Sea the Birds Trivia Quiz

Answer:

The term 'seabird' covers a wide variety of different groups and families of birds, accounting for hundreds of different individual species - so many more than the twelve mentioned in this quiz. There isn't a formal definition of the term, but in general it is used to describe birds that spend all or a significant portion of their lives living on or around the coastlines of the world's seas and oceans. It also excludes waterfowl like ducks and geese, fish-eating birds of prey such as ospreys, and wading shorebirds such as herons. The species listed in this quiz are intended to provide a bit of an overview of the different types of seabirds found around the world.

The Atlantic puffin is perhaps one of the best known species of seabird that has become a bit of a favourite of both tourists and more serious ornithologists because of its cute appearance (complete with brightly coloured beak, often stuffed with a neatly organised fish dinner) and somewhat bumbling gait when seen on land. However, its popular image only relates to its time on land during the summer breeding season and it has a much more subdued look during the rest of the year, which it spends out on the open ocean.

Gannets are predominantly white seabirds that are generally only seen on land during the breeding season when they live in large colonies around rocky cliffs and dive for fish. The northern gannet lives in the North Atlantic and is one of the largest species of seabird endemic to that area. Boobies are close relatives of gannets that got their name for their perceived stupidity in landing on boats and duly becoming a rare source of fresh meat for sailors - the masked booby is a species found in tropical ocean areas. Cormorants also belong to the same order as gannets, but have predominantly black plumage and live year round in coastal areas. The pelagic cormorant (pelagic being a term relating to the open sea) is found in the northern Pacific, but also spends time in shallow ocean areas, as well as around the coast.

The giant fulmar is a distinctly less cute species that is also known as the southern giant petrel (or, somewhat more rudely, as the stinkpot or stinker). It can be found in the oceans and island groups around Antarctica and Australia, plus the southern tips of South America and Africa. Somewhat unsurprisingly given its name, it is a large bird that feeds on fish and other sea creatures, including the carcasses of mammals like sea lions and smaller seabirds. It also has the habit of using its foul-smelling stomach oil as a defence mechanism - hence the "stinkpot" name. The shy mollymawk, also known as the shy albatross, is another very large bird that spends the majority of its time out at sea.

Gulls, noddies, skimmers, skuas and terns are all members of the order Charadriiformes, which are smaller to medium-sized seabirds and usually found closer to shore, or even in inland areas. The dolphin gull is a species native to Chile, Argentina and the Falkland Islands (it doesn't eat dolphins, but has been known to harass penguins); the blue noddy is native to various Pacific island areas; the black skimmer lives in tropical areas of the Americas (including inland regions around the Amazon river); the great skua lives in the North Atlantic; and the whiskered tern can be found across large areas of southern Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The order also includes auks, such as the aforementioned puffin family and murres (which are also known as guillemots) - the common murre can be found in northern polar regions and areas of the north Atlantic and north Pacific.

Finally, if you thought there was something fishy about the incorrect answers as you looked through the list then you would be right! They are all sea creatures, but they are fish and definitely not seabirds (despite their names in some cases).