to a White Stork shot in Mecklenburg in Germany in 1822 gave a clue that storks wintered in Central Africa?
15 What colour is the iris of the Stock Dove?
16 Which country is home to the most species of Critically Endangered hummingbird?
17 Who was Roger Tory Peterson’s companion on a 25,000 mile tour of North America in 1953, resulting in the book Wild America?
18 What happened to the first captive-bred Philippine Eagle to be released in the Philippines?
19 What name does the International Ornithological Congress (IOC) recommend that we now use for (Common) Crossbill Loxia curvirostra?
20 In what year did the Cattle Egret colonise South America? Give the decade.
2008 D
Pete Leonard – ABC
Answers: see here
1 How many Critically Endangered species are there?
2 The dark markings on the throat of the male Common Quail are usually compared with what nautical object?
3 What bird did American hunters call the ‘dough bird’, on account of the soft dough-like texture of its fat on its autumn migration, when millions were slaughtered?
4 Is the Bushtit named after the American president?
5 Which race of Peregrine breeds in the British Isles?
6 On 17th August 1768 (240 years ago tomorrow), Gilbert White described three species, previously considered to be one species, in a letter to Thomas Pennant. What were they?
7 In 1941 what American passerines did Vera Lynn predict would be over the White Cliffs of Dover?
8 What Critically Endangered species from Asia was depicted on last year’s Birdfair poster?
9 When Konrad von Gesner published a drawing and description of a now Critically Endangered bird in 1555, the general response was that it was a hoax. What was this outlandish bird?
10 In Navarra in north-east Spain, what species was most frequently killed by 271 wind-turbines between 2000 and 2002?
11 Which of the following does not exist: Thrush Nightingale, Nightingale Finch, Nightingale Wren, Nightingale Bunting?
12 What species has most recently been classified as Critically Endangered?
13 Name one of the four genera with the dubious honour of having four Critically Endangered species.
14 Which Critically Endangered species has Wildsounds championed as part of BirdLife International’s Guardians and Champions project?
15 In which European country does approximately half the world population of Red Kite breed?
16 By what name was Cyanistes caeruleus more familiarly known?
17 What colour is the iris of a Common Kestrel?
18 What is a ‘faeder’ when applied to Ruff?
19 In what year did the Cattle Egret colonise North America (Florida)? Give the decade.
20 What killed 17 of the 18 young Whooping Cranes in the migratory eastern population of Whooping Cranes in Florida in 2007?
2009 A
Jez Bird – OBC
Answers: see here
1 What is the principal diet of the Acorn Woodpecker in winter?
2 What is the principal diet of the Sandwich Tern?
3 Are there more Critically Endangered birds or Critically Endangered amphibians?
4 What are ‘duck stamps’ used for in the USA?
5 The activities of which species of bird led to the abandonment of a Parliamentary Bill in the House of Commons in 1607?
6 Which has the longer bill – Sword-billed Hummingbird or Greenshank?
7 Who, born 100 years ago in September, first described the Greenland White-fronted Goose?
8 Which former Warden of Dungeness Bird Observatory and subsequent Head of Reserves Management at the RSPB died on 26th March 2009?
9 What is a haggard hawk or falcon?
10 Which of the following birds does not exist: Sicklebill, Scythebill, Spadebill, Secateurbill?
11 From what protein are feathers made principally?
12 What birds may be Bronze-winged, Comb-crested and Pheasant-tailed?
13 To what was John Clare referring when he wrote: ‘Ah, could I see a spinney nigh/A paddock riding in the sky Above the oaks, in easy sail/On stilly wings and forked tail’?
14 What red-legged birds are depicted on the coat of arms of Canterbury?
15 How many species of bunting are included in the suite of 19 birds included in the Farmland Bird Index?
16 For a bonus, name two of the three.
17 Who is Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds?
18 When was the Ornithological Society of the Middle East founded?
19 Which wader first bred in Britain in 1938 and now numbers a few hundred breeding pairs?
20 What European country has the Great Bustard as its national bird?
2009 B
Martin Fowlie – NBC
Answers: see here
1 What is the principal diet of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (outside the breeding season)?
2 What is the principal diet of the Bananaquit?
3 Who is the Chief Executive Officer of BirdLife International?
4 What birds can be Bronze-winged, Double-banded and Cream-coloured?
5 Who, born 300 years ago, on 10th March, has a jay, an eider and a sea-cow named after him?
6 Which has the longer wing – Corncrake or Common Swift?
7 Do birds have a spleen?
8 Which of the following birds does not exist: Bald Parrot, Bald Bulbul, Bald Eagle, Bald Ibis?
9 What is snarge?
10 Name two Critically Endangered species which occur in continental USA (if not yet extinct)?
11 For a bonus, name two more.
12 How many different Rosses are Ross’s Goose, Ross’s Gull and Ross’s Turaco named after?
13 Which is named after who?
14 What migrated from Beech Grove to The Nunnery in 1991?
15 What is a falconer’s hawk doing if it is having a jenk?
16 Apart from the Rook, which other corvid is included in the Farmland Bird Index?
17 Who, born 200 years ago this September, wrote of the Eagle that: ‘He clasps the crag with crooked hands;/Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring’d with the azure world, he stands’?
18 How many years ago was the Oriental Bird Club founded?
19 When did Cetti’s Warbler first breed in Britain in recent times, within three years?
20 In which country can you see both Groundscraper Thrush and Cloud-scraping Cisticola?