The Ultimate Bird Quiz

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Are you ready to ruffle some feathers?

1. The Nicobar megapode (Megapodius nicobariensis) is most closely related to which group of birds?

1 point

Pheasants

Rails

Scrubfowls

Sandgrouse

Clear selection

2. What is a group of owls called? *

1 point

Parliament

Convocation

Vacation

Season

3. In which year was the cryptic Himalayan thrush (Zoothera salimalii) described as a new species? *

1 point

2014

2016

2018

2015

4. The endemic Western Ghats shortwing was recently split into which two species? *

1 point

Black-chinned robin and grey-breasted robin

Malabar robin and Nilgiri robin

Banasura blue robin and Palani blue robin

Nilgiri blue robin and white-bellied blue robin

5. VOLUME UP! This bird sounds like a ping-pong ball falling down the stairs. Whose call is this?
< Play Sound >
*

1 point

Indian nightjar

Common hawk-cuckoo

White throated kingfisher

Malabar pied hornbill

6. Which genera include species known for "antiphonal duetting" in India? *

1 point

Pycnonotus (bulbuls)

Passer (sparrows)

Minla

Pomatorhinus (scimitar babblers)

7. Which of these species was officially recorded last in 1949 but is still not considered extinct? *

1 point

Jerdon's courser

Forest owlet

Himalayan quail

Pink-headed duck

8. In which year was the critically endangered Jerdon’s courser rediscovered? *

1 point

1987

1988

1985

1986

9. The manuscript of the first ever handbook on Indian birds by AO Hume was never published. Why? *

1 point

Hume passed away before the manuscript was published.

Hume decided to form the Indian National Congress and decided not to publish the manuscript.

Hume’s servant sold the manuscript, thinking it was scrap.

Someone else published the handbook before Hume.

10. Name the smallest raptor from the ones listed below: *

1 point

Indian spotted eagle

Rufous bellied eagle

Crested serpent eagle

Great Nicobar serpent eagle

11. The Great Indian Bustard is threatened by *

1 point

habitat loss in grasslands

historical hunting

high tension wires

all of the above

12. Which of these species have 3 toes? *

1 point

Oriental dwarf kingfisher

Jerdon's courser

Himalayan flameback

All of the above

13. VOLUME UP! Salim Ali described the vocalisation of Malabar whistling thrush as… <Play Sound> *

1 point

A loud, rich whistle rambling aimlessly up and down the scale

Like an idle schoolboy

A long-drawn piercing high-pitched kree-ee somewhat reminiscent of a hill myna

All of the above

14. Which prominent ornithologist founded Stray Feathers, a journal on Indian ornithology? *

1 point

Brian Hodgson

AO Hume

Salim Ali

EC Stuart Baker

15. Baya weaver females choose the male based on the following characteristic... *

1 point

Complex construction of the nest

Display of the male

Location of the nest

All of the above

16. The Lepchas, the aboriginal people of Sikkim, believe that a bird saved their ancestors during a flood by guiding them to safety. Which bird is this? *

1 point

Himalayan monal

Blood pheasant

Satyr tragonpan

Khalij pheasant

17. Every year, between December and June, the Kokarebellur village in Karnataka welcomes thousands of birds. Most of them are of a particular species. Which bird are we talking about? *

1 point

Painted stork

Indian spot-billed duck

Black-necked stork

Greater flamingo

18. VOLUME UP! Who is calling or singing? < Play Sound > *

1 point

Spotted elachura

Spotted bush warbler

Baikal bush warbler

Gould’s shortwing

19. Which of the following species has the smallest distribution range? *

1 point

Jerdon’s courser

Ashambhu laughingthrush

Bugun liocichla

Narcondam hornbill

20. This bird is famous for its spectacular courtship display, where the male leaps into the air to attract a mate. How many times can it jump in a single day? *

1 point

10-20 times

40-80 times

Over 1000 times

300-400 times

21. Which of the non-bird species below is named after Salim Ali? *

1 point

Zoothera salimalii

Apus salimalii

Perdicula argoondah salimalii

Latidens salimalii

22. Which Indian bird has now gone missing for more than 148 years? *

1 point

Himalayan quail

Manipur bush quail

Pink-headed duck

Large-billed reed warbler

23. The rediscovery of the forest owlet (Heteroglaux blewitti) was facilitated by: *

1 point

Uncovering museum fraud and re-examining mislabeled museum specimens

An expedition based on historical sighting records

Bioacoustic monitoring in unexplored forests

A local hunter providing fresh feather samples

24. Which among the following ornithologists never visited India but described a handful of the species? *

1 point

Edward Blyth

John Gould

TC Jerdon

Hugh Whistler

25. Which of the following species is known from three records (all collected by Walter Koelz) within Indian territory but hasn’t been seen since the year 1951? *

1 point

Green peafowl

Azure tit

Collared myna

Boreal owl

26. Which geographical barrier separates Banasura Chilapan (laughingthrush) from the rest of its counterparts? *

1 point

Palghat Gap

Chaliyar River

Shenkotha Gap

Kaveri River

27. This bird is so popular that it has local names across languages. Hariyo in Gujarati, Bornali in Bengali, Kavi in Malayalam and Nauranga in Punjabi. Which bird is this? *

1 point

Indian paradise flycatcher

Indian pitta

Malabar whistling thrush

Common tailorbird

28. What does "Nong-in" the local name for the state bird of Manipur, mean? *

1 point

One who follows the wind

One who follows the rain

One who flies the highest

One who sings before sunrise

29. Salim Ali was fondly known as the Birdman of India, but he called someone India's first "birdwoman". She contributed widely to knowledge on birds from the Chhota Nagpur Plateau. What is her name? *

1 point

Laxmi Srinivas

Jamal Ara

Meghna Mhatre

Tilotamma Roy

30. This is the young one of which bird? *

1 point

Greater flamingo

Black-necked crane

Sarus crane

Common crane

Round 2: Terribly Tough Ten

1. Humayun Abdulali described a subspecies of brown hawk owl from Great Nicobar after his field assistant. Can you name this subspecies? *

1 point

muttui

tiwarii

reubeneii

rexpimentii

2. Which of the following species has a permanently reversed second toe? *

1 point

Oriental dwarf kingfisher

Indian scops owl

Malabar trogon

Great slaty woodpecker

3. Hodgson's wren-warbler was the old name of which species? *

1 point

Grey-breasted prinia (Prinia hodgsonii)

Ashy prinia (Prinia socialis)

Plain prinia (Prinia inornata)

Grey-crowned prinia (Prinia cinereocapilla)

4. Name the species described by AO Hume based on two specimens in winter plumage, both individual specimens obtained from pet trade. The species was lost to science for 60 years before it was rediscovered by Dr. Salim Ali in 1959. *

1 point

Red avadavat

Green avadavat

Lord Derby’s parakeet

Finn’s weaver

5. Richard Meinertzhagen spent time in Afghanistan with Dr Salim Ali. He criticised Dr. Salim Ali in his diary. But Ali wrote great things about Meinertzhagen. He described one incident where Meinertzhagen walked 300 yards after getting hurt by a barbed reed to collect a bird. Which bird was it? *

1 point

Afghan snowfinch

Great Indian bustard

Short-toed snake eagle

Bearded vulture

6. What do saker falcon, coppersmith barbet, rufous sibia, golden oriole have in common? *

1 point

They act as a host to blood parasites belonging to genus Haemoproteus.

They act as a host to particular species of lice.

They all belong to non-passerine birds.

They act as a host to particular species of mite.

7. Salim Ali described a song of a particular species as a soft 'tsi tsi tsisik tsisik tsik tsik' like the 'short, subdued squeaks as of an unoiled bicycle wheel'. Which species is it? *

1 point

Pygmy cupwing

Black-breasted weaverbird

Gould’s shortwing

Spotted elachura

8. Jerdon’s Courser, one of India’s rarest birds, was rediscovered in 1986 after being thought extinct. During surveys, researchers were initially misled by which bird, which was found mimicking the courser’s call? *

1 point

Indian nightjar

Bay-backed shrike

Indian scops owl

Jungle bush quail

9. In 1825, the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck introduced the genus Ixos. Which of the following species belongs to this genus? *

1 point

Temminck’s tragopan

Temminck’s stint

Mountain bulbul

Nicobar bulbul

10. Which of the following combination of birds were only collected by Walter Norman Koelz from India? *

1 point

Claudia's leaf warbler, Chinese leaf warbler, Manchurian bush Warbler, Buff-throated Warbler

Claudia's leaf warbler, Ward’s Trogon, Manchurian Bush Warbler, Buff-throated Warbler

Claudia's Leaf Warbler, Ward’s Trogon, Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler, Buff-throated Warbler

Claudia's Leaf Warbler, Ward’s Trogon, Sikkim Wedge-billed Babbler, Red Wattled Lapwing

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