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About This Quiz
If the original Jurassic Park movie taught us anything, it's that birds, as the descendants of dinosaurs, are pretty darn awesome. But birds are also marvelous in their own right. These feathered friends of ours aren't just beautiful to look at, they are vital to all sorts of food chains and ecosystems. They contain thousands upon thousands of species, each with its own habits and quirks. They make all sorts of sounds, from the beautiful song of the nightingale to the whimsical "brrrrrr" sound of the corncrake, to the speech capabilities of the parrot. Some birds dance to attract a mate while others fight it out. Some live on the ground and others in trees. Some of them migrate seasonally to get the best out of two different homelands, while others can spend more than a year in the air without ever touching the ground! Some birds eat insects, while others catch fish from the sea or running water.
You probably don't pay much attention to birds during your daily life, but you'd certainly miss the sight and sound of them if they ever were to disappear, so it's important to keep an eye on them and make sure we know what they're all about. Let's see how well you know our flying friends!
What is the study of birds called?
cladistics
apiology
ornithology
Ornithology takes its name from the Greek word "ornos," meaning "bird." Not a big surprise, eh?
zoology
What is the Latin word for "bird?"
ala
avis
If you guessed "ala," you were almost right! "Ala" means "wing" in Latin; the plural is "alae."
peregrinis
vole
Which of these birds is popularly thought of as a sign of spring?
egret
macaw
raven
robin
The return of the red-breasted robin is a sign of spring's arrival. Seen all over the United States, the robin is the state bird of Michigan, Wisconsin and Connecticut.
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What kind of bird flaps its wings so rapidly the sound can easily be heard by humans?
golden eagles
hummingbirds
The rapid wing-flapping makes the "hum" for which hummingbirds get their name. Some hummingbirds can also fly sideways and backwards, unlike other birds.
sparrows
canaries
Are birds warm-blooded?
yes
All birds are warm-blooded. The scientific term for this is "endothermic."
no
Are birds the only animals which can fly?
yes
no
Insects can fly too, remember? And don't forget the bat, the only flying mammal!
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Are any birds carnivorous?
yes
Quite a few, actually. Smaller birds eat worms and insects, and then there are the larger birds of prey, like falcons and hawks. Of particular note is the shrike, a small bird that impales insects on thorns to kill them. Yikes!
no
Do any birds give live birth?
yes
no
All birds lay eggs and hatch them outside their bodies. It's snakes which are sometimes ovoviviparous, meaning the eggs mature inside the mother's body but are born live.
What is the exterior of a bird's mouth called?
a beak
The most famous beak is the pelican's, a big reticular structure in which it holds its catch of fish. This inspired a children's rhyme, the one that begins, "Oh what a strange bird is the pelican/His beak can hold more than his belly can."
a gape
a maw
it's just called a mouth
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Which of these birds is known for its bright plumage?
macaw
parrot
peacock
all of these
All of these birds are known for their beautiful coloration. Parrots and macaws are often kept as pets; peacocks rarely so, though resort hotels and similar like to have them on their grounds for decorative purposes.
In addition to wings, what helps a bird to fly?
a high metabolism
hollow bones
strong muscles
all of these
Hollow bones make birds light comparative to their size. Their high heart rates and powerful muscles give them the energy and the strength to fly. Fun fact: Birds actually eat quite a lot, so the expression "birdlike appetite" is really a misconception.
What is the tallest of birds called?
the cormorant
the ostrich
Ostriches can grow more than eight feet high. They also run in a funny, wide-legged way, making their tracks quite distinctive.
the egret
the flamingo
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Which of these birds is now extinct?
the barn swallow
the dodo
You can still see models of the dodo bird in natural history museums. Unfortunately, many other birds are on the endangered species list, many because of human activity.
the puffin
the kingfisher
Which of these birds does not have feathers?
hummingbird
peregrine falcon
penguin
all birds have feathers
Yes, all birds have feathers. Penguins too, though they might look sleek and shiny.
More than half of bird species are passerines, meaning they ____.
can fly
can't fly
perch
Passerines are recognized by the shape of their feet. They have three toes facing forward and one facing back, to facilitate perching.
give live birth
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Cygnus is the Latin word, and the genus, for which type of bird?
falcon
crow
jay
swan
Swans are known for several things, especially in mating for life, with rare exceptions. Swans have a less than 10 percent "divorce rate," beating the heck out of us humans!
Why are male birds often more brightly-colored than females?
to attract mates
Female birds are often muted in color to hide from predators while raising and feeding the young. But the males have bright plumage to attract females -- which is why a man dressing up to attract women is sometimes called "peacocking."
to frighten predators
to blend in with flowering trees
they aren't, usually
What kind of bird includes sub-groups called Topazes, Mangoes and Emeralds?
crows
hummingbirds
These clades (taxonomic groups) of hummingbirds are named for their jewel-like colors, which can best be seen when the birds are sitting still. The three named above are only three of the nine clades of hummingbird.
blue jays
raptors
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Which of these does a bird not have?
hearing
lungs
teeth
Birds once had teeth, earlier in their evolution from dinosaurs. Now they just have a tongue -- which has a bone in it, oddly enough!
tongue
How do birds know where to go when they migrate?
ancestral memory
their sense of smell guides them
they follow rivers
this is not really known
How birds know what route to follow when migrating is still not clear to ornithologists. Ancestral memory might have something to do with it, but that just raises a whole new set of questions!
Which of these birds is known to swim?
bats
bustards
penguins
both #1 and #3
You probably knew that penguins, the flightless birds of the South Pole, can swim. But bats can too, when they need to. (Imagine being on a camping trip, skinny-dipping in a pond, and seeing a bat swimming toward you. Eek!)
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Where do penguins live?
the Arctic Circle only
Antarctica only
both the North and South Poles
the Southern Hemisphere
Contrary to what you might have thought, there are no penguins at the North Pole. However, in the Southern Hemisphere, they can be found as close to the equator as the Galapagos Islands.
What is the name for a bird of prey?
gull
raptor
Raptor is the name for a bird that hunts, often small warm-blooded animals like rodents. It isn't applied to smaller, gentler birds that eat worms or insects (you gotta *earn* this name!)
venator
viper
What are vultures best known for?
eating carrion (dead animals)
We hate to judge, but there just aren't a lot of aesthetically-pleasing qualities to a vulture. Various species of vultures regurgitate food to their young, vomit when threatened, or urinate straight down their legs. Pull it together, guys!
keen eyesight
killing other birds
multi-colored plumage
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What color is a crow's plumage?
grey
black
brown
it depends
Usually, crows are black. But some have dark-brown feathers, or black with white patches.
What is a group of crows known as?
a fluke
a passel
a murder
This name goes back to about the 15th century. It might come from the way crows descend on battlefields and eat off the bodies, but more poetic explanations suggest it comes from the idea that crows are omens of death. Who knows?
a wake
How fast can a some hummingbirds' hearts beat?
14 beats per second
18 beats per second
24 beats per second
80 beats per second
In contrast, a human heart tends to beat 80 times per minute. To compensate for such a high metabolism, some hummingbirds go into a state similar to hibernation, called "torpor."
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What kind of bird used to be carried into coal mines to detect gas?
blue jays
canaries
Canaries made a good early-warning system because they would succumb to carbon monoxide or methane before humans would. This wasn't just because of their smaller body size, but because all birds consume air at a high rate, supporting their speedy metabolisms.
eagles
toucans
Do black swans exist in nature?
yes
"A black swan" was a term for a mythical creature or impossible thing in Europe in centuries past, because they didn't exist there. When Europeans came to Australia and New Zealand, though, they learned of the existence of this "mythical" creature.
no
Which of these is NOT a real bird?
brown creeper
red-breasted nuthatch
American bushtit
these are all names of real birds
Seriously, who's in charge of the naming protocols? Followup question: Do they secretly hate birds?
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What cheerful-looking seabird is found in the Arctic region?
pelicans
penguins
puffins
Puffins are sometimes mixed up with penguins. But they can be distinguished by their bright-orange beaks and their territory in the northern regions, which penguins do not share.
toucans
What is unusual about how cuckoos lay their eggs?
they lay a dozen at a time
they lay them in snow
they lay them in other birds' nests
Some cuckoos go so far as to destroy the eggs the bird has already laid, so it will only raise and feed the cuckoo's young. This malevolent behavior led to Neil Gaiman naming a villain in one of his "Sandman" comics the "Cuckoo."
the male lays the eggs
Pick the correct spelling:
stellar jay
Steller jay
Steller's jay
Steller's jay bird was named for a naturalist, Georg Steller. You can see them all over western North America, easily recognized by the black, Mohawk-like crest on their heads.
Stella jay
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Which type of bird is indirectly named after dogs?
budgies
canaries
Canaries were named for the Canary Islands, which in turn were named after dogs -- from the Latin "canis" and the Italian "cane."
falcons
ostriches
Which of these birds shares its name with a disease?
budgie
bustard
coot
thrush
The thrushes are a family of small songbirds. It's also the name of a Candida infection of the mouth.
A Greek "augur" studied the flight of birds to learn what?
the location of water sources
the will of the gods
"Augury" is, to this day, a term for predicting the future. The Greeks believed the migrations of birds were clues to what the gods wanted, and to whether the gods would smile on a particular human course of action.
wind direction and speed
zoological behaviors
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You Got:
/36
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