in winter?2 What is the principal diet of the Sandwich Tern?
3 Are there more Critically Endangered birds or Critically Endangered amphibians?
4 What are ‘duck stamps’ used for in the USA?
5 The activities of which species of bird led to the abandonment of a Parliamentary Bill in the House of Commons in 1607?
6 Which has the longer bill – Sword-billed Hummingbird or Greenshank?
7 Who, born 100 years ago in September, first described the Greenland White-fronted Goose?
8 Which former Warden of Dungeness Bird Observatory and subsequent Head of Reserves Management at the RSPB died on 26th March 2009?
9 What is a haggard hawk or falcon?
10 Which of the following birds does not exist: Sicklebill, Scythebill, Spadebill, Secateurbill?
11 From what protein are feathers made principally?
12 What birds may be Bronze-winged, Comb-crested and Pheasant-tailed?
13 To what was John Clare referring when he wrote: ‘Ah, could I see a spinney nigh/A paddock riding in the sky Above the oaks, in easy sail/On stilly wings and forked tail’?
14 What red-legged birds are depicted on the coat of arms of Canterbury?
15 How many species of bunting are included in the suite of 19 birds included in the Farmland Bird Index?
16 For a bonus, name two of the three.
17 Who is Chief Executive of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds?
18 When was the Ornithological Society of the Middle East founded?
19 Which wader first bred in Britain in 1938 and now numbers a few hundred breeding pairs?
20 What European country has the Great Bustard as its national bird?
2009 B
Martin Fowlie – NBC
Answers: see here
1 What is the principal diet of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (outside the breeding season)?
2 What is the principal diet of the Bananaquit?
3 Who is the Chief Executive Officer of BirdLife International?
4 What birds can be Bronze-winged, Double-banded and Cream-coloured?
5 Who, born 300 years ago, on 10th March, has a jay, an eider and a sea-cow named after him?
6 Which has the longer wing – Corncrake or Common Swift?
7 Do birds have a spleen?
8 Which of the following birds does not exist: Bald Parrot, Bald Bulbul, Bald Eagle, Bald Ibis?
9 What is snarge?
10 Name two Critically Endangered species which occur in continental USA (if not yet extinct)?
11 For a bonus, name two more.
12 How many different Rosses are Ross’s Goose, Ross’s Gull and Ross’s Turaco named after?
13 Which is named after who?
14 What migrated from Beech Grove to The Nunnery in 1991?
15 What is a falconer’s hawk doing if it is having a jenk?
16 Apart from the Rook, which other corvid is included in the Farmland Bird Index?
17 Who, born 200 years ago this September, wrote of the Eagle that: ‘He clasps the crag with crooked hands;/Close to the sun in lonely lands, Ring’d with the azure world, he stands’?
18 How many years ago was the Oriental Bird Club founded?
19 When did Cetti’s Warbler first breed in Britain in recent times, within three years?
20 In which country can you see both Groundscraper Thrush and Cloud-scraping Cisticola?
2009 C
Richard Prior – OSME
Answers: see here
1 What is the principal diet of the Snail Kite?
2 What is the principal diet of the Morepork?
3 Who, born 200 years ago on 12th February, has a tinamou, a rhea and some finches named after him?
4 By what ornithological name was the French singer Edith Piaf known?
5 How does the Hoatzin differ from other vegetarian birds in the way it breaks up the tough leaves that comprise its diet?
6 Which species bred for the first time in Britain in Somerset in 2008?
7 How many pairs nested?
8 For what group of birds are tori lines used as a conservation measure?
9 Which of the following birds does not exist: Scimitarbill, Spearbill, Shoebill, Sheathbill?
10 In 2008 an electronic tag from a Steelhead Salmon, marked at the Columbia River hatchery in Oregon in 2006, was found by the nest of which species of bird on Mokonui Island in New Zealand, 10,000 kms from Oregon?
11 Which has the longer leg (tarsus) – Black-winged Stilt or Mute Swan?
12 After 1993 what led to the marked increase in the capture of Endangered Javan Hawk Eagles as status symbols?
13 How many species of finch are included in the Farmland Bird Index?
14 For a bonus, name two of the three.
15 The specific name of the Critically Endangered Alagoas Antwren is named after which eminent ornithologist who died on 4th February 2009?
16 What birds may be Sharp-tailed, White-rumped, Buff-breasted and Spoon-billed?
17 Who is the President of the British Ornithologists’ Union?
18 When was the African Bird Club founded?
19 What now Critically Endangered species received protection as early as 1504 from the Archbishop of Salzburg?
20 Which Critically Endangered passerine is confined to a 7 sq km island in the Atlantic?
2009 D
Nigel Redman – ABC
