Birds of Cambodia Photo Quiz | Wild Birds

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The black bittern (Ixobrychus flavicollis) is a resident of tropical regions in Asia and Australia. Typically nesting on reed platforms and feeding on insects, fish and amphibians, the black bittern is a member of which avian family?

Answer: Heron

A member of the heron family (Ardeidae), the black bittern is one of seventeen species of this type found in Cambodia. Others include the great bittern, yellow bittern, cinnamon bittern, grey heron, Chinese pond-heron, purple heron, Eastern great egret and the cattle egret.
The black bittern is comfortably the largest of the bitterns, standing some 23 inches tall. They can be difficult to see on the ground, given their preference for reeds and shrubs, but they are easily identifiable when in flight.

2. The greater adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) was once common throughout southern Asia. Today, though, there are just two main breeding colonies, one in Assam in India and the other in Cambodia. What type of bird is this?

Answer: Stork

A member of the stork family (Ciconiidae), the great adjutant is one of seven such species that can be seen in Cambodia. The others are the lesser adjutant, milky stork, painted stork, Asian openbill, woolly-necked stork and black-necked stork. Although they are opportunistic and sometimes prey on vertebrates, the great adjutant is a scavenger by nature and they can often be seen soaring in thermals alongside vultures. One of the largest of living storks, this is a huge bird, standing 57-60 inches tall with an average wingspan of 99 inches. Noticeable features include an enormous wedge-shaped bill (around 12 inches in length), a bare head and a distinctive neck pouch.

3. The Eurasian wigeon (Anas penelope) breeds in northern Europe and Asia and migrates south during the winter months to southern Asia and north Africa. A noisy species that often forms large flocks, what type of bird is this?

Answer: Duck

The Eurasian wigeon is a species of dabbling duck that is commonly found in wetlands and marshes with tall vegetation. It is one of ten species within the Anatidae family that can be seen in Cambodia. The others include the Eurasian teal, the garganey, the northern shoveler, the cotton pygmy-goose, the lesser whistling duck and the comb duck.
The Eurasian wigeon is 17-20 inches long with a wingspan of 28-31 inches.

4. "Haliaeetus leucogaster" is a large bird of prey resident from India through southeast Asia to Australia. It breeds and hunts near water, with fish forming around half of its diet, although it is opportunistic and eats both carrion and a range of mammals. What type of bird is this?

Answer: Eagle

The white-bellied sea eagle is a distinctive bird with its white head, breast, under-wing and tail contrasting with the slate-grey back and wings. It is one of 36 species within the Accipitridae family that can be seen in Cambodia. Others include the short-toed snake eagle, crested serpent eagle, Chinese goshawk, pied harrier, black baza, black kite, Indian vulture, shikra, steppe eagle, imperial eagle and mountain hawk-eagle. The white-bellied sea eagle grows to 26-32 inches in length with an amazing wingspan of 5.5-7 feet.

They are easily identifiable when gliding as their wings are angled and the long neck, head and beak extend as far forwards as the tail does at the back. Their loud, goose-like honking call is also easily recognizable.

5. The Siamese fireback (Lophura diardi), the national bird of Thailand, can be seen in the lowland, evergreen forests of Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. What type of bird is this?

Answer: Pheasant

The Siamese fireback (also known as Diard's fireback) is a type of pheasant. It is one of 14 species from the Phasianidae found in Cambodia. Others include the Chinese francolin, orange-necked partridge, scaly-breasted partridge, red jungelfowl, silver pheasant, grey peacock-pheasant and green peafowl.
With an average length of 25 inches, the Siamese fireback is a fairly large pheasant. The male (pictured) has grey plumage with distinctive red facial skin, pink legs and ornamental black crest feathers.

6. The purple swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) is also known as the purple gallinule, purple coot or the sultana bird. The Romans kept them as decorative birds and considered them noble, so they were one of the few birds not on the menu. What type of bird is this?

Answer: Rail

The purple swamphen is a rail, a member of the Rallidae family of small-to-medium sized wetland birds that particularly like areas with dense vegetation. This is one of ten species of rail that can be seen in Cambodia, including the watercock, common moorhen, Eurasian coot, white-breasted waterhen and various species of crake. The chicken-sized purple swamphen can be found in high-rainfall areas, swamps and in reedy areas around the edges of lakes, where it eats tender shoots and other vegetable-like matter.

It is an excellent swimmer (particularly for a bird without webbed feet) and although it appears to be a rather clumsy flier it can fly considerable distances.

7. The whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus) is a wading bird that breeds in the subarctic regions of the world but migrates to the coastal regions of Africa, South America and south Asia for the winter. What type of bird is this?

Answer: Curlew

The whimbrel is a curlew that is a member of the large Scolopacidae family. It is one of 27 members of this family that can be seen in Cambodia including the ruff, red-necked phalarope, long-toed stint, ruddy turnstone, gray-tailed tatler, common sandpiper, wood sandpiper, marsh sandpiper, common greenshank, spotted redshank, bar-tailed godwit, Eurasian woodcock, pintail snipeand Asian dowitcher. Although mid-sized for a curlew, the whimbrel one of the larger wading bird species: 15-19 inches long with a wingspan of 30-35 inches. To feed, it primarily uses its long, curved bill to probe soft mud for small invertebrates, although it will also take small crabs and other prey off the surface too.

8. The brown noddy or common noddy (Anous stolidus) is a tropical seabird that can be seen nesting on cliffs or in short trees from Hawaii and the Caribbean to southern Asia and Australia. What type of bird is this?

Answer: Tern

The brown noddy is a member of the tern family (Sternidae). It is one of 15 species from this family that can be seen in Cambodia including the Caspian tern, lesser crested tern, river tern, common tern, whiskered tern and little tern.
The brown noddy is largest of the Anous genus of noddies. Their diet consists primarily of small fish, which they catch by plunge-diving into the sea in similar fashion to gannets, boobies and some pelicans.

9. The Asian koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus), female pictured here, can be found in light woodland and on cultivated land in India, southern China, Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia. Unusual in its family, it is a fruit eater. What type of bird is it?

Answer: Cuckoo

The Asian koel is a member of the cuckoo family (Cuculiformes) and is one of 17 members of this family that can be seen in Cambodia. Others include the greater courcal, green-billed malkoha, Asian drongo-cuckoo, large hawk-cuckoo, Indian cuckoo, Oriental cuckoo, plaintive cuckoo and the Asian emerald cuckoo. Like many members of the cuckoo family, the Asian koel is a brood parasite in that it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds (in the case of the koel, usually crows).

This large, long-tailed cuckoo grows to a length of 15-18 inches.

The male is a glossy blue-black with grey legs whilst the female is brown and white with buff spots as can be seen from the photograph.

10. The greater flameback or greater goldenback (Chrysocolaptes guttacristatus) is found open forest habitat and mangrove forest throughout the Indian sub-continent, southern China, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and the Indonesian islands. What type of bird is this?

Answer: Woodpecker

The greater flameback, which is also known as the large golden-backed woodpecker and Malherbe's golden-backed woodpecker, is a woodpecker in the Picinae sub-family. It is one of the 22 species from the family that can be seen in Cambodia, including the greater yellownape, speckled piculet, grey-capped pygmy woodpecker, rufous woodpecker, laced woodpecker and bay woodpecker. The greater flameback is one of the larger members of the woodpecker family, growing to a length of 12-13 inches.

Its long, pointed bill is longer than its entire head.

Its long tail and four-toed zygodactyl feet (two toes pointing forward and two backwards) help it hold on while using its bill to dig food out of tree trunks.

Source: Author EnglishJedi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Tizzabelle before going online.
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Birds of Cambodia Trivia Quiz

Whilst planning a trip to Cambodia I was checking out what wildlife we might spot and discovered that more than 550 bird species live in this relatively small country. See if you can identify ten of them. There are some lovely photographs to assist you.

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