Taxonomic Nomenclature is for the Birds Quiz

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?

Answer: American robin

This medium-sized brown songbird with a red-orange chest (brilliantly so in the males) starts appearing in the northern portion of the US in early March, often before the last of the snow is gone. It's a true indicator that warmer weather is on the way. "When the red, red robin comes bob, bob, bobbin' along...".

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"?

Answer: common cuckoo

The cuckoo is an attractive bird of moderate size with a black back and wings, a medium-grey head and neck with grey and white barred underparts, mimicking the appearance of the sparrowhawk, which is believed to aid in the cuckoo's brood parasitism (laying its eggs in other birds nests). The other three nominees are also brood parasites, but only the cuckoo is sung of in a 700 year old rota, or round song.

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?

Answer: nightingale

Sadly, the numbers of this coloratura of the avian world have sharply declined in the UK, the northern end of its range, Vigorous efforts are underway to remedy this, through habitat protection. In 2010 a male nightingale's migration was tracked over 3,000 miles (4,800km) from near Suffolk UK to Guinea-Bissau in west Africa. If you'd care to hear natural beauty, Google nightingale song, and have a listen. There's even a famed 1924 recording of the bird accompanied by cello.

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?

Answer: swallows

To be specific, the Capistrano swallows are cliff swallows. The numbers of returning birds have fallen off in the early twenty-first century due to habitat loss, as the human population explosion in central California continues, and outside the Mission grounds the mud nests don't seem to be welcome.

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?

Answer: turkey vulture

Okay, I admit that vultures aren't as romantic as Capistrano's swallows, but with a wingspan approaching six feet (1.8 m) they are impressive, and the wilds tend to be neat as a pin around Hinckley during the warmer months. The considerable soaring ability of these large, black plumed birds comes in very handy for the migratory populations of this scavenger, the Hinckley population is believed to overwinter in South America, a trip approaching 4,000 miles or 6,400 km.

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?

Answer: pelican

I learned the limerick as: "A wonderful bird is the pelican, his bill can hold more than his beli-can. He can hold in his beak, food enough for a week, and I don't see how in the heli-can." Pelicans are surprisingly tolerant of humans, and these large brown birds with their distinctive white breasts and heads with a yellow expandable bill can sometimes be found at outdoor fish cleaning tables begging scraps from fishermen.

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?

Answer: northern mockingbird

While the wrong answers do some mimicry, they require training. I've heard a single wild mockingbird imitate three insects, four birds, two car alarms, and four cell phone rings in a five minute session. It also has a lovely song all its own. As to beloved, no fewer than five southern states made the mockingbird their state bird.

It's an attractive bird, in multiple shades of grey, touches of black around the head, and a surprise flash of white wing feathers in flight.

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?

Answer: white stork

Standing about 1.25 meters tall, with a proportional wing span and bright white plumage (not to mention the red bills and legs on the adults) these are distinctive birds. You'll find their nests on medium sized buildings and acceptable trees, at least throughout Germany and the Low Countries.

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?

Answer: common loon

Okay, one of you didn't get it... anybody have two toonies and a loonie for a five? The loon is depicted on the Canadian one dollar coin, nicknamed the loonie. These medium-sized aquatic birds are far more often heard than seen, as their dark brown plumage seems surprisingly effective as camouflage.

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?

Answer: whippoorwill

I have to admit that the slightly mournful sounding call of the whippoorwill actually makes it sound more like the bird questions corporal punishment. Like the European nightingale, the whippoorwill is best known for singing just after sunset and well before sunrise, which makes this smallish bird with mixed brown plumage devilishly hard to spot.

Source: Author Jdeanflpa

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor rossian before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Those annoying Latin names can camouflage our feathered friends. I hope the clues will help you identify them.

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