10 How have German ornithologists been using the bug Dipetalogaster maximus for ornithological research?
11 Which of the following birds do not exist: Red Bishop, Pope’s Lovebird, Abbott’s Booby, Chaplin’s Barbet?
12 What is a popinjay?
13 The Imperial Pheasant is now known to be a hybrid of which two species?
14 How many pairs of Bald Ibises were found to be breeding in Syria in 2003?
15 What is the chief threat to the Amani Nature Reserve in Tanzania, after which the Amani Sunbird is named?
16 What was the name of the extinct large flightless pigeon that lived on Rodriguez Island in the Mascerenes until the 18th century?
17 How many of the 572 birds on the British List are identified by a single noun without any descriptive adjective (10% either way)?
18 In 2002 the total of occupied Peregrine territories in the UK was 1,092, 1,292 or 1,492?
19 The 31p 1998 commemorative British stamp, featuring Endangered British species, depicted which bird?
20 Which volume number is the 2004 British Birds?
2006 C
Chris Galvin – Swarovski
Answers: see here
1 H7N7 and H5N1 refer to strains of which avian disease?
2 What genus includes Pavonine, Golden-headed, Crested and Resplendent among its constituent species?
3 What has isolated one of the three remaining populations of Great Bustards in Germany from the other two?
4 In which family of birds were 3 species considered Threatened in 1996, 16 in 2000, and 19 out of 21 in 2006?
5 What mythical species was the late ex-parrot in the famous Monty Python sketch said to be?
6 Are there more Crested Ibis in China or Japan?
7 Which New World warbler, described by Alexander Wilson in 1811, made its first recorded visit to the UK at Paisley in May 1977, just a few miles from Wilson’s birthplace?
8 What is the scientific name of the Ancient Murrelet?
9 Spell Synthliboramphus.
10 What does Synthliboramphus mean?
11 What was the probable reason for the extinction of the Rimatara Lorikeet from the Cook Islands?
12 What bird ‘sings on the orchard bough/In England – now!’ in Robert Browning’s Poem Home Thoughts, from Abroad?
13 The buds of which of the following variety of pear do Bullfinches largely ignore – Comice, Conference, William?
14 Which of the following birds do not exist: Calfbirds, Cowbirds, Bullbirds and Muttonbirds?
15 For what species was a light railway constructed on the island of Torishima to carry the corpses of slaughtered birds from the breeding slopes to the beach for the feather trade in the 19th century?
16 ‘Clod birds’ was the name used for Corn Buntings by the father of which previous winner of Bird Brain of Britain, as quoted in Birds Britannica?
17 Name three of the five species on the British List named after Peter Simon Pallas.
18 With what group of birds is W. L. N. (Lance) Tickell mainly associated?
19 What was the average autumn count of migrating raptors through Vera Cruz in Mexico between 1995 and 2001, to the nearest half-million?
20 How many Zino’s Petrel chicks were known to have fledged in 2005?
2006 D
Stephen Moss – Leica
Answers: see here
1 The Cuckoo, The Kingfisher, The Finch’s Arms and The Old Pheasant are or were all pubs in Rutland. Which one is nearest to the Birdfair?
2 On which English island has the eradication of Black and Brown Rats allowed Puffins to nest successfully in 2005 for the first time for 30 years?
3 Which bird organization publishes The Auk?
4 How long after the first Taiga Flycatcher was found at Flamborough Head on 26th April 2003 was the second British record found?
5 Why was the apostrophe in Verreauxs’ Eagle recently shifted from before the ‘s’ to after it?
6 By what name was Lophophanes cristatus more familiarly known?
7 What insect has become a threat to the Uvea Parakeet (since 1996)?
8 Which species nested successfully in Wales for the first time in recorded history in 2004?
9 And from where did the male originate?
10 What do the ‘O’u, Nukupu’u, Maui Alauahio, O’ahu ‘Alauahio and ‘Akohekohe all have in common with regard to their IUCN Red List categorization in 2000 and 2006?
11 Which of the following birds do not exist: Monkbirds, Nunbirds, Friarbirds and Apostlebirds?
12 Chateau Robin and Chateau Guillemot are wines from which famous Bordeaux area?
13 Why were 60% of the trees in a Vulnerable Superb Parrot colony in Victoria, Australia, felled?
14 In New Zealand the North Island Saddleback, Little Spotted Kiwi, Chatham Island Robin and Chatham Petrel were all confined to single small islands in the last few decades. How many still are?
15 Why is the Bananal Antbird so called?
16 Which country or state’s inhabitants are nicknamed ‘Crow-eaters’?
17 What is the alternative English name for Gurney’s Pitta?
18 Name one group of birds that have large olfactory bulbs in their bird-brains?
19 Which is the largest bird named after Charles Darwin?
20 In what way do the two morphs of Snow Petrel differ?
2007 A
Carl Downing – NBC
Answers: see here
1 How many Critically Endangered species are there?
2 Which species was recorded from the most 10 km squares in the original 1968–72 Atlas survey?
3 What measurement of Peregrine eggs established incontrovertibly the association between organochlorine pesticides and their population crash in the late 1950s and early 1960s?
4 What was the Birdfair project in 2005?
5 What was the name of the Puddle-duck in Beatrix Potter’s famous children’s book?
6 How many White-tailed Eagle chicks have successfully fledged in Scotland since their reintroduction to Rum in 1975? Is it 50, 100 or 200?
7 What was the subtitle of the magazine British Birds for the first 40 years of its existence?
8 Which of the following birds does not exist – Ursula’s Sunbird, Johanna’s Sunbird, Mrs Moreau’s Sunbird, Mrs Gould’s Sunbird?
9 Which of the following is the most important threat to the Bali Starling – hotel development, wind farms or the cage bird trade?
10 What sort of bird is a Bokikokiko?
11 Who was the President of the RSPB from 1985