Introducing… The Nature Quiz Series from The Green Ogre!

Are you a nature fan? And a quizzer? We have news for you.

Hopefully every couple of months (adjusting for inflation and force majeure), we will publish a fun quiz for you to while away your time fruitfully. It’s a simple, low-tech quiz, but you’ll have fun racking your brains and exploring new vistas of knowledge.

This is serious quizzing, but to make it enjoyable, the questions are mostly multiple choice. This is a big departure from the open quizzes that I am used to conducting (like Bird Brain at Bengaluru Bird Day, where you must have seen me essay the role of brutal quizmeister).

Most questions will take a bit of thinking, although we’ll include some devastatingly easy sitters. For answers, you can also search our extensive archive of posts and stories! And then some.

These quizzes don’t expire, and you can take them as long as you want and as often as you want. If you want your answers to be mailed to you, drop in your email.

Enjoy these latest quizzes. And don’t forget to subscribe if you enjoy nature trivia!

Welcome to Stalking Storks!

This edition of The Green Ogre Bird Nerd quiz celebrates storks, those amazing long-legged, long-billed birds that come with so many mysteries to unpack.

So, let’s take stock of your stork quotient.

Enter your email if you want your quiz results to be sent to you. This is completely optional.

1. 

In legend and superstition, what are white storks supposed to bring?

Plague

Storms

Drought

Babies

None

Hint

2. 

Which species of stork, in a close tie with the Andean Condor, has the largest wingspan among all extant land birds?

Marabou Stork

Greater Adjutant Stork

Black-necked Stork

Jabiru

None

3. 

Rostocker Pfeilstorch, a white stork with a spear embedded in its neck, is displayed at the University of Rostock, Germany. What significant behaviour came to light after its discovery?

Avian migration

Structure of the avian respiratory system

Role of the crop in the digestive system

Inability to feel pain in the neck muscles

None

4. 

In Assam, the local name of this stork species means bone-swallower. What is its common English name?

Asian Openbill Stork

Lesser Adjutant Stork

Black-necked Stork

Greater Adjutant Stork

None

5. 

The name of this village in Karnataka is prefixed with Kokkare, the Kannada word for stork. To which species of stork do the villagers offer refuge?

Painted Stork

White Stork

Black Stork

Asian Openbill Stork

None

6. 

Which of these storks was split into Asian and African species in 2023?

Painted Stork

Openbill Stork

Woolly-necked Stork

Marabou Stork

None

7. 

Which of these is the world’s smallest species of stork?

Storm’s Stork

Asian Openbill Stork

Abdim’s Stork

Maguari Stork

None

8. 

Which dinosaur-like bird, once classified along with storks, is now considered a relative of herons and pelicans?

Waldrapp

Shoebill

Hammerkop

Boat-billed Heron

None

9. 

Which stork is the tallest flying bird found in the Americas?

Jabiru

Yellow-billed Stork

Saddlebill Stork

Milky Stork

None

10. 

Identify this bird

African Sacred Ibis

Wood Stork

Black-necked Stork

American White Ibis

None

Yup! That’s the end of the quiz.
How many did you get right?
Don’t forget to brag about your score on social media.

Name

Email

Welcome to Chick Lit - The Baby Birds Quiz!

Baby names, diaper rash, and parenting… this edition of The Green Ogre Nature Quiz comes in a junior size… with a senior-level scorecard! You have 10 minutes to finish 14 questions.

How many can you get right?

Don't forget to enter your email to have your scores sent to your inbox. We don't phish or sell your emails (if we did, we'd be richer and you'd be paying to take this quiz, ha!).

Ready?

1. 

All baby birds hatch from eggs, right?

True, with one exception

False

True

None

Hint

1 out of 15

2. 

Pick the correct sequence of a baby bird's life stages:

Hatchling, Fledgling, Nestling

Nestling, Hatchling, Fledgling

Hatchling, Nestling, Fledgling

None

Hint

2 out of 15

3. 

Birds that remain in their nests and need parental care longer are usually...

Precocial

Altricial

None

Hint

3 out of 15

4. 

Ducklings of many species are born fully feathered and able to swim. This makes them…

Nidicolous

Precocial

Altricial

None

Hint

4 out of 15

5. 

Which statement is true about baby megapodes?

Both parents take turns incubating the nest

Only the mother incubates the nest

They hatch without parental care

Only the father incubates the nest

None

Hint

5 out of 15

6. 

Young Sandhill Cranes are called…

Colts

Chicks

Cranelings

Fluffs

None

Hint

6 out of 15

7. 

Squabs are the names given to baby…

Pigeons

Skuas

Emus

Parrots

None

Hint

7 out of 15

8. 

Young sandpipers are called...

Peeps

Pippets

Sanderlings

Pipperels

None

Hint

8 out of 15

9. 

A group of baby birds belonging to the same nest and raised by the same set of parents is called a…

Eyrie

Brood

Clutch

Flock

None

Hint

9 out of 15

10. 

A cygnet is a baby…

Snipe

Puffin

Swan

Goose

None

Hint

10 out of 15

11. 

Baby partridges are called…

Partings

Chicklets

Cartridges

Cheepers

None

Hint

11 out of 15

12. 

Baby megapodes can fly on the same day that they hatch. This makes them…

Precocial

Precocious

Superprecocial

Altricial

None

Hint

12 out of 15

13. 

How many egg teeth do woodpecker hatchlings have?

Two

None

Four

One

None

Hint

13 out of 15

14. 

Which statement correctly describes the fecal sac, which birds use like soiled diapers to dispose of their nestlings' poop?

A mixture of secretions from the parent and the nestling

A mucus membrane produced by the nestling

A mixture of the parent bird's saliva and sticky plant tissue

A secretion from the parent bird's throat glands

None

Hint

14 out of 15

15. 

Many baby birds break out of their egg shells using an egg tooth, a special attachment on their beaks, which is either shed or absorbed after its work is done. What is the process of breaking out of the shell called?

Egging

Pipping

Nipping

Pecking

None

Hint

15 out of 15

How did that feel?

Like swallowing a fecal sac or bristling with the confidence of a precocial fledgling?

Let's take a look at your scores!

Check out more quizzes. And enter your email if you want your scores in your inbox.

Name

Email

There are over 10,000 species of birds in the world today, but there used to be many more. In the last three centuries alone, many species have become extinct. Take this quiz to find how much you know about the birds that have become extinct owing to human activity, environmental threats, and climate change.

1. 

Which of these birds is believed to have become extinct in India in the 20th century?

Dodo

Great Auk

Pink-headed Duck

Passenger Pigeon

None

Hint

2. 

Which among these groups of birds does not have any extant (currently surviving) species in India? Select up to 3 answers.

Hummingbirds Parrots Penguins Ostriches

Hint

3. 

This bird species, named after a region in North America associated with a popular breed of dog, has been presumed extinct since the late 1800s. It holds the unfortunate distinction of being the first endemic species to go extinct following the Columbian Exchange. What is the name of this bird?

Alsatian Albatross

Pomeranian Petrel

Labrador Duck

Newfoundland Albatross

None

Hint

4. 

Discovered during Charles Darwin's exploration of the Galapagos, this small bird earned the unfortunate distinction of being the first bird to go extinct in the archipelago. Its demise was attributed to the decline of its primary food source — insects.

Galapagos Flycatcher

Least Vermilion Flycatcher

Galapagos Chat

Black-headed Flycatcher

None

Hint

5. 

Three species native to the northern Hawaiian island of Laysan have become extinct over the past three centuries. Following the introduction of animals such as cats, rats, and rabbits by humans, which wreaked havoc on their island habitat, a severe cyclonic storm in the 1920s further devastated what remained of their ecosystem. Which of these Laysan bird species is not extinct?

Laysan Rail

Laysan Albatross

Laysan Honeycreeper

Laysan Millerbird

None

Hint

6. 

Although not extinct in the wild, this migratory species was last officially recorded in India in 2002. However, it continues to be one of the most commonly misreported and misidentified bird species in the country, with many unverified sighting claims. Its well-known winter habitat in India was the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, where a plaque now stands in commemoration. Which bird are we talking about?

Pink-headed Duck

Sarus Crane

Siberian Crane

Bar-headed Goose

None

Hint

7. 

Ustad Mansur, the court painter of the Mughal Emperor Jehangir, a bird from the imperial menagerie in one of his paintings. This artwork is considered the most precise representation created from live specimens of this bird species, which has been extinct in the wild since the 1660's. Which bird are we talking about?

Dodo

Elephant Bird

Moa

Passenger Pigeon

None

Hint

Name

Email

Time's up

Think you know all about birds in mythology and folklore? Take your brain for a test flight!

1. 

Which of these birds, not naturally found in India, is often depicted as the vehicle of a Hindu deity?

Snowy Owl

Mute Swan

Bald Eagle

Alexandrine Parakeet

None

Hint

2. 

Valmiki's Ramayana is said to have been inspired when he witnessed a hunter killing the male of a pair of birds believed to mate for life. Which bird is it thought to be?

Brahminy Duck

Great Indian Bustard

Sarus Crane

Bar-headed Goose

None

Hint

3. 

Which bird was deemed a symbol of the Egyptian god Thoth?

Somali Ostrich

Congo Peacock

Egyptian Vulture

African Sacred Ibis

None

Hint

4. 

Which of these is NOT a mythical bird?

Ganda Berunda

Roc

Archaeopteryx

Phoenix

None

Hint

5. 

This bird is named after a mythical female monster. Pick the right one.

Medusa

Harpy

Siren

Sphinx

None

Hint

6. 

The common name of this bird of prey sounds like the name of a fierce mythical creature. Which?

Jatayu

Sphinx

Griffin

Chimera

None

Hint

7. 

Which bird in the folklore of North American indigenous people lends its name to a car, an aircraft, a university, and an email application?

Mustang

Thunderbird

Firebird

Columbia

None

Hint

Name

Email

Time's up

Think you’re a bird nerd? Test your knowledge with Are you a Bird Nerd?, a fun bird quiz by The Green Ogre.

1. 

What kind of feathers give shape and form to a bird’s body?

Flight feathers

Contour feathers

Down feathers

None

Hint

2. 

Which grassland bird inspired the English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley?

Bushlark

Robin

Skylark

None

Hint

3. 

Which word describes birds that are generally black and white?

Mottled

Pied

Fulvous

None

Hint

4. 

Which birds were known as goatsuckers?

Owls

Ducks

Nightjars

None

Hint

5. 

According to mitochondrial DNA studies, falcons are closely related to which group of birds?

Parrots

Vultures

Owls

None

Hint

6. 

What is the term for a reversal of sexual roles in which a female bird courts and maintains a harem of males?

Polygamy

Polyamory

Polyandry

None

Hint

7. 

The veterinary drug Diclofenac is blamed for the decimation of which group of birds?

Penguins

Sparrows

Vultures

None

Hint

8. 

Which of these birds lays eggs that have oily and waterproof shells?

Ostriches

Penguins

Ducks

None

Hint

9. 

Which of these words is NOT a collective noun for a group of finches?

Charm

Trembling

Armada

None

Hint

10. 

A fruit and a brand of shoe polish are named after this bird. Which one?

Hint

Good luck!

Name

Email

Time's up

Please leave this field empty

It's more fun when you subscribe.
Great content. Zero spam. And your data stays safe. Promise!

Awesome! Just one more step. Check your email inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Please leave this field empty

It's more fun when you subscribe.
Great content. Zero spam. And your data stays safe. Promise!

Awesome! Just one more step. Check your email inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.