Monkey

Quiz Monkey
What do you want to know?

You are here:

Science
Natural History
Birds and Reptiles

Birds

Said to be able to fly all day without flapping its wings Click to show or hide the answer
The Wandering variety has the largest wingspan of any bird
Migrates from the Arctic to the Antarctic – by far the longest known migration pattern Click to show or hide the answer
Budgerigars are native to Click to show or hide the answer
Wading bird of the heron family – restricted to Lancashire and East Anglia in Britain – famous for the "booming" mating call of the male Click to show or hide the answer
Birds of Paradise: most species are found in Click to show or hide the answer
Largest member of the grouse family native to Britain: name comes from the Gaelic for 'horse of the woods' Click to show or hide the answer
Food constituent (from shrimps or algae) that makes flamingos pink Click to show or hide the answer
Flightless bird (ratite), native to Australia, New Guinea and the Aru islands (Indonesia): the second heaviest and third tallest living bird species (after the ostrich and, in the latter case, the emu); with a dagger–like claw on one of the three toes on each foot, up to four inches long, it's often described as "the world's most dangerous bird" Click to show or hide the answer
Member of the crow family with red beak and legs Click to show or hide the answer
The smallest species of titmouse, distinguished by the white patch on the back of its black cap Click to show or hide the answer
A thin–walled expanded portion of the alimentary tract, used for the storage of food prior to digestion Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
The bee hummingbird – the world's smallest bird – is native to (Caribbean island nation) Click to show or hide the answer
Europe's largest wader: characterised by its long, downward curving beak, grey–brown, streaky plumage, and haunting cry Click to show or hide the answer
Duck that feeds at the surface of the water, rather than by diving Click to show or hide the answer
Name comes (according to some sources) from a Portuguese word for "stupid"; alternatively, it may be an imitation of its call, or from the Dutch word for the little grebe, literally meaning "fat–arse". Last seen on Mauritius in 1662 Click to show or hide the answer
Britain's heaviest and fastest duck (flying at 60 mph); characterised by its large wedge–shaped bill; found mostly in rocky coastal areas Click to show or hide the answer
Sole diet of the osprey Click to show or hide the answer
The Inaccessible Island rail is the world's smallest Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
Native British seabird, similar to a gull but related to the albatrosses: can spray a foul–smelling oil from its stomach, as a defence against predators (and humans) Click to show or hide the answer
Grinding stomach in seed–eating birds Click to show or hide the answer
Flightless seabird, found on islands around the North Atlantic (including Great Britain); hunted to extinction in the mid–19th century Click to show or hide the answer
The heaviest bird capable of flight: extinct in Britain since the 1840s, re–introduced to Salisbury Plain in 2004; raised chicks in 2009 and 2010 Click to show or hide the answer
Gets its name from its liking for the berries of Crataegus monogyna Click to show or hide the answer
The most–counted bird in the RSPB's garden survey – 16 successive years, up to and including 2019 Click to show or hide the answer
Mockingbird: so called because it Click to show or hide the answer
Member of the crow family with distinctive pinkish–brown plumage and blue striped wings Click to show or hide the answer
Site where grouse (and other birds, and some other species) perform their mating display Click to show or hide the answer
The dodo lived on Click to show or hide the answer
Britain's smallest bird of prey: gave its name to the engine (manufactured by Rolls–Royce) that powered the Spitfire, Hurricane and Lancaster; sometimes known as the pigeon hawk Click to show or hide the answer
Gets its name from its liking for the berries of Viscum album; also known as the stormcock (because of its loud, far–carrying song, delivered even in wet and windy weather) Click to show or hide the answer
Flightless, wingless, ostrich–like bird, native to New Zealand (ten species): became extinct c. 1500 (Maoris told European settlers about it; remains have been found) Click to show or hide the answer
Said to be the world's rarest goose: saved from extinction in the 1950s through the work of Sir Peter Scott at the Wildfowl Trust Click to show or hide the answer
Where do swifts mate? Click to show or hide the answer
Returned to Scotland naturally in the 1950s after 50 years absence Click to show or hide the answer
Only bird with two toes on each foot Click to show or hide the answer
Common or Indian, green and Congo are the three main species of Click to show or hide the answer
Name is supposed to be derived from the Welsh for "white head" (pen gwyn); originally applied to the great auk (Pinguinus impennis) Click to show or hide the answer
50% of ducks and swans, but no other birds, have a Click to show or hide the answer
Member of the grouse family, native to Britain: plumage changes from grey and brown in summer to predominantly white in winter (beware: other British birds do change their plumage in winder, albeit perhaps not as spectacularly as this one) Click to show or hide the answer
Largest and most widely distributed in the crow family, and arguably the largest passerine (perching) bird Click to show or hide the answer
Once common in Britain – regarded as a pest in Jacobean times – reduced to a handful of breeding pairs in Wales by the 20th century, but widely re–introduced and now common e.g. in the Chilterns Click to show or hide the answer
Mountain–dwelling member of the thrush family: common name comes from an old English name for the blackbird, and the white crescent on the front of its neck Click to show or hide the answer
Breeding colony of penguins Click to show or hide the answer
Duck species, named for its chestnut plumage: introduced to Britain from North America by Peter Scott in 1948, but culled in Europe in the 21st century (from around 5,500 birds to fewer than 100) because of its aggressive courting behaviour and willingness to interbreed with the endangered native white–headed duck of southern Europe Click to show or hide the answer
Wading bird of the sandpiper family: named after the distinctive neck feathers of the males, which they use to intimidate each other during mating displays Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
Terrestrial bird of prey, endemic to the open grasslands and savannahs of sub–Saharan Africa, named from the feathers on its head which look like quill pens; eats mainly snakes Click to show or hide the answer
Unfledged pigeon Click to show or hide the answer
British bird with a 'superb' East African relative Click to show or hide the answer
Bird of prey falling on its prey Click to show or hide the answer
A bird's vocal organ (the equivalent of the mammalian larynx) Click to show or hide the answer
Britain's smallest duck: the male is characterised by its orange–brown head and grey plumage; name is also a greeny–blue colour Click to show or hide the answer
Chickadees: American name for Click to show or hide the answer
Can be yellow, grey or pied (among many other varieties) Click to show or hide the answer
Common name for various perching birds, including the chiffchaff, blackcap and whitethroat; the goldcrest and firecrest are often compared to them (e.g. by Wikipedia) Click to show or hide the answer
Dartford, grasshopper, marsh, reed, sedge, willow and wood are types of
Common name for the furcula Click for more information Click to show or hide the answer
Breast of the grey wagtail Click to show or hide the answer
"A little bit of bread and no cheese" is a phrase used as an aide–memoire for recognising the song of the (native British bird in the bunting family) Click to show or hide the answer
Britain's commonest wild bird (according to the RSPB – but not according to its garden survey) Click to show or hide the answer

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23