Darn Hard Bird Quiz

This quiz was originally posted to the AZ-NM BirdList by Jamie Massey. He gave me permission to reprint it here – and I added a pair of questions at the end, as well. Unfortunately, because it’s a blog post there can’t be a prize, so keep your answers to yourself for now, and I’ll post the answers on Friday.

1) Which bird’s scientific name means “A bullfinch with a crooked bill”?

A) pyrrhuloxia

B) pine grosbeak

C) evening grosbeak

D) black-headed grosbeak

2) Which American naturalist has five birds named after him?

A) George Lawrence

B) John Cassin

C) Spencer Baird

D) William Gambel

3) What bird is known as “ABetsy Kickup” on its wintering grounds in Jamaica?

A) brown thrasher

B) Swainson’s warbler

C) ovenbird

D) Bicknell’s thrush

4) The Mexican jay used to be known as the gray-breasted jay. What was it known as before that?

A) pinyon jay

B) scrub jay

C) Mexican jay

D) Sonoran jay

5) Which bird used to be named the olive-backed warbler?

A) northern parula

B) crescent-chested warbler

C) painted restart

D) tropical parula

6) How did the magnolia warbler get its name?

A) Alexander Wilson saw his first one in a magnolia tree.

B) It nests in magnolia trees.

C) Magnolia derives from “magnus” or “great”.

D) It was first collected in Magnolia, Texas.

7) How did the Baltimore oriole get its name?

A) It was first collected in Baltimore, Maryland.

B) The city got its name from the bird.

C) It shares its colors with the coat of arms of Lord Baltimore.

D) It was a popular nesting bird in colonial Baltimore.

8) Which bird’s former names include big blue darter, chicken hawk, big bullet hawk, quail hawk, partridge hawk, and long-tailed hen hawk?

A) merlin

B) sharp-shinned hawk

C) northern goshawk

D) Cooper’s hawk

9) Which bird’s former names include rock hawk, stone hawk, big blue hawk, and mountain falcon?

A) peregrine falcon

B) gyrfalcon

C) merlin

D) northern goshawk

10) Which bird’s former names include prairie buzzard, gopher hawk, black hawk, and brown hawk?

A) prairie falcon

B) Swainson’s hawk

C) ferruginous hawk

D) red-tailed hawk

11) Which bird’s former names include mosquito hawk, blue snake-hawk, snake-killer hawk, and spot-tailed hobby?

A) merlin

B) Mississippi kite

C) American kestrel

D) northern goshawk

12) Which bird’s former names include both black falcon and white hawk?

A) white-tailed hawk

B) white-tailed kite

C) short-tailed hawk

D) gyrfalcon

13) What does the Latin word Avireo mean?

A) worm-eating

B) brave

C) I am green

D) virulent

14) Who had both an oriole and a warbler named after him?

A) Alexander Wilson

B) Robert Bullock

C) Winfield Scott

D) John James Audubon

15) Who had a flycatcher and a warbler named after himself or a family member?

A) John Cassin

B) William Swainson

C) Reginald Hammond

D) Elliot Coues

16) Who was the author of the first field guide to North American birds?

He had a woodpecker and a goatsucker named after him.

A) John James Audubon

B) Roger Tory Peterson

C) Thomas Nuttall

D) Stephen Lewis

17) Which naturalist had eight bird species named after him?

A) John James Audubon

B) William Swainson

C) Alexander Wilson

D) John Cassin

18) Which was the first bird to be referred to as a penguin?

A) emperor penguin

B) Adelaide’s penguin

C) razorbill

D) great auk

19) Which bird has the Latin name Puffinus puffinus?

A) tufted puffin

B) Atlantic puffin

C) horned puffin

D) Manx shearwater

20) Under what name has the American kestrel not been known?

A) rusty-crowned falcon

B) blue-orange falcon

C) wind hover

D) killy-hawk

21) What does the Latin name for the Baltimore oriole, Icterus galbula, mean?

A) fat blackbird

B) yellow blackbird

C) black yellowbird

D) yellowbird, yellowbird

22) Which bird has earned the nickname “devil bird” from its diabolical shrieks and cackles?

A) stilt sandpiper

B) Manx shearwater

C) common merganser

D) northern gannet

23) The magnificent hummingbird used to be called Rivoli’s hummingbird after the Duke of Rivoli. What was named after his wife?

A) Anna’s hummingbird

B) Costa’s hummingbird

C) Allen’s hummingbird

D) Grace’s warbler

24) Which bird used to be known as the Hudsonian curlew?

A) Hudsonian godwit

B) Eskimo curlew

C) whimbrel

D) long-billed curlew

25) Which bird is the “night raven”?

A) black-crowned night heron

B) Chihuahuan raven

C) chimney swift

D) bronzed cowbird

26) How many common North American species have a repeated binomial (eg. Puffinus puffinus)?

A) Five

B) Eight

C) Twelve

D) Seventeen

27) What is the only North American species with the same name for all 3 parts of its trinomial?

A) Harlequin Duck

B) Manx Shearwater

C) Northern Cardinal

D) Eastern Kingbird