15 A group of Belgians is campaigning to allow the trapping of which songbird because wild birds sing better in cages than captive-bred birds?
16 In 2004, what species of raptor electrocuted itself on power lines at Santa Clarita, Los Angeles, and fell burning to the ground, starting a fire which burnt 2,300 ha, necessitating the evacuation of 1,600 homes?
17 By what name was Poecile palustris formerly known?
18 What is closest relative to the Kagu of New Caledonia on both DNA and morphological evidence?
19 Of Hawaii’s 34 species of Honeycreeper, are 3, 13 or 23 now extinct?
20 The WWF (World Wildlife Fund/Worldwide Fund for Nature) was founded in 1961 by Julian Huxley, Max Nicholson and two other ornithologists. Name one.
2008 A
Martin Fowlie – NBC
Answers: see here
1 Which project is being supported by Birdfair this year?
2 Is Lincoln’s Sparrow named after President Abraham Lincoln?
3 Which island in the British Isles has only single records of Goosander, Marsh Tit, Eastern Phoebe and Ancient Murrelet?
4 What Critically Endangered species from Brazil was depicted on last year’s Birdfair poster?
5 Which British bird is potentially under threat from Tree Mallow which has spread in the UK due to amelioration of the climate?
6 What sort of flightless ducks have been found to migrate from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Bering Strait since 1992?
7 For what purpose are seriemas, screamers and trumpeters used by humans in South America?
8 Name one of the three archipelagos that have twelve or more Critically Endangered species.
9 What colour is the iris of the Woodpigeon?
10 Which of the following is not extinct: Hawaiian Rail, Tahiti Rail, British Rail, New Britain Rail?
11 What anti-inflammatory drug is in use in veterinary practice in Tanzania, although it has already decimated the vulture population in India?
12 With what product are the piquero, camanay, alcatraz and guanay associated?
13 Which Critically Endangered species has in focus championed, as part of BirdLife International’s Guardians and Champions project?
14 What plumage difference distinguishes the male Ptarmigan from the female in winter?
15 Which Critically Endangered parrot has recently bred in the wild following translocation?
16 Roatelo, meaning two-three in Malagasy, is an alternative name for which Madagascan endemic birds after their habit of going around in small groups of two or three?
17 Beside the Mangrove Finch, what is the other Critically Endangered passerine in the Galapagos?
18 Which oystercatchers have a white neck collar?
19 What bird is named after Madame Dumont d’Urville?
20 In what year did Scottish Crossbill become a species on the British List, within three years?
2008 B
David Murdoch – OSME
Answers: see here
1 Which project was supported by Birdfair last year?
2 What colour is the lower mandible of the female Common Kingfisher?
3 What is a bleeding-heart?
4 What was the ornithological surname of the French winner of the gold medal in the 5,000 metres in the 1920 Olympic Games?
5 In which country was a flock of 3,200 Sociable Lapwings counted in 2007?
6 What ornithological event is believed to have caused the huge increase in the population of White-footed Mouse in the USA, resulting in an increase in Lyme disease, as the mouse is a vector of deer-ticks?
7 What Critically Endangered species from Mexico was depicted on last year’s Birdfair poster?
8 Why was the Olive-tree Warbler in Shetland in August 2006 less exciting for the finders than it might have been for a British ‘first’?
9 Is the estimated tonnage of lead shot used by hunters round the Mediterranean each year 6,000, 60,000 or 600,000 tonnes?
10 Which of the following is not extinct: Norfolk Starling, Tanimbar Starling, Mysterious Starling, Reunion Starling?
11 Which Critically Endangered species has Swarowski championed as part of BirdLife International’s Guardians and Champions project?
12 What is Scotch woodcock?
13 Name one of the three or four Critically Endangered species with a population thought to be greater than 30,000 individuals.
14 What colour is the iris of an Osprey?
15 Is the Stanley Bustard named after the 19th century British Prime Minister, Edward Stanley?
16 What name does the International Ornithological Congress recommend that we now use for Rock Dove / Rock Pigeon /Feral Pigeon/Columba livia?
17 Name one country, outside Africa, where Lesser Flamingo has bred in historical times?
18 Who illustrated both T. A. Coward’s Birds of the British Isles and their Eggs and Miss S. Vere Benson’s Observer’s Book of British Birds?
19 What was the commonest non-natural (human-related) cause of death among Spanish Imperial Eagles between 1989 and 2004?
20 What is the Red Sea Warbler more commonly called?
2008 C
Paul Stancliffe – BTO
Answers: see here
1 Which project will be supported by Birdfair next year?
2 Where else is an Azure-winged Magpie azure apart from the wings?
3 Which species of bird caused the greatest loss of human life in an air strike when 62 people were killed when birds brought down an Eastern Airlines Lockheed Electra in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1960?
4 Is Wilson’s Warbler named after Woodrow Wilson, the former US president?
5 In which country was the world’s largest Arctic Tern colony of over 50,000 pairs in 1950, which had been completely exterminated by 2000 due to egg-collecting?
6 Which Old World warbler breeds in the New World?
7 What species of bird has learned to peck around the tail of brooding Nazca Boobies in the Galapagos in order to drink the blood thereby produced?
8 What is urohidrosis?
9 What Critically Endangered species from Africa was depicted on last year’s Birdfair poster?
10 Which of the following does not exist: Golden-crowned Emerald, Sapphire-spangled Emerald, Ruby-necklaced Emerald, Coppery-headed Emerald?
11 In 1930 what happened when the last remaining female Laysan Duck had her eggs destroyed by a Bristle-thighed Curlew?
12 Which Critically Endangered species has Birdwatch magazine championed as part of BirdLife International’s Guardians and Champions project?
13 What was the ornithological-sounding surname of the New Zealand winner of the silver medal