Fun Trivia » Animals » Specific Bird Species » Raptors

The answer is 200+ mph. It has been proven that speeds of over 200mph have been reached, and one "National Geographic" film crew claim they recorded a peregrine flying 242 mph! However, they do not achieve this speed in horizontal flight. Difficulty: Hard.

 

50-100 mph, 150-200 mph, 100-150 mph

Buteo regalis is the scientific name for the ferruginous hawk, Haliaeetus leucocephalus is the bald eagle, and Pandion haliaetus is the osprey. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Buteo regalis, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Pandion haliaetus

A peregrine falcon will dive down from a great height and stoop down vertically onto its unfortunate prey. However, some peregrines living in tundra or desert will prefer to chase prey horizontally. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Fall, Chase, Dive

Red-tails often prey upon all of these animals. Their prey items can range in size from as big as Jackrabbits to as small as some insects. Difficulty: Easy.

 

rodents, snakes, other birds

Don't let the word "buzzard" confuse you. In the New World (especially the U.S.) it is sometimes used to refer to vultures, but in the Old World "buzzard" is used exclusively to refer to hawks. There are 10 different kinds of buzzards in Africa and 3 kinds of buzzards in Europe. Difficulty: Hard.

 

vulture, falcon, harrier

The martial eagle is the largest eagle in Africa. Its diet consists of gazelle, warthog, gamebirds, storks and large reptiles. This bird is at risk of being endangered because of farmers. The farmers shoot martial eagles because they steal the farmers' sheep. Difficulty: Hard.

 

bald eagle, tawny eagle, harpy eagle

The falco subbuteo is the hobby, the falco columbaris is the merlin, and the falco peregrinus is the peregrine falcon. As you would have guessed they are all related and are classified as falcons. The American kestrels' scientific name falco sparverius. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Falco subbuteo, Falco columbarius, Falco peregrinus

Peregrines mainly eat medium-sized birds such as pigeons/doves, ducks, gulls, crows, wading birds and even grey herons! They will also eat mammals, such as rabbits and bats, but this is more unusual. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Fish, Small mammals, Large insects

The rufous coloration is often used by ornithologists and birders in America, and almost any field guide will tell you that the coloration of the tail is indeed a rufous coloration. The rufous coloration is around a combination of red and orange. Maroon and burgundy are both too dark and orange or red aren't specific enough. Difficulty: Hard.

 

orange, maroon, burgundy

European kestrels are afairly small for a bird of prey, but are not small for a falcon. Both hobbies and merlins are smaller. Difficulty: Hard.

 

30 centimetres, 26 centimetres, 45 centimetres

Falco tinnuculus is a common kestrel, Falco subbuteo is a Eurasian hobby and the last is one a made up, but celer is the Latin word for fast. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Falco tinnuculus, Falco subbuteo, Falco celer

Benjamin Franklin felt that the bald eagle was lazy and cowardly compared to the turkey. In a famous letter to his daughter, Benjamin Franklin wrote: "For my own part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country... For in truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America." Difficulty: Hard.

Although it is not 100% sure, most ornithologists think the bright yellow on the peregrine are an indicator of health. The healthier the peregrine, the brighter the yellow. Difficulty: Hard.

 

A warning to other predators that it is potentilly deadly, To show it is an adult to other adult peregrines, They do not have bright yellow on any part of their body

The family Accipitridae has birds that, for the most part, fit all of these descriptions. But since the red tail belongs under the subfamily Buteoninae, (also known as buteo/buzzard hawks) this family is described almost perfectly by this standard. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Small with short, broad, rounded wings and a broad, rounded tail, Large with short, broad, rounded wings and a forked tail, Large with long, pointed wings and a forked tail

The harpy eagle is found in South America. It is one of the biggest eagles in the world with a wingspan of seven feet. When angry, it stretches out its wings and screeches hoarsely. One time, a scientist saw a harpy eagle carrying two monkeys in its talons! Difficulty: Hard.

 

golden eagle, booted eagle, imperial eagle

Males and females are a similar size, but the male's head is grey and the female is a chestnut colour all over. Other differences, although not so startling, are that the male has a grey tail and the markings on the male's back are weakly speckled. Difficulty: Hard.

 

The colour of their legs, The size of their beaks, The colour of their eyes

Yep, J.A Baker wrote 'The Peregrine'. Ed Drewitt wrote the more recent 'Urban Peregrines'. Difficulty: Hard.

 

J.R Baker, Chris Packham, Ed Drewitt

There are no major differences between the male and female red-tail besides size. While there are different subspecies, these do not count as different colorations. And of course they don't have different ranges, then they would never breed and then there would be no more red-tails. Difficulty: Hard.

 

coloration, range, all of these

It is derived from the Latin word "rapere" which means "to seize, take, carry away, caught up". "Rapere" is also the basis for the English words "rape", "rapt", "rapture", "ravish", and the dinosaur known as "velociraptor". It refers to the way that raptors seize their prey with their feet and carry it away. In case you're curious, the wrong answers were all from Latin words beginning with an "a". "Acer" or "acre" (from which the words "acerbic", "acrid", and "exacerbate" were derived) means "sharp or fierce". "Adoriri" means "to attack". Lastly, "aberro" (from which "aberration" was derived) means "to wander". Difficulty: Hard.

 

"Fierce, sharp", "To attack", "To wander"

The Andean condor lives in the Andes mountains of South America. Its diet consists mostly of carrion, and if it cannot find dead animals, then it will attack small living mammals. Difficulty: Hard.

This British film was adapted from the novel 'A Kestrel for a Knave', written by Barry Hines. It starred Colin Welland and new boy David Bradley and was made in 1968. It is a real tearjerker, but a great, great film. Difficulty: Hard.

The biggest threat to peregrines was DDT poisoning. In the UK, the pesticide built up in the food chain and as a result peregrines and other raptors suffered from egg shell thinning, causing them to crack. By 1963-1964, 80% of the UK peregrine population was lost. However, they are now building their population once again. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Hunting, Loss of habitat, Golden eagle

The sound most often heard is that of a red-tailed hawk. A few other hawks, such as Swainson's hawks and ferruginous hawks, also make a similar noise. Unfortunately, the sound is often incorrectly attributed to eagles, even though eagles do not make a sound even remotely close to it. For example, the eagles in the recent "Lord of the Rings" trilogy were inaccurately given this "keeeaaaarrrr" hawk sound.

Many television and movie marketers feel that the true sounds made by eagles are not as majestic-sounding, and so when they show an eagle they play a red-tailed hawk's call instead. In real life, a bald eagle makes short, squeaky sounds that sound sort of like a cartoon duck laughing. Similarly, a golden eagle makes sounds like "keyelp" or a series of sharp sounding "ki-ki-ki-ki" calls. Difficulty: Hard.

 

eagle, falcon, owl

The toes(talons)are used for killing prey and for carrying branches for their nests.(Owls and falcons don't build their own nests.)Sometimes, the talons are used for courtship displays also. Difficulty: Hard.

The use of pesticides meant that the small mammals on which the kestrels fed, such as mice and voles, were destroyed. With lack of food the kestrels died out. Bans on the likes of DDT helped and kestrels are now more common. They are still a beautiful sight no matter how often you see them. Difficulty: Hard.

 

They were shot for sport, Cold weather meant eggs did not hatch, Young kestrels fell out of their nests and did not survive

Females can be up to one third or a half times larger than the males, depending upon the species. This is called "reverse sexual dimorphism", and is most noticeable in the fast, bird-eating species like falcons and accipiters. Difficulty: Hard.

In level flight, it is the fastest bird of prey. It is as large as a buzzard. It lives in cold regions. Difficulty: Hard.

 

white-tailed falcon, peregrine falcon, merlin

Juvenile peregrines are this colour because they have to be camouflaged, as they are inexperienced at fending for themselves. From the time is fledges, it takes 16 months until it obtains the beautiful blue/black and white adult plumage. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Black and white, Orange and white, Same as the adult

Red-tails prefer all of these habitats. They have an extremely large range and are extremely adaptable, especially for a bird of prey. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Deciduous woodlands, Scrub deserts, Open plains

The kestrel does call and makes most noise whilst breeding. The young can be noisy when learning to fly and stretching their wings. Difficulty: Average.

 

Cawcaw, Tweet, It has no call or voice

The name comes from one of their most common prey, ducks. The Eurasian sparrowhawk is a hawk species, there is no such bird as a rabbit hawk, and a merlin is a very small species of falcon that looks like a tiny peregrine! Difficulty: Hard.

 

Sparrow hawk, Rabbit hawk, Merlin

The red-tail's voice has become the call that you now here in most movies as the call of other hawks or eagles thanks to its raspy yet crisp call. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Kea-kea-kea, Icky-Icky-Icky-Icky-fatang-ZIP-Boing-a, It doesn't make any noise