Parrot Matters Trivia Quiz

Answer: Captain Flint

Long John Silver claimed that his pet parrot Captain Flint was as much as 200 years old, had travelled the globe and witnessed some of the legendary events of the 'Golden Age of Piracy'. The exact species to which Captain Flint belongs is not made clear in Stevenson's novel, but even if it was one of the longest-lived large parrot species such as a macaw, then it would still have lived at least twice as long as the known life expectancy of these birds. Captain Flint (the parrot) was named after Silver's former captain, the pirate responsible for burying his ill-gotten gains on the novel's titular island.

Pieces of eight were Spanish silver dollars that were often carried by the merchant ships that plied shipping routes between Spain and its empire in the Americas. Since these ships were often targeted by pirates, the phrase "pieces of eight" eventually became synonymous with pirate treasure.

Answer: Neighbours

Dahl first took up residence on Ramsay Street in 1994 as the much-beloved pet parrot of Brett Stark. When Brett left the street in 1996 to go travelling, Dahl moved across the road to live with Brett's friend Libby Kennedy and from that point became a fixture at the Kennedy's home. While Dahl has not been the focus of many key storylines over the years, the love-hate relationship between the bird and Libby's father, Karl, did become a running theme.

Galahs are also known as rose-breasted cockatoos or pink and grey cockatoos, thanks to their pink and grey plumage. It is endemic to Australia and known for its loud squawking and gregarious behaviour. Their name is also an Australian slang term for a fool or an idiot.

Answer: Paulie

In the film 'Paulie', the title character is a blue-crowned conure (a type of parakeet native to South America) who is able to speak fluent English - not just mimic or repeat English words, but actually hold an intelligent conversation. The US actor and comedian Jay Mohr provided Paulie's voice as the bird's part in the script was clearly beyond the capability of any actual parrot. Paulie had apparently developed his unlikely command of language as a baby, when he was the much-loved pet of a little girl named Marie. However, Marie's parents gave him away and he then spent years being passed from person to person. The main plot of the film followed Paulie's journey to find his way home to Marie, which included the bird beginning a life of crime as a jewel thief and being locked up as a science experiment.

The incorrect options are all 1998 films named after title characters who were not members of the Psittacidae family.

Answer: It was stuffed

'Flaubert's Parrot' was published in 1984 and nominated for that year's Booker Prize award. It tells the story of Geoffrey Braithwaite, an expert on the 19th century French author Gustave Flaubert (famed for his 1857 work 'Madame Bovary'), who travels to France to visit various locations associated with Flaubert. On his trip he comes across two different stuffed parrots, which are both claimed to be the one that sat on Flaubert's desk and may have provided inspiration for the story 'Un Coeur Simple' ('The Simple Heart') that appeared as part of his 'Three Tales' collection. Braithwaite then sets off to investigate and finds dozens more potential "Flaubert's Parrots" - perhaps Julian Barnes ought to have pluralised the title of his novel!

Answer: Charlie Chan

'The Chinese Parrot' is a 1926 novel by Earl Derr Biggers who wrote six novels featuring his detective, Charlie Chan. The novel in question was the second book in the series and featured Chan travelling to California from his home in Hawaii in order to deliver a string of pearls to their wealthy new owner. After his arrival he discovers mysterious events thanks to the death of the parrot and decides to remain undercover in order to investigate.

The titular parrot wasn't a Chinese species but did have the ability to talk in that language.

Answer: Aladdin

Jafar and his parrot sidekick Iago appear in the 1992 Disney film 'Aladdin'. Jafar was the Sultan's Grand Vizier and right-hand man who captured a poor boy named Aladdin and used him in an attempt to obtain a certain lamp. However, Jafar's plan went awry when he double-crossed Aladdin and it was Aladdin who ended up with the lamp, a Genie and three wishes at his disposal. Iago's role in the storyline was limited, but the scarlet macaw's evil character did show through in his sarcastic remarks and unpleasant behaviour.

The bird was named after the evil Iago from Shakespeare's 'Othello'.

Answer: The Sims Medieval: Pirates and Nobles

'The Sims Medieval' was released in 2011 as a spin-off from the main 'The Sims' series. Instead of building houses and managing your sim's love life and career, the aim of the game was to build a medieval kingdom and have the sims complete quests to increase the power and influence of that kingdom. Unlike the ongoing game play of the original series, a game of 'The Sims Medieval' could actually be won by successfully completing the ambition associated with a kingdom.

'The Sims Medieval: Pirates and Nobles' was the only expansion pack released for the game and added in the opportunity to own and deploy useful pets in the form of parrots and falcons. Clearly, the idea was that a pirate would want a pet parrot, while any self-respecting noble sim would want to indulge in falconry.

Answer: Kiki

'The Adventure Series' was one of several series of children's novels by Enid Blyton that featured groups of children and their pets who solved mysteries, thwarted crimes and generally had "a jolly good time" while doing it (other examples include 'The Famous Five', 'The Secret Seven' and 'The Five Find-Outers'). The children in 'The Adventure Series' were Philip and Dinah Mannering and their orphaned friend Jack and Lucy-Ann Trent. The main pet featured was Jack's parrot Kiki, who was often instrumental in helping them escape from tricky situations.

The group first appeared in 1944 in 'The Island of Adventure' and made their eighth and final appearance in 1955's 'The River of Adventure'.

Answer: Julie Andrews

The character of Doctor Dolittle - who possesses the ability to understand and talk to animals - was created by the author Hugh Lofting and first appeared in his 1920 novel 'The Story of Doctor Dolittle'. It was adapted into a film musical for 1967's 'Doctor Dolittle' (starring Rex Harrison) and then into a London stage musical in 1998, with TV presenter and singer Philip Schofield in the title role. While most of the roles were performed live on stage, the voice of Polynesia (the parrot) was pre-recorded by the award-winning actress Julie Andrews.

Andrews is best-known for her roles in musical film and theatre, including Eliza Doolittle in the original 1956 Broadway production of 'My Fair Lady', the title role in Disney's 'Mary Poppins' (1964) and Maria in the 1965 film 'The Sound of Music'.

Answer: Monty Python's Flying Circus

The 'Dead Parrot Sketch' is one of the most famous sketches from the TV show 'Monty Python's Flying Circus'. In it, a disgruntled customer played by John Cleese returns to a shop run by Michael Palin to complain that the parrot he had been sold previously is dead. Palin's shopkeeper refuses to believe Cleese and maintains that the parrot is just "stunned" while Cleese points out that it was nailed to the perch. As the frustration builds, Cleese's character whacks the dead parrot on the desk and starts a rant that lists out a whole host of euphemisms for death, culminating in the famous line "this is an ex-parrot".

The dead bird in question had been sold as a "Norwegian Blue" and one of the excuses offered for its unresponsive state was that it was "pining for the Fjords". However, parrots are generally native to the southern hemisphere and don't enjoy hanging around by icy waters in Norway.