in 2003?19 What non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug is strongly implicated in the catastrophic decline in Indian vultures?
20 When does the shooting season for Snipe begin?
2004 C
Chris Harbard – Birdwatch
Answers: see here
1 Name a bird named after Jean François Emmanuel Baillon.
2 What size ring would you use to ring a Blackbird?
3 How much is the annual UK subscription to Birdwatch magazine, to the nearest pound?
4 Which species, which was lost to Ireland in the 17th century, does the Irish Wildlife Trust hope to reintroduce with nestlings from Wales?
5 The chief threats, as listed in Threatened Birds of the World, are the same for 13 out of 14 of the Globally Threatened species that occur only in the Tumbesian region. What are the threats?
6 Why are some German Nightingales now breaking the law?
7 What species, previously presumed extinct, was glimpsed and heard by a group of birders on Savai’i in Samoa on 5th October 2003?
8 Who was the Assistant Keeper of Zoology at the British Museum in the early 19th century who destroyed many priceless specimens on bonfires because he deemed them ‘unwanted’ or ‘badly preserved’, but who nonetheless has a British seabird named after him?
9 Which of the following does not exist: Laughing Dove, Whistling Dove, Weeping Dove or Mourning Dove?
10 In which year was Birdwatch magazine first published?
11 What is the cloacal temperature of the little-known Hooded Gnatcatcher, as recorded in the Handbook of Birds of the World, Volume 8?
12 Which muscle is the largest in a bird’s body and provides most of the force of the downstroke in flapping flight?
13 In which species of seabird was puffinosis first described?
14 What colour are Great Crested Grebe’s eggs when newly laid?
15 What bird is depicted on the 2004 South Korean postage stamp, which also depicts the Tokto Islets, which Japan claims as Japanese territory, thereby leading to political squabbling?
16 Apart from Woodpeckers, what other family has Ivory-billed, Lineated, Striped and Bar-bellied species?
17 In addition to habitat loss and degradation, what other threat is considered to be significant for the Rufous-headed Chachalaca in the Tumbesian region?
18 Which tail feathers are elongated in adult Long-tailed Skuas?
19 Which bird features on the badges of the Wiltshire Girl Guides and the Royal School of Artillery, has a pub in Lavington, Wiltshire, named after it and is being reintroduced onto Salisbury Plain?
20 By how much is the shooting season for Woodcock in Scotland longer than in England and Wales?
2004 D
Dave Nurney – Bird Watching
Answers: see here
1 Name a bird called after Gilbert White.
2 What is thought to have caused the skewing of the Wandering Albatross population on Prince Edward Island in favour of males?
3 In which year was Bird Watching magazine first published?
4 In addition to habitat loss and degradation, what particularly threatens the Critically Endangered Tumbesian endemic Pale-headed Brush-finch?
5 What species was thought to have a world population of 67,000 birds until 2.5 million were counted at Eighty Mile Beach in northwest Australia in February 2004?
6 What size ring would you use to ring a Tawny Owl?
7 Which of the following does not exist: Inaccessible Rail, Inexorable Rail, Invisible Rail or Snoring Rail?
8 In the first ever issue of Bird Watching magazine, what was the title of the article on twitching written by an extremely well-known TV personality (who doesn’t twitch)?
9 Where did the extinct pigeon, the Liverpool Pigeon Caloenas maculata, live?
10 How many chambers does the avian heart have?
11 Which Founder of a great Cambridge College first described the Dotterel as ‘morinellus’ – a little fool?
12 What do Glossy Ibis, Starling, Redstart and Dunnock eggs all have in common?
13 Who killed the Stymphalian Birds?
14 The medical condition of eating unusual substances such as dry paint, coal, excrement etc. shares a name with a common British bird’s Latin name. What is it?
15 What were the six geese doing on the 1977 Great Britain Christmas 7p stamp?
16 What species of wader bred in Wales for the first time in 2003?
17 When was the mysterious never-been-seen-in-the-wild Long-whiskered Owlet discovered?
18 How many nests have been recorded in the BTO’s Nest Record Scheme in its first 65 years?
19 What was the BTO’s Nest Record Scheme originally called?
20 Which feathers are grossly elongated on the wing of the breeding male Pennant-winged Nightjar?
2005 A
David Fisher – Sunbird
Answers: see here
1 What colour is the bill of an adult Red-legged Partridge?
2 What is the least numerous breeding English corvid?
3 What is ‘the Skylark Index’?
4 If you saw a Balbuzard pêcheur in France, what would you be watching?
5 To publicise the plight of which threatened group of birds did John Ridgway sail round the world in 2003/04 in English Rose VI?
6 Which European country has the largest breeding population of Stonechats?
7 What unfortunate slogan did the charity Animal Aid use to alert people to their feelings about the National Cage and Aviary Birds Exhibition at Stoneleigh in 2004?
8 The range of the Wood Duck in North America falls completely within
