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Bird Brain: Open Bird Quiz finals by Prashanth & Shyamal (Bangalore Bird Day 2019)

Slides from the Bird Brain: Open Bird Quiz finals at the 2019 Bangalore Bird day conducted by Prashanth N S & L Shyamal
See link on blog for details on the quiz:

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  1. 1. Quizmasters Prashanth N S ( & L Shyamal (
  2. 2. FINALS • 6 teams • 5 rounds • Round-robin 4 • WorldBirds • Indiabirds • Going local • Birds BnB • Roadrunner • Be-a-condor • Bowerboard • Ear-watching birds
  3. 3. RoundRobin 1 WorldBirds 10 points for the right answer. Questions pass once to all teams. 5 points for right answer to passed question. Questions eventually pass to audience (special gifts!)
  4. 4. The Hoatzin is often included among the most unusual birds of the world. Why? Worldbirds 1
  5. 5. Folivory
  6. 6. Which bird? Worldbirds 2
  7. 7. Charles Sharp/Wikimedia Commons
  8. 8. This illustrates the spine and musculature of a bird. Identify the bird. Special gift for what adaptation is being illustrated. Worldbirds 3
  9. 9. “On the underside of the cervical vertebrae 5–7 is a keel, which allows for muscles to attach to form a hinge-like mechanism that can project the neck, head and bill forward like a throwing spear.” Hence the name, “Darter” Afsar Nayakkan/Wikimedia Commons
  10. 10. This illustration is from an experiment by two Nobel-prize winners. Half marks for identifying each of the scientists. Special gift for an explanation. Worldbirds 4
  11. 11. Konrad Lorenz & Nikolaas Tinbergen Hawk & Goose experiments
  12. 12. Worldbirds 5 Half marks each or identifying the writer and the bird and special gift for an explanation for why it made the writer sick. In 1860 Darwin wrote in a letter: “The sight of a feather in a Peacock’s tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!'
  13. 13. Worldbirds 6 What is special about this painting? Special gift for naming the artist
  14. 14. Living dodo in Jahangir’s personal menagerie possibly via (Portugese- ruled) Goa. Siberian Crane painted by him was given its binomial over a century later (1625 painted & Pallas named it in 1773)! An unsigned painting, hanging today in The Hermitage in St. Petersburg is attributed to him. Possibly the only known colour illustration of the Dodo, made from a living specimen.
  15. 15. RoundRobin 2 IndiaBirds 10 points for the right answer. Questions pass once to all teams. 5 points for right answer to passed question. Questions eventually pass to audience (special gifts!)
  16. 16. The first book that illustrated nearly all the birds of the Indian region was produced as a supplement to the Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. The mother of the artist of this book was a survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. Name the artist. Indiabirds 1
  17. 17. What bird is being described here? Indiabirds 2
  18. 18. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons
  19. 19. Cosmetic colouration in birds refers to the use of substances by birds to add colour Give an Indian bird example. Indiabirds 3
  20. 20. Great Hornbill
  21. 21. Which bird from India is said to be the closest living relative of the dodo? Indiabirds 4
  22. 22. Wikipedia citing Shapiro et. al 2002
  23. 23. Which Indian bird has chicks that hatch and grow up without care either from parents or from surrogates? Indiabirds 5
  24. 24. Shashank Dalvi/Macaulay Library
  25. 25. "The Kharchal" according to Babur “which may be about the size of a tughdak is in reality the tughdak of Hindustan. Its flesh is very savoury. The flesh and leg of some fowls and of the breast of others is excellent; the flesh of every part of the kharchal is delicious." What is a Kharchal? Indiabirds 6
  26. 26. Prajwalkm/Wikimedia Commons
  27. 27. Indiabirds 7 For the king had the ships of Tarshish at sea with Hiram’s fleet, and once every three years the ships of Tarshish would arrive bearing gold, silver, ivory, apes, and ___________. 1 KINGS 10:22
  28. 28. RoundRobin 3 Going local 10 points for the right answer. Questions pass once to all teams. 5 points for right answer to passed question. Questions eventually pass to audience (special gifts!)
  29. 29. Identify the artist of the cover illustration. Going local 1
  30. 30. This small insectivorous bird vanished from the IISc campus before the 1990s, and then vanished from Lal Bagh and from the UAS Hebbal campus before 2000 and is now at best extremely rare in GKVK campus. What species are we talking about? Going local 2
  31. 31. Common Iora
  32. 32. Going local 3 In the early 1960s, this bespectacled man was doing fieldwork on migratory birds in Karnataka under the supervision of Salim Ali and his research was funded by the World Health Organisation. Who was he and what was he studying?
  33. 33. Nithyanand Rao in The Wire, Nov 2016
  34. 34. This 1881 book mentions a Major McInroy "I think I am within the mark when I say that near Mallur, a station on the Bangalore Madras line of rail and 25 miles from Bangalore, thirty birds were shot in one day by two officers of the Forest department." Which bird, today critically endangered, is the Major talking about? Going local 4
  35. 35. Supposedly a depiction of the food-chain as shown in the Chennakesava temple, where a deer becomes prey to a big python, which in turn is lifted by an elephant, only to become prey to a lion which in turn is devoured by “Sharabha” (Shiva). Identify the (mythical) bird that is devouring Sharabha Going local 5
  36. 36. The Ghandaberunda On the insignia of the Government of Karnataka
  37. 37. Going local 6 Which endemic bird were they looking for at this location?
  38. 38. eBird India NLBW Nov-Dec 1990
  39. 39. RoundRobin 4 Bird BnB 10 points for the right answer. Questions pass once to all teams. 5 points for right answer to passed question. Questions eventually pass to audience (special gifts!)
  40. 40. B BnB 1 LesleytheBirdNerd/Youtube
  41. 41. Allopreening
  42. 42. B BnB 2 Hans De Koning & Lodewijk van Eekhout/Youtube
  43. 43. Whiffling in geese
  44. 44. B BnB 3 Planet TOOTOO/Youtube
  45. 45. B BnB 4 James Carden/Youtube
  46. 46. Paraptesis/Distraction display
  47. 47. B BnB 5 Ajit/ForestOwlet/Wikimedia Commons Brahminy Kite at Lalbagh
  48. 48. Sunning/Basking Thermoregulation Stiffening feathers in raptors Ectoparasite action Antibacterial effects L Shyamal/Wikimedia Commons Grey Heron in Delta-wing position facing the sun
  49. 49. B BnB 6 Forestandgarden/Youtube
  50. 50. Ornithophily
  51. 51. Roadrunner Name the bird/bird-related fact/phenomenon in 30 seconds. 3 clues. 15 for answering at first, 10 for second and 5 for last; correct answer to passed question gets 5
  52. 52. Roadrunner 1a Linnaeus in 10th edition of Systema Naturae described this bird being distributed in Jamaica & Bengal
  53. 53. Roadrunner 1b eBird
  54. 54. …an unfortunate girl of a merchant family was tortured by her mother-in- law. Troubled by various incidents she smeared herself with turmeric paste and covered herself with a sooty earthen pot and killed herself. A goddess resurrected her…. - Bengali folklore Roadrunner 1c
  55. 55. JM Garg/Wikimedia Commons
  56. 56. Roadrunner 2a But how stands the wind? Into what corner peers my halcyon’s bill Shakesphere in King Lear
  58. 58. Roadrunner 2c
  59. 59. KIngfishers
  60. 60. Roadrunner 3a Bangalore’s connection with a major discovery in medicine & birds
  61. 61. Roadrunner 3b Extinction of birds in Hawaii
  62. 62. Roadrunner 3c Awarded a Nobel Prize in Medicine & Physiology for work in birds. Who is he and what did he study?
  63. 63. Avian malaria/Ronald Ross
  64. 64. Roadrunner 4a Thick-forest-darkness The Soliga people
  65. 65. The bird that never sat down… Lepcha people Roadrunner 4b
  66. 66. Roadrunner 4c Known for its nest-predation & low-slow flight
  67. 67. Kalyan Varma/Wikimedia Commons
  68. 68. Roadrunner 5a
  69. 69. SaugataBagchi. Roadrunner 5b
  70. 70. NicholasDale Roadrunner 5c
  71. 71. Malabar Whistling Thrush
  72. 72. Described this species in “Ceylon” Roadrunner 6a
  73. 73. Roadrunner 6b
  74. 74. RaghupathyKannanSketch1982 Roadrunner 6c
  75. 75. Brown-breasted Flycatcher
  76. 76. Be-a-condor Mime (act-out) clues for your partner to guess the bird in 1 minute (10 seconds to prepare). Not allowed to make ANY SOUNDS. Not allowed to use signs for alphabets. 10 for right answer and 5 for right answer to passed mime.
  77. 77. Bowerboard Use the whiteboard and marker to draw clues for your partner to guess the bird. NOT allowed to use any LETTERS. Drawing the bird allowed! 10 for right answer and 5 for right answer to passed drawing.
  78. 78. Earwatching birds Name that bird from call…..but from bird guide’s description of the call!: We show how bird guides describe the call (10 points), and then play its typical call (5 points)
  79. 79. Earwatching 1 Makes a rapidly repeated khateejakhateeja- khateeja; also softer, more whistling kila-kila- kila-kila-kila, and a high, whirring khirr-khirr. Vivek Puliyeri/Xenocanto
  80. 80. Grey Francolin Dibyendu Ash/Wikimedia Commons
  81. 81. Earwatching 2 A distinctive, repeated, loud, staccato kuk-ka- kurruk-ka. Frank Lambert/Xenocanto
  82. 82. Grey Junglefowl Yathin S K/Wikimedia Commons
  83. 83. Earwatching 3 Normal call is a loud, harsh titu-titu similar to call of Black Drongo, also long drawn out screams, iheeya, iheeiya and a constantly repeated ti-tui in display Peter Boseman/Xenocanto
  84. 84. Shikra Ravivaidya/Wikimedia Commons
  85. 85. Earwatching 4 A soft, mournful krookruk-krukroo… kroo-kroo- kroo Manoj Karingamadathil/Xenocanto
  86. 86. Spotted Dove Charles Sharp/Wikimedia Commons
  87. 87. Earwatching 5 A short series of resonant, piping hoots, the first note shortest, the rest of the phrase rising slightly and then dropping off again. Arun Prabhu/Xenocanto
  88. 88. Greater (Southern) Coucal David Raju/Wikimedia COmmons
  89. 89. Earwatching 6 Call is a loud, rattling laugh. Song is a drawn- out musical whistle kililili. Peter Boseman/Xenocanto
  90. 90. JJ Harrison/Wikimedia Commons
  91. 91. Calls include a loud cackling k-k-k-ka-e, rapid piping pi-pi-pi-pi-pipipieu-pipipieu-pipipieu and kite-like chee-oowww. Peter Boseman/Xenocanto
  92. 92. Indian Grey Hornbill JM Garg/Wikimedia Commons
  93. 93. Thank you!