Wandering Birdwatcher, Mad Photographer Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. [Tip: click on the photos for a closer look when necessary.] A talented photographer you are, for you caught this tiny little female bird in mid-flight in Louisville, Kentucky as it hovered at a flower to sip nectar. What is this bird, not much bigger than the flower?

Answer: hummingbird

The female ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) in the photo has a notched tail with outer feathers banded in green, black, and white, along with a white throat. Males have a gorget (throat patch) of iridescent ruby red bordered narrowly with velvety black, giving the species its name, and a forked black tail. Ruby-throated hummingbirds are rather solitary. Hummingbirds of all species eat not only nectar but also small insects and spiders, and they are all named for the humming noise of their rapidly beating wings.

They have excellent vision, high metabolisms, and long lives.

2. You observe a black-capped little bird pluck seeds from a feeder, carry them to a tree, and then hold each seed in its foot while it hammers it open. Name the bird.

Answer: chickadee

The black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) pictured is a songbird that lives in deciduous and mixed forests of North America. It is the state bird of Maine and Massachusetts, USA, and the provincial bird of New Brunswick, Canada. It can lower its body temperature during cold winter nights, and it has excellent spatial memory to relocate caches of insects and seeds. In addition to its cap, the male has black bib and a very recognizable two-note "fee-bee" call.

The chickadee is a passerine bird, meaning it is a perching bird (order Passiformes). The chickadees are North American birds of the family Paridae. While most English speakers elsewhere call various Paridae species "tits", in North America, the native species are either "titmice" or "chickadees", from their alarm call "chick-a-dee-dee-dee".

The tufted titmouse is a member of the family Paridae, but it lacks a black cap and instead has a crest (tuft) on top of its head.

3. You drive to Illinois, where you spy a black-billed bird perched outside man-made nesting boxes, and you are taken by its iridescent blue-black or purplish-black plumage. What is this member of the swallow family?

Answer: purple martin

The male purple martin (Progne subis) pictured is the largest swallow found in the Americas. It would likely winter in the rainforests of the Amazon and summer in the USA and Canada. The female has duller purplish-black plumage with a light-colored breast, and she prefers to nest in boxes built by humans rather than make a nest of a her own (giving the purple martin the reputation for being the tamest wild bird).

In Pre-Columbian times, Native Americans would erect hollowed-out gourds for them for this purpose.

The purple martin often comes into conflict over nesting rights with the brown-and-gray house sparrow (and wins). However, it is not victorious with other species, and if it were not for people monitoring the boxes, the purple martin would probably die out.

4. You hop across the pond to England. How tranquilly this stately, pure white bird swims down the River Isis, gracefully curving its long neck as looks at its orange bill with a black knob at the base is reflected in the water. Can you identify it?

Answer: swan

The mute swan (Cygnus olor) is found throughout Eurasia, as far east as Vladivostok, and is so named because it is the least vocal swan, almost soundless. At 23-26 pounds (10-12 kg), the male mute swan is one of the heaviest flying birds. Mute swans are monogamous and strongly territorial, and they build nests on large mounds near the water which they defend aggressively, belying their elegant appearance.

5. In the waters of the National Wildlife Refuge near the Kennedy Space Center, you spy a large wading bird balancing on one leg. You examine carefully not only its plumage but its head and beak, and conclude that it is what species of bird?

Answer: spoonbill

Roseate spoonbills (Platalea ajaja) are named for both their bright pink color and their spoon-shaped bills. Spoonbills feed in shallow water by swinging their bill to and fro, scooping up small fish and crustaceans, like soup in a spoon. They are found in mangroves on the southern coasts of Texas, Louisiana, and Florida.

Flamingos have a much different bill, but the two birds often associate in the same feeding grounds, and sometimes the roseate spoonbill may be mistaken for the pink flamingo when they are together.

6. You've left the Northern Hemisphere for New Zealand. You come across a brown bird with long beak, stout legs, somewhat barbed feathers--and no wings? What is this flightless fowl?

Answer: kiwi

The North Island brown kiwi pictured is the most common kiwi species of New Zealand. It ranges across the northern two-thirds of the North Island. These kiwis (like all species) feed on insects, grubs, worms, fruit, and seeds. Because their nostrils are at the end of their beak, they have a keen sense of smell and can detect their food easily underground. Females lay the largest egg in relation to their body size of any species of bird in the world -- up to one-fifth of their weight.

Kiwi are named for their call, from the Maori language. Kiwis are nocturnal, but some ornithologists believe this is an adaptation to the arrival of predators introduced by humans (and humans themselves).

7. While in the American subtropics, you photograph a male bird with a a golden head, brilliant green and red plumage, and long flowing tail feathers (that unfortunately the camera cuts off a tad). Still there's enough to identify the bird as what?

Answer: quetzal

A trogon is any colorful subtropical bird of the family Trogonidae, and the large trogons of the Americas are called quetzals. The golden-headed quetzal pictured (Trogon auriceps or Pharomachrus auriceps) inhabits moist mid-elevation forests from eastern Panama to northern Bolivia.

There are many other beautiful species of quetzal such as P. mocinno, called the resplendent trogon (or resplendent quetzal, just to be confusing) with a distinctive crest. All quetzals have iridiscent coloring, the female being somewhat duller.

Quetzals lack the large and distinctive bill of parrots, lorikeets, and macaws, but they nonetheless use their bills to make holes in trees and termite mounds for their nests.

8. At the South Georgia Islands, you look out over the Southern Ocean at a large, mostly white bird (there's some black on the wings) with an incredible wingspan. What do you see?

Answer: albatross

The wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) has the largest wingspan of any living bird, ranging from 8'3" to 11'6" (2.51-3.5 m), and it is one of the widest-ranging birds, as some individuals circumnavigate the Southern Ocean three times a year. Albatrosses manage this by soaring on air currents for several hundred miles without flapping their wings.

9. Back to the USA. You watch a gray junco approach some sunflower seeds guarded by a male songbird with a crested head, a short thick bill, and bright red plumage, who suggests the junco back off. What is this tough red bird?

Answer: cardinal

The northern cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a favorite among backyard birders in North America as it tends to stay year round. Unlike many other songbirds in North America, both males and females sing. (When the female sings from the nest, she is usually telling the male that she needs more food.) During courtship, males will show affection by feeding females beak-to-beak. Cardinals are so named because their plumage resembles a Catholic cardinal's red vestments. Cardinals are fiercely territorial, and during the spring they have been observed fighting their own reflection!

10. Your camera captures a magnificent bird of prey, with a hooked beak, white head, and brownish-black plumage, just as it is getting ready to take flight. What is this impressive raptor?

Answer: eagle

The national bird of the USA, the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) has keen eyesight and powerful talons for catching prey. The highly developed talon on its hind toe pierces the prey, while the front toes keep it immobilized. They tend toward monogamy and build their nests on high cliffs or in tall trees--so large they can literally weigh a ton! The bald eagle's call, however, is merely weak, chirping whistles. During courtship, there are lots of swoops, chases, and mid-air cartwheels, then the two birds lock talons and free fall, not separating until just before hitting the ground!

Source: Author gracious1

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor rossian before going online.
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You are a wandering birdwatcher chancing upon some birds that are remarkably colored or have otherwise distinctive characteristics. Let's see if you can identify the birds you've "captured" primarily by the photos you've taken.

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