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Take Nature Canada's National Wildlife Week Quiz and test your nature knowledge! Read the question, check the answer, then move on to the next brain buster.
Take the Quiz:
1. This mammal is the largest North American land carnivore:
2. This pigeon-sized bird appears to have vivid blue feathers, but the colour is actually a trick of the light:
a. Peregrine falcon
b. Black-capped chickadee
c. Great blue heron
d. Blue jay
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What's the answer? |
3. This mammal is the largest member of the deer family and has extremely poor eyesight:
4. This common water bird has a very distinctive call, and can stay under water for almost a minute.
5. This sea creature is the world’s largest reptile -- it can grow to measure more than 2 metres and weigh over 900 kilograms.
a. Atlantic salmon
b. Leatherback seaturtle
c. Wright whale
d. Komodo dragon
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What's the answer? |
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| Answers: |
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1. This mammal is the largest North American land carnivore: |
Answer: Polar bear. The polar bear is the largest land meat-eater. It can weigh about 800kg, but weighs less than 1 kg at birth. Though polar bears can weigh about the same as a small car, they move much more slowly, and don’t like to run for long. Immature bears can run as far as 2 km, but fat, older bears tire quickly because they are well insulated and overheat fairly quickly. See question #2.
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2. This pigeon-sized bird appears to have vivid blue feathers, but the colour is actually a trick of the light: |
Answer: Blue jay. The Blue Jay’s vivid cobalt or azure-blue tail and wing feathers are the reason for its name, but these feathers are not truly blue. Blue pigment is unknown in birds. The Blue Jay’s feather colour is a result of distortion of light by a peculiar inner structure of the feather substance. Unfortunately, if the feather is crushed the blue colour disappears. See question #3.
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3. This mammal is the largest member of the deer family and has extremely poor eyesight: |
Answer: Moose. Moose are the largest member of the deer family, weighing up to 800 kg. Though they have extremely poor eyesight, moose are able to compensate with their senses of smell and hearing. See question #4.
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4. This common water bird has a very distinctive call, and can stay under water for almost a minute. |
Answer: Common loon. Unlike most birds, loons have many bones that are solid, not hollow, allowing them to make long, deep underwater dives. They are able to stay under water for almost a minute and dive to depths of 80m. See question #5.
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5. This sea creature is the world’s largest reptile -- it can grow to measure more than 2 metres and weigh over 900 kilograms. |
Answer: Leatherback seaturtle. A large number of quiz takers believed the komodo dragon to be the world’s largest reptile, but that’s not the case. It is in fact the world’s largest lizard – reaching two to three metres in length, and weighing around 70 kg. The world’s largest reptile is the leatherback seaturtle. These cold-water giants can grow to be more than two metres long and weigh more than 900 kg. They are capable of surviving in water that is much too cold for other marine turtles and have been known to dive to depths of 1,270 metres. Back to top
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