Q 01/05

Which insects do red-headed woodpeckers store alive, wedged into crevices so tightly that they cannot escape?

A) Honeybees

B) June beetles

C) Grasshoppers

D) Praying mantises

Answer · why

C) Grasshoppers

Grasshoppers are kept as a living larder: the birds jam them into cracks in fenceposts and trees, then come back to eat them later.

Q 02/05

Which nickname has the red-headed woodpecker earned for its crimson head, snow-white body and half-black wings?

A) Flying checkerboard

B) Feathered chess piece

C) Winged domino

D) Airborne zebra

Answer · why

A) Flying checkerboard

Flying checkerboard is the label its blocks of solid colour have earned, and they make it one of the most easily recognised birds in eastern North Ame...

Q 03/05

In which Longfellow epic does a grateful hero give the red-headed woodpecker its crimson head?

A) Paul Revere's Ride

B) The Song of Hiawatha

C) Tales of a Wayside Inn

D) The Village Blacksmith

Answer · why

B) The Song of Hiawatha

The Song of Hiawatha has its hero dip the bird's head in the blood of the magician Pearl-Feather as thanks for its service.

Q 04/05

Which invasive bird, released in New York in 1890, competes with the red-headed woodpecker for nest holes?

A) House sparrow

B) Rock pigeon

C) Eurasian collared dove

D) European starling

Answer · why

D) European starling

The European starling competes for the same cavities, one reason given for the native bird's long decline. Its American story began with a release in ...

Q 05/05

Courting red-headed woodpeckers dodge around stumps and telephone poles in what looks like which children's game?

A) Hide and seek

B) Hopscotch

C) Musical chairs

D) Follow the leader

Answer · why

A) Hide and seek

Hide and seek around dead stumps and poles is how prospective mates court, and once paired they may stay together for several years.