andrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (10/02/90)
A couple of people mailed to say they enjoyed the last quiz even though they
didn't take part so I've scraped questions together for another. The questions
aren't as trivial as I'd like but should still be fun.
* e-mail me (andrewt@cs.su.oz.au) the answers
* closing date is Tuesday 9th of October
* You may use whatever sources you choose.
* Please do *not* post any answers to news. I'll post them after the 9th.
To encourage people with limited time or few answers to take part,
along with the answers, I'll post details of only those who managed the
highest scores or answers to questions which stumped everyone else.
Feel free to include short explanations, I'm sure there will be correct
answers I haven't anticipated.
Andrew
1) What do Common Turkeys and Connecticut Warblers have in common (beyond
being American birds) ?
2) Which passerine's normal range covers the largest area? Land only visited
during migration doesn't count, sea doesn't count at all.
3) Male emperor penguins often have a great deal of difficulty walking
during the coldest months of the Antarctic winter, why?
4) Name a bird which not only appears to have sense of the aesthetic
but may express this by painting with a brush.
5) It is well known that vampire bats drink the blood of other mammals, name
a bird which similarly (and regularly) drinks the blood of other birds,
leaving them unharmed though presumably slightly anaemic.
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?
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 for which mammal droppings are a significant
dietary component.
8) There are a number of reports of raptors carrying off small children.
Most of these reports are of dubious reliability but there is a reliable
report of a (very hungry) bird attempting unsuccessfully to swallow
a small child whole. What was the bird?
9) Many birds breed in the northern hemisphere and migrate to the southern
hemisphere for the rest of the year, name a land bird which breeds
in the southern hemisphere and migrates to the northern hemisphere.
10) Many birds are difficult to identify in their pre-adult plumages.
Name 2 species which are easy to separate (and hence identify) in their
pre-adult plumages but which adults of either sex and of either species
are difficult to separate in adult plumageandrewt@cs.su.oz (Andrew Taylor) (10/03/90)
Two clarifications to the quiz questions: >2) Which passerine's normal range covers the largest area? Land only visited > during migration doesn't count, sea doesn't count at all. Introduced birds do not count, so forget House Sparrow, Common Starling etc. >9) Many birds breed in the northern hemisphere and migrate to the southern > hemisphere for the rest of the year, name a land bird which breeds > in the southern hemisphere and migrates to the northern hemisphere. What I want is a land bird where *most*, not just some, of the population breeds in the south and migrates to the north.