Cryptic British Birds Trivia Quiz

Answer: Thrush

The song thrush has a very musical sound. He will repeat the same phrase several times over. Sometimes it seems as though he is asking "Did you do it? Did you do it?" or "I saw you, I saw you,"

Answer: Goose

Before turkeys became the bird of choice for Christmas dinner, the goose was considered the most desirable. In England, geese bred in East Anglia were driven to market in London. To protect their feet as they waddled down the highways they were sometimes given shoes made of tar to walk on. Often a family bought a goose to fatten for Christmas, but sometimes unforeseen circumstances meant it had to be eaten early - hence the saying about someone who has done something irretrievable that is going to cause trouble: "She's cooked her goose!"

Answer: Lark

The lark is more often heard than seen as it rises higher and higher, singing its joyful song. It sounds as though the music is just bursting out of its happy heart. It has inspired both musicians and poets. In particular, Ralph Vaughan Williams wrote the well known "Lark Ascending" and "Hail to thee blithe spirit" are the words that begin Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ode to a Skylark".

Answer: Nuthatch

Nuthatches are very rare these days, but notable for one particular trait -
they are the only British birds that habitually run down the trunk of a tree headfirst. They enjoy eating nuts and frequently wedge the nut in a crack before hitting it firmly with a blow from its beak to break the shell.

The clue refers to a broody hen wanting to hatch her eggs.

Answer: Puffin

Puffing Billy is the name of one of the earliest locomotives, but you need to take the "g" from the tail of that name to become the bird.
Puffins have brilliantly coloured beaks shaped like triangles with the base side joined to the head. The bill is used to flirt and to fight, but if they want to be friends, they will hide their bills in their feathers. Once they were very plentiful along the south coast but now they are seldom seen there.

Answer: Wagtail

Wagtails come in three kinds - the grey wagtail, the pied wagtail and the yellow wagtail. They all flaunt a tail which is slightly longer than most birds of that size They often perform their courtship rituals on the ground, spreading their tails and flattening them to the ground. They are often seen near water and many have learnt to find food in carparks.

Answer: Kingfisher

A kingfisher nests on the bank of a stream, making, or enlarging a little tunnel in which it plants its eggs for safety. It is a colourful bird.

Answer: Swift

Swifts live mostly aloft. They feed on the wing, dining on flying insects and seldom land except to build their nests - straw or grass, cemented with saliva - beneath the eaves of houses and barns. They even sleep on the wing, and because of this way of life, their legs have become very weak. Their call is a scream, heard at dusk during the late spring and summer evenings and for this reason it was once known as the devil bird.
A migratory bird, its silhouette is a sickle shape when it flies and is a sure sign that summer is near.

Answer: Fieldfare

This bird is a winter visitor to our shores, migrating to northern Europe to nest and raise its young. They fly in flocks, and can be identified by the clamour they make, all shouting at once. Occasionally one may be separated from the flock and then makes a loud "tweet" in order to regain contact.
It is a large member of the thrush family, which sadly is quite rare these days.

Answer: Kite

The kite is a rare bird of prey these days, although once it was very common. It is very easily distinguished in flight as it circles round and round and its silhouette has long slender wings and a long, robust forked tail.
It builds a large, ungainly nest of twigs bound together with mud, which is lined with soft wool and hair, and, as Shakespeare says in 'The Winter's Tale', with bits of linen that it can steal from washing and with paper.