Santa Birdy Trivia Quiz

Answer: Arctic tern

For a bird that is named after one of the coldest places on Earth, the Arctic tern actually isn't that big a fan of winter. It breeds in Arctic areas during the spring and summer in the northern hemisphere, then takes flight for the enormously long journey south to spend the southern hemisphere's summer in the Antarctic. To be precise, very few (if any) of these birds actually fly from pole to pole - their northern breeding grounds are mainly in northern Canada, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia while their southern haunts tend to be out at sea off the coast of Antarctica. Since the migratory routes of the Arctic terns take them along continental coastlines and follow the prevailing winds, these birds actually clock up more miles than you might think given the straight distance from pole to pole. Various studies have attempted to track individual birds and have returned wildly varying results - a 2010 study noted average distances of around 71,000 kilometres (44,000 miles), while in 2013 a later study returned a figure of about 90,000 kilometres (56,000 miles). As Arctic terns tend to reach ages of between 15 and 30 years old, the distance they fly in a lifetime is likely to be over a million kilometres.

However much an Arctic tern might like a job with Santa Claus, it is highly unlikely that any of its chicks will be hunkered down in a cosy nest on Christmas Eve, surreptitiously trying to stay awake and get a glimpse of a red suit and white beard. By the time they are three or four months old, baby Arctic terns will already have stretched their wings for the first time and flown south.

The incorrect options are all other bird species known for flying long distances.

Answer: Snowy owl

The snowy owl is one of the largest and heaviest species of owl and lives and breeds in Arctic areas right around the globe. However, they do migrate south during the winter and occasionally turn up in the southern U.S. states, southern areas of Russia and in China. Like most other species of owl, they have some special adaptations to their feathers that allow them to fly almost silently - a handy trait when your survival depends on being able to swoop down and catch small rodents that tend to have excellent hearing. The key feature is a serrated or comb-like edge to the main flight feathers that break up the air flow across the wing and dampen the noise usually generated by the wing flapping. However, snowy owls are not the quietest of all the owl species; generally owls that are solely nocturnal hunters have more serrated feathers than species, such as the snowy owl, that hunt both during the day and at night.

As well as feeding on rodents, snowy owls have also been known to snatch young ptarmigans from their nests - so it would probably not be a good idea for Santa to employ both this bird and the ptarmigan who also applied for the position. The snowy owl who applied for the job also attached an addendum to their letter to emphasise that it was not responsible for demolishing the pile of bricks shown in their photo and was in fact perfectly capable of landing on a rooftop without destroying the chimney required by Santa to get into the building.

Answer: Snow goose

The snow goose, also known as the blue goose, is native to North America but does turn up in other areas of the world. Snow geese exhibit polymorphism - the term 'blue goose' is generally used to refer to individuals that have the blue colour plumage morph and therefore have bluish-grey feathers across the majority of their body with the exception of their heads, which are white.

If Santa decided to employ both the snow goose and the snowy owl then he would be taking advantage of an unlikely relationship that already exists between these two species. Snow geese will often choose to nest in close proximity to snowy owl nests; it is believed that the presence of the snowy owls deters the main predators of snow goslings - the Arctic fox and the skua - from approaching the nesting sites. It is worth noting the fact that the list of main predators of snow geese does not include humans - this particular species of goose is very unlikely to end up on a Christmas dinner table, despite the concerns of the author of this letter to Mr. Claus.

Although turkey is probably the most popular choice of meat for Christmas dinner, ducks and geese are both common alternatives. Swans are probably untroubled by the risk of ending up as part of the meal, although they were once eaten by royalty and the rich in medieval England.

Answer: Rock ptarmigan

The rock ptarmigan, often known simply as a ptarmigan, is widespread across mountainous Arctic areas of North America, Europe and Asia. They also live in some more southern areas, such as Scotland, the Alps and the Pyrenees in Europe and the Japanese Alps on the island of Honshu. The picture clue shows a ptarmigan in its winter plumage, when it is well camouflaged for living in a snowy landscape. In spring and summer the birds moult and develop a mottled plumage that is predominantly brown with some white patches, which again ensures good camouflage against their habitat. Ptarmigans are generally ground-dwelling birds and although capable of flight, they do not spend much time in the air. In fact, despite its skill at camouflage, people would very likely notice the loss of Santa's reindeer if they were replaced by a ptarmigan - mainly because their presents would be unlikely to turn up.

As a gamebird, the rock ptarmigan probably has more cause to worry about ending up on a Christmas dinner plate than a snow goose, especially in Iceland where they are considered a festive delicacy or in Canada where it is the official game bird of Newfoundland and Labrador. However, in Japan it is the official bird of several prefectures and a protected species. The incorrect options are all other species of game bird.

Answer: King eider

The king eider is a particularly beautiful species of duck. The photo shows the male king eider in his breeding plumage, which is considerably brighter and more colourful than the female's generally brown and black feathers. The species is found throughout the Arctic; during the winter they spend their time swimming around the coastal waters of various Arctic areas in very large flocks (often upwards of 100,000 birds) and in the spring they move to their breeding grounds on the tundra of North America, Greenland, Scandinavia and Russia.

From his letter, this particular king eider sounds like he might be a big fan of Elvis Presley - however, his singing might not be quite up to the same standard as his idol. Male king eiders aren't generally 'quackers' but more 'cooers', their song bears a strong resemblance to the cooing of a dove. Females tend to make low grunting and clucking noises.

There is no such thing as a king mallard, a king teal or a king pintail. However, mallards, teals and pintails are all species of dabbling duck.

Answer: Atlantic puffin

Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Atlantic or common puffin can be found in the Arctic regions of the northern Atlantic Ocean, where it spends much of its time fishing. Although they look somewhat comical on land and aren't the most graceful fliers, puffins are excellent swimmers and use both their wings and feet to slice deep down into the water where they can remain for over a minute before needing to return to the surface. The Atlantic puffin is one of three species of puffin found around the world, all of which live in Arctic regions. The others are the horned puffin and the crested puffin, which are both found in the northern Pacific.

The key difference between the appearance of the male Atlantic puffin during the breeding season compared to the rest of the year is the size and brightness of his bill. After the breeding season is completed, they moult the bright orange bill plates and some of the more decorative feathers on their face. This leaves them with a generally more grey and muted appearance - however, most people won't get to see a bird in this condition as they spend a lot of the year far out at sea (unless Santa does decide to employ some to visit every child on Earth on Christmas Eve).

The incorrect options are all birds with impressive beaks.

Answer: Sanderling

If Santa is hoping that the sanderling will introduce him to a nice sandy beach on a tropical island where he can recuperate from the demands of the annual Christmas present delivery process, then he is in for a nasty surprise. Although sanderlings do undertake lengthy migrations south prior to the Arctic winter (to locations such as southern Europe, South America and Australia), they tend to choose beaches for the availability of their favourite food and then spend a lot of their time running up and down them in search of a tasty morsel. Keeping up with a sanderling would not be a very relaxing holiday for poor old Santa.

The plumage of a sanderling changes quite dramatically between the different seasons. During the winter they are predominantly white with grey back and wing feathers (as displayed by the sanderling shown in the picture clue). However, while in the Arctic during the breeding season, their plumage becomes much darker and more mottled, particularly around the head and throat.

The incorrect options are all other wading birds found in Arctic areas.

Answer: Northern fulmar

The northern fulmar is also known as the Arctic fulmar or simply as the fulmar. The term 'fulmar' comes from Old Norse and means "foul gull". This description of the bird is only partially correct though and the cute photograph this northern fulmar supplied to Santa would probably lead you to think that it is the "foul" part that is wrong. However, despite bearing a strong resemblance to seagulls, the northern fulmar is not a gull and actually belongs to an entirely different family of sea birds. The "foul" part relates to the bird's unpleasant defensive tactic of spraying stomach oil out of its beak and the fact that it can also squirt a very salty solution out of its nose.

Northern fulmars make very devoted partners. They usually mate for life when they are between 6 and 12 years old and since they can live to over 30 years of age, they are definitely good at long-term relationships. They can be found in both North Atlantic and North Pacific regions and have major breeding grounds around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Iceland, Greenland, eastern Canada and southern Alaska.

The incorrect options all belong to the gull family.

Answer: Little auk

Little auks don't tend to do much flying as they are more at home on the water, both bobbing about on the surface and diving for their preferred diet of marine crustaceans and small fish. Santa Claus would probably need to employ far more than four little auks to get him around the world on Christmas Eve, mainly because the poor things would quickly become exhausted as their short wings have to be flapped very fast to keep the bird airborne.

The species is found around North Atlantic coasts; in the winter they can venture as far south as Florida, but in the summer breeding season they tend to prefer Arctic locations, including Greenland, Iceland and various Russian archipelagos. Their enormous breeding colonies can easily be home to over a million individual birds.

The incorrect options are all other members of the auk family.

Answer: Lapland longspur

Lapland, known as Sápmi in the language of its native Sami people, covers the northernmost section of Scandinavia and is shared between Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. The tradition that Santa Claus has a secret workshop (and many elves employed making Christmas presents) somewhere in Lapland dates back to the 1920s and has created a lucrative tourist market for a region that is otherwise somewhat cold, dark and inhospitable in December.

The Lapland longspur (otherwise known as the Lapland bunting) is not actually endemic to the region, so there is no guarantee that this particular bird is in fact a close neighbour of Santa Claus. In summer it can be found in Arctic areas of Europe, Asia and North America, while in winter it migrates south to (slightly less northern) parts of northern Europe, Russia and the United States. The name 'longspur' comes from the large size of its hind claws.

Snow buntings are a member of the same family as the Lapland longspur, while the Arctic warbler and the horned lark are members of the same order (Passeriformes).