andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (11/01/90)
The pressure of thesis-writing had me forget about the quiz answers
until I was reminded this week. There was much less interest in this quiz
with only John Shipman and Bill Venables sending answers. Both claimed the
quiz was too hard but each managed to answer several questions correctly.
I've haven't had time to research the answers properly so there are probably
errors/omissions. Comments and queries welcome.
Andrew
1) What do Common Turkeys and Connecticut Warblers have in common?
Connecticut Warblers are rare in Connecticut and Common Turkeys are certainly
not common in Turkey! I believe Turkeys got their name because of their
similarity to Guinea Fowl which came to Europe via Turkey. I don't know how
Connecticut (and other) Warblers got their inappropriate names.
2) Which passerine's normal range covers the largest area? Land crossed in
migration doesn't count, sea doesn't count at all.
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica). It is found almost everywhere except Australia,
where its only a non-breeding vistor to the far north. I think its range
would surpass even widely introduced species such as house sparrows and common
starlings.
3) Male emperor penguins often have a great deal of difficulty walking during
the coldest months of the Antartic winter, why?
They are holding an egg between their legs. The males spent the two coldest
months of the Antartic winter standing in the dark on the ice incubating an egg.
Not surprisingly they have become experts at huddling together to keep warm!
4) Name a bird which not only appears to have sense of the aesthetic
but may express this by painting with a brush.
Satin Bowerbirds (Australia) paint the wall of their bower - the display
structure they use to attract females. They make the paint by mixing saliva
with chewed-up fruit, grass, rotten wood or charcoal. They use wads of
fibrous bark to apply the "paint" to their structures. I don't know how
common this is because I seen quite a few bowers, all unpainted. However
Bill Venables mentions seeing them using sap from Quondong fruit for this
purpose.
Even unpainted the bowers of Satin Bowerbird are impressive with
the array of blue objects spread before them. Near Sydney, blue plastic bottle
tops, blue clothes pegs and assorted blue litter now far outnumber
the traditional blue feathers and berries. A bowerbird will maintain
its bower constantly for many years. I was shown a bower 6 years ago
which I was told was 17 years old. It was still there when I took some visitors
there earlier this year. Given male bowerbirds are 7 years old before they
settle down I suspect the original builder must have died and a younger bird
taken over.
5) Its well-known vampire bats drink the blood of other mammals, name a bird
which similarly (and regularly) drinks the blood of other (living) birds.
Sharp-Beaked Ground Finches (Galapagos) peck holes in the wing of nesting
Masked Boobies and drink their blood. Water is a critical resource
for the finches on all but the biggest Galapagos islands so they probably
do this to obtain water rather than food.
6) Ostrichs lay very big eggs, hummingbirds lay very small eggs, but what
bird lays the heaviest egg in relation to the female's body weight?
The single egg of the Little Spotted Kiwi (offshore New Zealand Islands)
average 310g - 25% of the female body weight. An important factor is that
the Kiwi lays only 1 egg. The 12-15 eggs of an ostrich weigh in total
20-25kg 20-25% of the female body weight and similarly hummingbirds usually
lay 2 eggs again totalling roughly 25% of the female body weight.
7) Mammal droppings may form a significant part of several birds diet. Some of
these birds, such as Black Vultures are not attractive, name the prettiest
of birds which mammal droppings are a significant dietary component.
Whale, Walrus and seal faeces are an important part of Ivory Gulls' diet.
Whether Ivory Gulls are the prettiest such birds is subjective, of course,
but all the other faeces-eaters I could find were rather unattractive.
8) There are a number of reports of raptors carrying off small children. Some
of these reports are not reliable but there is a reliable report of a
(very hungry) bird attempting unsuccessfully to swallow a small child whole.
What bird?
During an El Nino event in Ecuador in the early '60s the wife of an Australian
ornithologist was sitting beside a shallow rock pool reading while her young
child (18 months?) played in the shallow water. Hearing screams she looked up
to see the child's arm down the throat of an emaciated brown Pelican which had
been sitting nearby. The Pelican was attempting, the presumably impossible,
task of swallowing the rest of the child.
Hungry Australian pelicans have been known to swallow Silver Gulls whole
and even a small dog (Chihuahua?).
9) Many birds breed in the northern hemisphere and migrate to the southern
hemisphere, name a land bird which does the reverse.
South-North migration is much less common. Some Australian birds head North
so but most stop short of the equator. The only real cross-equator
south->north migrant I could find was the African Pennant-Winged Nightjar.
It breeds in the southern wet season then moves north to take advantage
of the northern wet season. It is also notable for the spectacular 24"
white pennants trailing from the male's wings when in breeding plumage.
10) Many birds are difficult to identify in their pre-adult plumages.
Name 2 species which are easy to separate (and hence identify) in
pre-adult plumages but which adults of either sex and of either species
are difficult to separate in adult plumage
Wandering and Royal Albatross are easy to separate until they reach their
final adult plumages which are almost identical. Fortunately this takes
at least 6 years so 95% of the birds encountered can be easily separated.
I've been told adults can be separated in the field because the
Wandering has a very small black square in its "armpit" - where the trailing
wing edge meets the body. I've yet to see an adult so I haven't tested this.