Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. One of the reasons taxonomic nomenclature isn't in common use is the way it ruins songs. "When the rufous, rufous Turdus migratorious comes bob, bob, bobbin' along" just doesn't work. What harbinger of spring in the northern US is hidden in the fancy words?
2. A common warm weather bird of Europe was cited in song as early as the mid-13th Century, in Wessex Middle English. The unknown author wrote: "Sumer is icumen in, lhude sing (Cuculus canorus)." What notorious borrower of other birds nests "sings loud when summer has come in"?
3. This Old World flycatcher (Luscinia megarhynchos) is rather ordinary looking, sporting only a few shades of brown. Ordinary stops when it opens its mouth and the lovely (and powerful) song continues well after dark. Who is our songbird?
4. One of the highlights of California's spring season comes on or about March 19th, when hundreds of Petrochelidon pyrrhonata return to the Mission of San Juan Capistrano. Do you know who our avian pilgrims are?
5. Most have heard of the annual avian pilgrimage to Capistrano. Less well known is the annual return of Cathartes aura to the little town of Hinckley, Ohio every March 15th. What airborne sanitation engineer ushers in spring in Hinckley?
6. Ogden Nash (some say Dixon Merritt) wrote a memorable limerick about P. occidentalis, though he used the common name for obvious reasons. What bird whose "bill can hold more than his beli-can" was the subject?
7. Mimus polyglottos is a common and beloved bird in the American South. It is renowned for its ability to mimic the calls of other birds and insects, and in recent years, the noise of technology. Who is this avian impersonator?
8. In central Europe it's the arrival of Ciconia ciconia that heralds spring, as celebrated in folklore and H.C. Andersen in 1838. Who brings spring on the wing (and long red legs) to continental Europe?
9. Canada selected the gray jay as their national bird. But, for many visitors, Canada's avian signature is the haunting call of Gavia immer across a fog shrouded lake. The bird shows up on the money, too. Can you identify this one?
10. Caprimulgus vociferus seems to have it in for an economically disadvantaged fellow named William, repeatedly calling for his flogging. Who is our seemingly hard-hearted, onamatopoeically named songbird?
Source: Author
Jdeanflpa
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rossian before going online.
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