Falco rusticolus: teacher key

Gyrfalcons, grade 5 edition, written for 5th grade. Meet the largest falcon, how big it grows, what it hunts and how it nests.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What does the name Falco rusticolus mean?
   • A fast falcon
   • A countryside-dwelling falcon (answer)
   • A white bird
2. Who could hunt with a gyrfalcon in the Middle Ages?
   • Only a king (answer)
   • Anyone
   • Only a child
3. How does a gyrfalcon often hunt?
   • Flying fast and low over the ground (answer)
   • Waiting under water
   • Digging holes
4. A gyrfalcon is bigger than which other falcon?
   • A raven
   • A hare
   • A peregrine falcon (answer)
5. Why might a gyrfalcon be found on a cliff ledge with no nest?
   • It cannot lay eggs
   • It lives in a tree
   • It does not build its own nest (answer)
6. What does morphs mean?
   • Cliff ledges
   • Color forms (answer)
   • Territories

Words

• ptarmigan: a bird
• morphs: color forms
• waterfowl: water birds
• predators: hunters