Q 01/05

What is a pelican's throat pouch actually used for?

A) Storing fish to eat later on

B) Carrying chicks between nests

C) Inflating to impress a mate

D) Catching prey and draining off water

Answer · why

D) Catching prey and draining off water

Catching prey and draining off water: the bird tips its bill down to let the water run out, then tosses its head back and swallows the fish at once, c...

Q 02/05

A famous limerick says a pelican's bill can hold more than its what?

A) Head

B) Belly

C) Wings

D) Nest

Answer · why

B) Belly

Belly: 'his bill will hold more than his belican' is no joke, because a full pouch takes two or three times what the stomach can, most of it water tha...

Q 03/05

How do white pelicans hunting as a team usually trap their prey?

A) Herding fish into the shallows

B) Diving on them in formation

C) Blowing curtains of bubbles

D) Luring them with floating bait

Answer · why

A) Herding fish into the shallows

Herding fish into the shallows: the birds swim in a line or a horseshoe, beating their wings on the water to drive the shoal ahead, then simply scoop ...

Q 04/05

DNA studies show the pelicans' closest living relatives to be which pair of odd-looking birds?

A) Flamingo and grebe

B) Frigatebird and tropicbird

C) Stork and crane

D) Shoebill and hamerkop

Answer · why

D) Shoebill and hamerkop

Shoebill and hamerkop: pelicans were long classed with other seabirds that share their fully webbed feet, until DNA showed that kind of foot had evolv...

Q 05/05

The Greek for 'pelican' is linked to the word for 'axe' and to which other bird's name?

A) Hornbill

B) Woodpecker

C) Nuthatch

D) Kingfisher

Answer · why

B) Woodpecker

Woodpecker: it hacks at trees like an axe, and the pelican may have been given a similar name for the shape of its own great bill.