The Ruby-throated hummingbird Challenge

Question 1 · multiple choice

Which landscape is most suitable for a wild Ruby-throated hummingbird?

tropical forest, woodland, and forest-savanna mosaics grasslands, savannas, wetlands, and open forest humid lowland rain forest and leaf litter flower-rich woodland edges, gardens, and meadows

Question 2 · multiple choice

Which description best matches the natural diet of a Ruby-throated hummingbird?

nectar plus tiny insects and spiders animal dung rolled or buried for food hunts hoofed mammals and also scavenges carcasses grasses, sedges, roots, and bark

Question 3 · multiple choice

A tracking tag records the daily rhythm of a Ruby-throated hummingbird. Which pattern is the best match?

most active from dusk to dawn, especially around people feeds repeatedly through daylight and may enter torpor at night feeds by day and rests while ruminating forages by day or night and migrates over long distances

Question 4 · multiple choice

A motion camera records a Ruby-throated hummingbird. Which description should appear in the observation notes?

trots quietly and pounces high onto prey hidden under grass or snow walks sure-footedly on padded two-toed feet hovers and can fly backward by rotating its wings flies through water using broad front flippers

Question 5 · multiple choice

Which adaptation would a biologist correctly connect to a Ruby-throated hummingbird?

wide furry paws act like snowshoes and enlarged nasal passages warm cold air enhanced smell, hearing, and electrical sensitivity compensate for reduced eyes club-like appendages accelerate rapidly and crack shells with impact and cavitation a long tongue rapidly laps nectar while wing joints permit unusual strokes

Question 6 · multiple choice

What would a researcher most reasonably record during the breeding cycle of a Ruby-throated hummingbird?

two pea-sized eggs are raised by the female in a tiny flexible nest females attach many jelly-coated eggs to underwater plants alternates between a tiny attached polyp and a free-swimming medusa the female guards eggs inside a silken retreat

Question 7 · multiple choice

How is a Ruby-throated hummingbird most likely to organise its everyday social life?

stable family units often travel within larger temporary herds mostly solitary and strongly territorial around rich flower patches adults often forage alone but may share resting or feeding sites mostly solitary and strongly territorial

Question 8 · multiple choice

A habitat manager explains why the Ruby-throated hummingbird matters. Which explanation is accurate?

recycles nutrients, disperses seeds, and reduces parasites around droppings recycles carcasses and also controls prey populations as an effective hunter pollinates flowers while moving between nectar sources aerates soil and creates shelter used by other animals

Question 9 · multiple choice

Which field observation would show a Ruby-throated hummingbird defending itself?

forms alliances, gives alarm calls, and may mob a threat rears up and sweeps powerful claws when unable to escape bright warning colours discourage predators from tasting it uses agility, chases, and sharp bill displays

Question 10 · true false

True or False: A ruby-throated hummingbird loud wingbeats can be heard from far away because air moves through gaps between flight feathers.

True False