Wild Birds of Eastern US Woods and Fields Quiz

Answer: northern mockingbird

The mockingbird mostly wears shades of gray, but has two white patches visible when it spreads its wings. Its year-round range has been expanding northward, reaching over most of the eastern U. S. now, and the bird adapts to urban environments too. Mockingbirds are brave, chasing off predators such as cats, dogs and even humans.

There are numerous mentions in songs ("Listen to the Mockingbird") and books or stories ("To Kill a Mockingbird").

Answer: red-tailed hawk

The red-tailed hawk is sometimes called the chickenhawk, but is happier eating rats and chipmunks than chickens. During courtship, the pair flies in circles and the male will perform dramatic dives and other aerobatics for several minutes. Once a pair mates, it generally stays mated for life, which can be 25 years or more. Red-tailed hawks are also used for falconry in the U.S.

A dog is sent out to flush game for the hawk to catch, and the hawk is then asked to trade his success for a reward of meat.

Answer: whip-poor-will

The Eastern whip-poor-will is speckled in color, giving it good camouflage even though it nests on the ground. In some places, numbers are declining for unknown reasons, but over the bird's broad range its numbers are still high, so scientists aren't worried, even though individuals are, if the chorus of whip-poor-wills fades and then disappears by their house. Numerous stories and folktails mention the bird because of its unusual endless nighttime song. James Thurber wrote a story, "Whip-poor-will," in which insomnia caused by a whip-poor-will leads to horrible consequences.

Answer: pileated woodpecker

The pileated woodpecker can't really be mistaken for any other common bird in the eastern woods. Its size and black coloration might make it pass for a crow, except for its gaudy red and white crested head and white on the wings, and the way it can perch on the side of a tree like a woodpecker. Both males and females look similar.

There are southern and northern pileated woodpeckers, and some scientists separate out Florida and western subspecies too. Like other woodpeckers, they eat grubs and other insects found in and around dead trees, drilling with their powerful beaks, creating a loud drumming sound.

Answer: Carolina wren

You're more apt to hear this little wren than see it, as it likes thick bushes and is a camouflaged brown color. "Teakettle teakettle teakettle," is one call, with many scolding variations. For food, the Carolina wren eats beetles, katydids, spiders, bees, and other bugs, plus occasional small lizards or tree frogs.

There are seven similar subspecies over the eastern US range. The Carolina wren is the South Carolina state bird, since 1948.

Answer: wild turkey

Wild turkey males are much larger than females, averaging 17 lbs. compared to 9.4 lbs. in two studies. The males also have a beard of modified feathers that dangles from their chest. Both sexes can fly for distances and perch up in trees, though they don't like to fly long or high. Because they can survive on insects, grain, nuts, roots, snakes, and a wide variety of food, they don't need to go far to forage.

They can be aggressive, like domestic turkeys and geese. Numbers were down to an estimated 30,000 in the early 20th Century, but they have rebounded into the millions and hunting wild turkeys is legal.

Answer: cardinal

The cardinal's bright red feathers show up best in winter, when it perches on a snowy evergreen branch. Sometimes called a redbird, its range is all over the eastern U.S. and even a bit west of the Mississippi, though there are many subspecies. The male is all red except for a black mask, while the female is reddish gray.

They feed mainly on seeds, nuts and fruit, with occasional insects. The female does most of the nest-building, though the male will feed the hatched young while she incubates the next set of eggs, and he may occasionally help incubate too. Pairs mate for life.

Answer: eastern bluebird

Eastern bluebirds like to perch out in the open on wires or fenceposts, so they're usually easy to see. They like fields with bushes or light woods interspersed, and often gather in flocks. The bluebird as a symbol of happiness appears in many cultures: Chinese, Navajo, Russian.

In the U.S. and Britain, several songs in the mid 20th century tied the bluebird to happiness, including "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah," "The White Cliffs of Dover," and from 1934, "Bluebird of Happiness."

Answer: chickadee

The black-capped chickadee shows up often at bird feeders in winter, or you can hear its cheery chicka-dee-dee-dee-dee call in the snowy woods. Besides a black cap, it has a black bib on its otherwise gray and white body. Chickadees feed on caterpillars more in the summer, seeds and berries more in the winter.

The Carolina chickadee, which lives in the south, looks similar, but has a "feebee feebay" call in addition to a similar "chickadee" call. Where the two species overlap in the area of the Mason-Dixon Line and westward, they interbreed.

Answer: brown-headed cowbird

Before domesticated cattle arrived, cowbirds followed buffalo in the west. As land was cleared and cattle appeared, the cowbirds moved east. They have a musical little song but birdwatchers hate them for one habit: they lay their eggs in other birds' nests and expect them to raise the young, doing none of the work themselves. One puzzle for scientists to work on: despite the young being around the host species as they grow up, they develop typical cowbird songs and behavior, regardless what species raises them.