Bird Brain: Over 2,400 Questions to Test Your Bird Knowledge

Birds that benefit: Bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus, Swainson’s Hawk Buteo swainsoni, Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis (now NT)

Amount raised: £270,000 Across the Americas’ grasslands, traditional ranching is giving way to intensive livestock rearing. Birdfair 2013 focused on supporting partners in South America’s Southern Cone, with initiatives such as ‘bird-friendly’ beef certification, and protecting sites of importance for grassland-dependent birds.

Year: 2014

Project name: Saving the Seas and Oceans

Birds that benefit: Macaroni Penguin Eudyptes chrysolophus, Audouin’s Gull Larus audouinii, Pycroft’s petrel Pteodroma pycrofti

Amount raised: £280,000 Oceans cover 70 percent of the earth’s surface, yet conservation actions for marine areas lag far behind those for other environments. Birdfair funded efforts by BirdLife partners’ policy staff looking to increase marine conservation. The project was based in Europe and Africa but also included efforts to protect Antarctica and the High Seas.

Year: 2015

Project name: Protecting Migratory Birds in the Eastern Mediterranean

Birds that benefit: White stork Ciconia ciconia, Red Knot Calidris canutus, Barn Swallow Hirundo rustica

Amount raised: £320,000 Roughly 25 million migratory birds are killed illegally each year as they cross the Mediterranean. In order to combat this problem, BirdLife International worked to reduce the scale and impact of the illegal killing by advocating for the strengthening of protective laws throughout the region.

Year: 2016

Project name: Saving Africa’s Important Bird/Biodiversity Areas in Africa

Birds that benefit: Brown Mesite Mesitornis unicolor, Madagascar Blue-pigeon Alectroenas madagascariensis, Red-fronted Coua Coua reynaudii

Amount raised: £350,000 Forest loss is a severe problem across the African continent, and one that is hugely detrimental to birds, as more than two-thirds of species can be found in forests. In order to protect these crucial habitats, the 2016 Birdfair project focused on Tsitongambarika Forest. The area features many endemic species, which makes it biologically extraordinary, even by Madagascar’s lofty standards.

Year: 2017

Project name: Saving Paradise in the Pacific

Birds that benefit: Rapa Fruit-dove Ptilinopus huttoni, Newell’s Shearwater Puffinus newelli Polynesian Storm Petrel Nesofregetta fuliginosa

Amount raised: 333,000 On the French Polynesian island of Rapa Iti, invasive non-native species are decimating populations of native birds. Money from Birdfair will help BirdLife to remove invasive species in order to restore the islands to their former glory.

Year: 2018

Project name: A Haven for Argentina’s Flamingos

Birds that benefit: Andean Flamingo Phoenicoparrus andinus, Chilean Flamingo Phoenicopterus chilensis, Puna Flamingo Phoenicoparrus jamesi

Amount raised: TBC This year, we’re turning Birdfair pink – to celebrate plans to create what will become Argentina’s largest National Park, and a safe haven for over a million waterbirds, including three species of flamingos.

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2004 A

Martin Collinson – British Birds

Answers: see here (#litres_trial_promo)

1  Name a bird named after Francesco Cetti.

2  Name three of the signatory nations that have ratified the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) under the Bonn Convention which came into force on 1 Febuary 2004.

3  Why specifically has the House Martin been neutered?

4  In which year did British Birds introduce the Monthly Marathon?

5  What size of ring would you use to ring a Goldcrest?

6  What was the population of the Critically Endangered Tumbesian endemic Pale-headed Brush-finch thought to be in 2003?

7  ‘Wettergulp’ and ‘pikgulp’ were names used by professional Dutch birdcatchers for two waders that wintered in Holland. What species are they thought to be?

8  What is the general colour of most Hippolais warbler eggs?

9  What rank was Jacob the Goose, the mascot of the Coldstream Guards (until the last one was run over in the Mall)?

10  Which of the following does not exist: Rufous-collared Sparrow, Rufous-winged Sparrow, Rufous-chested Sparrow or Rufous-crowned Sparrow?

11  What happened to British Birds in January 1999?

12  What eagle is named after the fearsome winged monsters of classical mythology, Aellopus and Ocypete?

13  What disease spread to America from Africa in 1999 and is a significant threat to many species of American bird?

14  Which artist designed the 1980 issue of Great Britain stamps, featuring Kingfisher, Dipper, Moorhen and Yellow Wagtail?

15  In which year was British Birds first published?

16  What is the resting heart rate of an Ostrich?

17  What bird may be known as a Bodfforchog in Wales and a Salmon-tailed Gled in Scotland?

18  How many Siberian Cranes wintered in Iran last year?

19  What Vulnerable seabirds were taken from Tristan da Cũnha by a South African zookeeper with Foreign Office approval in the past year?

20  In what country, other than Thailand, has Gurney’s Pitta been rediscovered (where it is inevitably threatened with deforestation for oil-palm cultivation)?

2004 B

Peter Wilkinson – BTO News

Answers: see here (#litres_trial_promo)

1  Name a bird named after George Montagu.