A Tea Time Quiz - Ten Tweeting 'T's

Answer: Toucans

Toucans are somewhat comical looking birds that are native to the forests of Central America, the Caribbean and northern parts of South America. Most toucan species generally have black feathers, but with a large yellow or white patch on the face and upper breast that surrounds the massive beak that is their defining feature.

Their main diet is fruit and berries, although they are omnivorous and will tuck into insects, small lizards and the eggs and young of other bird species. None of these menu options appear to require a beak that can account for more than half the body length of the bird - however, it is believed to act as thermoregulation device and gives the bird good reach for plucking fruit from trees.

The one thing it isn't used for is knocking holes in trees like woodpeckers - a toucan's beak is actually quite light and although they do nest in tree holes, they use second-hand ones.

Answer: Teals

There are lots of members of the duck family that are species of teal, but the name is most commonly associated with the Eurasian or common teal. Male Eurasian teals have a large stripe of bluish-green plumage surrounding their eyes and therefore gave the name 'teal' to the colour of a similar shade.

Although not all teal species are gregarious, some of the more common ones - including the Eurasian teal and the blue-winged teal of North America - often form significant flocks, especially when they migrate south for the winter.

The term 'dabbling duck' refers to members of the sub-family Anatinae and simply means that they are surface feeders and don't tend to dive for their food. Most teals belong to the genus Anas, a Latin term that translates into English as 'duck'.

Answer: Turkeys

Turkeys belong to the Phasianidae family along with other game birds such as pheasants, partridges and grouse. The main species is Meleagris gallopavo, which includes both the wild turkey and the domesticated turkey - the latter of which is the one that tends to regularly end up on people's dinner plates, particularly at Christmas or Thanksgiving.

These turkeys are predominantly black or dark brown and the males have a colourful iridescent sheen to their feathers. It is also just the males that have wattles, the red fleshy structures that hang from their throats.

The other living species of turkey is Meleagris ocellata, the ocellated turkey. These birds are mainly found on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and couldn't possibly be mistaken for the wild turkey as they have much brighter plumage and an even brighter blue head.

Answer: Treepies

Treepies can be found in the forests of Southeast Asia. The 11 different species have a variety of appearances in terms of their plumage (although almost all of them include black, white and various shades of brown), but can be recognised as a group by their long tails and are similar in general appearance to their cousins in the magpie family.

In fact one of the 11 species is actually known as the black magpie, following some confusion over its classification. Treepies generally spend the majority of their lives in the treetops and are rarely spotted at ground level.

They feed on the fruit and seeds available in tree canopy, as well as a selection of the insects that also make their home there. Many of the species of treepie are threatened by habitat loss from deforestation.

Answer: Tinamous

Tinamous are interesting birds as they spend most of their time prowling around the ground, either foraging for seeds, fruit, worms and insects or indulging in regular dust baths. Their plump appearance is a bit of a clue to the fact that they are not very good at, or keen on, flying.

They are however excellent runners and even very young tinamou chicks are capable of making a speedy exit in the event of danger. Additionally they tend to be quite stealthy and will often simply freeze or hide from predators rather than attempt to run away.

The predators in question are wide-ranging, from big cats to birds to prey; their nests are also often plundered by snakes, monkeys and even anteaters. However, the biggest danger to the tinamou is the human - they are hunted for their meat, killed by farmers as pests and their habitats have been destroyed by human activity.

Answer: Tanagers

Tanagers are endemic to the Americas, with most of them found in highly localised areas of South America. There are well over 200 species that are classified as tanagers, most of which do not include the word 'tanager' in their name. The group of tanagers with generally dull plumage include conebills, seedeaters, flowerpiercers, various finches and birds such as the brown tanager, chestnut-headed tanager and white-rumped tanager.

The second group with bright, colourful plumage include typical tanagers and honeycreepers.

The names of the individual species in this group tend to give a good clue to their appearance, such as the blue-backed tanager, orange-throated tanager and turquoise dacnis-tanager. The differences between different tanagers is not simply limited to their appearance - some species are happy to live together in mixed flocks, while others are solitary; some don't tweet a lot, while others have vibrant and varied songs; and different species tend to have different diets and, as a result, differently shaped beaks.

Answer: Thornbills

Thornbills are small birds with a long-thin (thorn-like) beak that are similar to the members of the Paridae (tit) family found in Europe, North America, northern Asia and Africa. Despite their diminutive size, thornbills build impressive dome-shaped nests and are well known for helping each other out with the feeding and raising of their chicks. Thornbills feed primarily on the small insects that can be found in the foliage of the small trees and shrubs that they prefer to inhabit.

In the air they can be recognised by their characteristic swooping flight patterns.

Although they are both commonly known as thornbills, members of the Acanthiza genus should not be confused with those of the Chalcostigma genus - the latter are hummingbirds.

Answer: Terns

The tern family (Sternidae) includes over 40 different species of seabird, which are found across the whole globe from the Arctic (Arctic tern) to the Antarctic (Antarctic tern) and pretty much everywhere in between. Terns are also generally known for undertaking long-distance migrations when they travel away from their breeding grounds for the winter.

In particular, the Arctic tern breeds in the Arctic but travels to the Antarctic each year to avoid both the Arctic and Antarctic winters. In a single year, these birds have been known to fly over 70,000 kilometres (44,000 miles).

Although most terns eat fish, some will also feed on invertebrates found on mudflats and beaches as well as the eggs and young of other bird species.

Answer: Thrushes

The Turdidae family is made up of 20 genera, but the most musical of its over 100 species tend to belong to just four of them. This includes the nightingale-thrushes (Cartharus) and bluebirds (Sialia) of the Americas; the solitaires of the Caribbean and Central America (Myadestes); and the various true thrushes (Turdus), which are found across the world. Thrushes tend to mainly feed on insects, worms and snails with some fruit thrown in (perhaps to ensure a balanced diet!).

They are also very important for the ecology of their habitats as they help to disperse seeds over a much wider area than plants could manage with just the help of the wind.

Answer: Treecreepers

Treecreepers (as their name may suggest) spend most of their time clinging to the bark of a tree foraging for insects, larvae and arachnids. There are 11 different species that belong to the treecreeper (or Certhiidae) family. Most are distributed across Europe and northern Asia, but there are also species that can be found in North America and Africa. Treecreepers tend to have predominantly brown plumage and some species have a long, stiffened tail to help them balance on tree trunks.

They can usually be identified by their distinctive manner of climbing trees; they tend to start at the bottom of the trunk and then wind their way up in a spiral pattern.