are native to our region, as is the purple heron (Ardea purpurea).

The Puna flamingo (Phoenicoparrus jamesi) is a small flamingo native to the Andes, in South America. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Greater flamingo, Purple heron, Puna flamingo

The robin has a greyish to brownish back and a whitish belly. Males and females have the same plumage. It lives in almost all of Europe, plus some territories in Northern Africa and the Middle East. The robin prefers woodland or parks and gardens, and feeds mainly on insects. During the winter however it supplements its diet with berries and table scraps, where available.
The red-necked nightjar (Caprimulgus ruficollis) is a grey bird of about 32 cm long, hunting moths at night. Only its neck is reddish.
The purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) has a distinguished purple plumage.
The black-winged pratincole (Glareola nordmanni) is a wading bird, brown at the back and whitish at the belly, with black wingtips. Difficulty: Average.

 

Black-winged pratincole, Purple swamphen, Red-necked nightjar

The belted kingfisher can be found in most of the lower 48 states, including Texas. The green kingfisher is found in Texas and southeast Arizona. The ringed kingfisher is found only in Texas. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Arizona, Florida, New Mexico

White wagtails are known as 'nachalieli' from the Hebrew word for stream, 'nachal' since many birds of this family are found along streams. The white wagtail is quite happy hunting for tiny bugs on the streets and sidewalks of the city, and huddling in huge roosts in trees on the cold winter nights.
Stonechats, black redstarts and wheatears are also beautiful insect eating birds which can be found close to human habitation in their season. Difficulty: Hard.

 

stonechat, black redstart, wheatear

All the African vultures are related to eagles and hawks whereas recent DNA analysis has placed all the New World vultures in the same order as the storks. The similar appearance is the result of convergent evolution. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Storks, Osprey, Condors and New-world vultures

These birds lay about 12 to 15 very different eggs (different colours and marks) in nests of insect eating birds. They lay one egg a nest. Difficulty: Average.

 

Wryneck (Fynx torquilla), Nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

The wren is the bird we are looking for. It lives in various habitats, from arable land to forests. The wren is omnivorous: it consumes insects and spiders, as well as berries and seeds (the latter mostly in winter). It lives in almost all of Europe, including Iceland, as well as in East-Asia and in North-America.
The black-tailed godwit (Limosa limosa) is a long-legged bird living on the shores.
The black-legged kittiwake (Rissa tridactyla) is a seabird of the gull family, with white and grey plumage.
The red kite(Milvus milvus) is a bird of prey with brownish-reddish plumage, while the wings are black and white.
Difficulty: Easy.

 

Black-tailed godwit, Black-legged kittiwake, Red kite

The colors in the feathers of a bird are formed in two ways, from pigments and from the way light reflects off them due to the structure of the feather. Reds and yellows come from pigments. Blues are from light refraction and greens are from a combination of yellow pigment overlaying a blue reflecting feather structure. The feathers of a bird that is completely waterlogged, as one washed ashore after a storm would be, are too wet to reflect any light and so would appear black. Thus any bird that was largely green or blue (such as blue jays, Steller's jays, blue grosbeaks, or green herons) would appear black instead of blue and thus be difficult to identify. Difficulty: Hard.

 

they are so smashed up, they are unidentifiable, their feathers have all been blown off, they have no wings