From the Cute Thrush to the Blue-Footed Booby Quiz

Answer: snails

The song thrush is a tool user. It bashes snails against a stone in order to break their shells. It is omnivorous, also eating worms and berries. The song thrush is found across most of Europe and parts of east Asia. It is highly recognizable due to its speckled chest and beautiful song.

Answer: Golden eagle

The golden eagle is a large eagle that is widely distributed across North America, Asia and Europe. Its wingspan can be as much as seven feet eight inches (2.3m). Its Latin name is a simple translation - aquila = eagle and chrysaetos = golden. It mainly feeds on small mammals.

Answer: Arctic tern

The Arctic tern has a very long and convoluted migration, seeing two summers a year. It breeds in the north, around the Arctic area and migrates to Antarctica for the southern summer. Its round trip can be up to 60,000 miles. They are fierce in defending their nests, attacking humans who approach too near by pecking them on the head.

Answer: moult

Many Western European male goosanders migrate to Finnmark in the far north of Norway in order to moult. The goosander, also known as common merganser, is a large "sawbill" duck. The males show a pinkish colour in their plumage, which is, as in flamingos, caused by the crustaceans they eat.

Answer: Secretarybird

The secretarybird is a tall bird of prey that lives in the savannahs of sub-Saharan Africa. It has a crest of feathers on its head reminiscent of an old-fashioned secretary carrying quills behind the ear. It is built like an eagle, but with the legs of a crane.

Its prey is various, including mice, snakes and tortoises, and it employs a mixture of methods, perhaps stamping to flush out prey, and despatching it with a sharp beak or by stamping.

Answer: New Zealand

The kea is a large parrot which is a dull olive green colour, with orange feathers which can be seen under the wings in flight. It is found in the South Island of New Zealand, in the harsh environment of the Southern Alps. It nests in burrows or crevices. An intelligent bird, the kea has been observed to use tools, and is adept at problem solving.

Answer: True

The magnificent frigatebird is a large black bird found above the tropical and sub-tropical waters of the Americas between Florida and Brazil on the Atlantic side, and between Mexico and Ecuador on the Pacific side. It relies greatly on kleptoparasitism - using its excellent flying skills to attack birds that are carrying food, even grabbing the birds by the tails or legs until they drop their food, and then catching the food before it hits the water.

Answer: hoopoe

The Eurasian hoopoe is found across Southern Europe, Northern Africa and Asia. It is a spectacular bird, with a long bill that tapers downwards. Its name possibly comes from its call, an "oop-oop-oop". It mainly feeds on insects, though it will eat some larger animals or seeds and berries. Most European and Asian birds migrate to overwinter in tropical areas.

Answer: American coot

The American coot looks like a duck, but it is actually from a separate order - the rails, as are the gallinules. Rails appear in every continent except Antarctica.

The American coot is a black bird with a white bill and a white frontal shield, that leads to the expression "as bald as a coot". The bird is not endangered, partly because hunters don't bother with it because it doesn't taste as nice as duck.

Answer: Galapagos Islands

The blue-footed booby is one of the six distinct species of booby. Its range is from California to Peru. As the name suggests, it has bright blue feet. The blue colour comes from the fish it eats, and is thought to be a strong indicator of health, and hence important in mate selection. On the Galapagos Islands, the population has been observed to be in decline, which is thought to be due to a shortage of the sardines that make up a large part of the blue-footed booby's diet.