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Christmas quiz

Instead of spending another hour slumped in front of the television with a turkey sandwich, why not tackle our fun wildlife quiz? Compiled by ace quizmaster Lloyd Scott from the RSPB's Wildlife Enquiries team, it's bound to have you scratching your head. But if you don't get all the answers, don't worry - it's just for fun!

Cryptic crackers

Emperor dragonfly in flight

Let's get started with some birds...

  1. Incomplete crest 
  2. Communist vote
  3. Frolic in the clouds
  4. Sorry, the r’s missing
  5. Angry William
  6. Push the doorbell with too much force
  7. Wintry flags
  8. Heavy breathing
  9. Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
  10. Cowardly tool

Mammals, birds, reptiles, insects, plants and more...

  1. Time goes fast for a mythical reptile
  2. Feeling glum in the church tower
  3. My garden boundary hoards it all
  4. A string instrument firmly shut 
  5. My darling was ploughed and tilled, but left unsown for a season to allow it to recuperate
  6. Go to a country dance, with a cockney wolf scream
  7. I can’t believe it’s not, as the crow would
  8. He had a great time
  9. A swindler lounging in the sun
  10. Open a ? as quiet as a...

Fantastic facts

Wren climbing down reed stem
How many wrens squashed together in a nestbox?

  1. What the highest altitude any species of wild bird fly at?
  2. As a collective noun, what fish hover?
  3. How many species of amphibian are native to the UK?
  4. Which UK species of bird lives the longest?
  5. What UK bird species is the only one to lay red eggs?
  6. What is the fastest digging animal on the planet?
  7. Collectively, what is known as a trip?
  8. What is the record number of wrens to be found roosting in a nestbox together?
  9. What is the oldest living tree in the world?
  10. To the nearest tonne, how many tonnes of marine litter are dumped into the North Sea each year?
  11. What can be seen in Scotland locking claws mid-air, whirling earthwards in a series of spectacular cartwheels, and separating sometimes only a few feet above the ground or water?
  12. There were originally eight subspecies of tiger: the Javan, Bali, Caspian, Indochinese, Sumatran, Bengal, Siberian and the South China tiger. How many of these subspecies are now extinct?
  13. On average, whilst raising a brood, how many caterpillars will parent blue tits bring to their young until fledging?
  14. Which popular garden plant in the UK, sometimes referred to as 'Golden chain', is poisonous and can be lethal if the seeds are consumed in excess?
  15. A juvenile swift will remain on the wing for how many years before attempting to breed?

What am I?

Weasel

  1. I was so abundant in India in the 1980s that I was probably the most common large bird of prey in the world. Only one in a thousand of my kind now survives. Can you name my family?
  2. I dwell in trees and although suitable habitat exists, I have still drastically declined in the UK partly due to the increase of my American cousin. What am I?
  3. I am a male with a red wattle over my eye. Habitat loss and overgrazing have resulted in severe population declines which make me a Red List species. However, whisky sales at Sainsbury’s may help increase my numbers. What am I? 
  4. I have declined by 63 per cent in 25 years in the UK, but my closest relative has declined by 93 per cent in the same period. What am I? 
  5. I weigh up to 25 lbs. I'm the largest of my kind, with a wingspan of 11 feet and can live over 50 years. Many of my kind have died as a direct result of poorly-managed longline fishing. Name my family.
  6. Even the smallest of my kind will eat as many as 3,000 insects during the night. My family has 17 resident species in the UK - that’s more than a quarter of all UK mammal species. I can live up to 30 years. What am I?  
  7. I have a dark grey-brown back and flanks, my belly is yellow or orange and I'm covered with dark spots. I have gills which grow into lungs. What am I?
  8. I once lived over all of the UK (except Northern Ireland), as well as Europe. Thousands of my kind were killed in the 19th and early 20th Centuries by gamekeepers protecting the high populations of grouse, partridges and pheasant that were bred on shooting estates. Fortunately, attitudes to my kind have changed. Many now regard me as an attractive animal rather than vermin. Since the 1920s we have been spreading slowly again, although interbreeding with a feral population has probably artificially increased our numbers. What am I?
  9. I am the only raptor to hunt by persistent hovering and have total mastery of stationary flight. I have a tan back and black flight feathers. I see outside the visible spectrum of light to hunt by reflected UV. What am I?
  10. There were 2.3 million of my kind in 1990 and 220,000 in 2004. Unsympathetic farming and watercourse management as well as introduced and aggressive predators are thought to have been the causes of my decline. I often get confused with rats - what am I?

Anagrams

  1. New grid
  2. Rat sling
  3. Grill hunger
  4. OK cow cod
  5. Little toading

The eyes have it

Time for the picture round... can you guess which birds these eyes belong to?

Eye 1

A funny-looking eye with a white iris, on a bird with a black mask. Any ideas which bird this belongs to? 		Eye 1

Eye 2

A distinctive, reddish-brown eye surrounded by grey feathers, on a bird with a pinky beak. What do you think?

Eye 2

Eye 3

Another pale eye, but this time belonging to a bird with dark feathers. Ring any bells?

Eye 3

Eye 4

This looks like it belongs to a small bird with a black and white head, but which one?

Eye 4

Eye 5

A tough one... a dark brown eye belonging to a brownish bird... Think you know the answer?

Eye 5

Think you've got all the questions right? Get the answers and find out!