Monthly Archives: August 2016

Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana)

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This summer I went on a trip to crater lake national park. While the lake itself has no birds, the pine forests surrounding the lake are filled with birds. Like all forests, however, it is very hard to see the birds, as most forest birds are found in the tops of the trees. Luckily, I managed to glimpse a few nutcrackers foraging in the treetops. Nutcrackers in the wild eat a variety of things, including insects, small mammals, berries, nuts, and even dead animals!

Nutcrackers are found across western North America, from California and Oregon north to Alberta and as far south as Western Mexico. The nutcracker is identified by its weird call, sounding like waaaa-waaaa. Once you here a call, look for the tree that the call is coming from. Since nutcrackers hide in the denser parts of the pine forests, it can be hard to spot them. However, if you spot a grey and black bird hopping around the branches, it is a nutcracker.

In addition to the nutcracker, I spotted a bunch of other birds around the pine forests, including Grey jays, American robins, and juncos. Later, when we were driving from crater lake to our hotel, I spotted 12 species of birds. Since we were in more open habitats, I spotted different species of birds. In the vast fields that were used for cows to graze on, I spotted flocks of blackbirds feeding in the grass. A bit further on a Black-billed magpie flew across the field. Soon we had reached some pine forest, although it was less wooded than the forest near crater lake. Here I saw large swift-like birds flying through the forest. At first they seemed a bit peculiar, but I soon realized that they were Common nighthawks. While they are common, they are neither nocturnal nor are they hawks. Nighthawks are actually part of a group of crepuscular (active during evening) birds called nightjars. The nightjars are found worldwide.

The unfortunate part about the birds I saw was that I could not get a picture of any of them, as we were driving and the picture would have been very blurry had I taken a photo. However, I now have several photos of the nutcracker, one even in a tree right next to crater lake!DSCN0542

Above: This Clark’s nutcracker photograph was taken in the forests of Crater Lake on our trip. I had been wanting to see it, and luckily we spotted it when we parked our car on the road to eat lunch.

Function quiz javascript

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In this post I will explain how to create a very simple HTML and Javascript quiz that uses functions. A function is a set of code in Javascript that does a specific task. Below is a example of a function:

function helloworldFunction() 

alert(“Hello world!”)

When you open this code in a browser, the page alerts “hello world!”

However, to make the function interesting, you can add it to an HTML button. For example:

<button onClick=“helloworldFunction()”>hello world button</button>

When you click the button, the webpage alerts you, saying “hello world”. The above code is the basis for building a function quiz. Below is the code required to make a function quiz. (Note: the questions and answers shown here are examples, and you can make your own questions and answers. Also, the CSS styling can be made up as well. I used a black background with a border of solid blue and colored the text white.

FUNCTION QUIZ code example:

 

 

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<font color=“#ffffff”><title>Quiz</title>
<h1>Quiz</h1>
</head>
<body>
<style>
background-color: #000000;
border: 2px solid blue;
</style>
<p>1. Which one of these codes is the HEX code for orange?</p>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>#ffffff</button>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>#FFA500</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>#FF0000</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>#000000</button>

<p>2. How many species of birds are found in North America?</p>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>500</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>125</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>213</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>100</button>

<p>3. Jays and magpies make up which one of these bird families?</p>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Ardeidae</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Cotingidae</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Hirundinidae</button>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>Corvidae</button>

<p>4. The apple is native to which one of these continents?</p>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Europe</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>North America</button>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>Asia</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>South America</button>

<p>5. What is the name of the ecozone comprising of Europe, western Asia, and Northern Africa called?</p>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>Palearctic ecozone</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Neotropical ecozone</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Indomalayan ecozone</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Australasian ecozone</button>

<p>6. What Palezoic period did blastoids go extinct in?</p>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Ordovician</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Carboniferous</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Devonian</button>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>Permian</button>

<p>7. What is the name of the highest mountain in South America?</p>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>Mount Aconcagua</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Mount Huascaran</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Mount Everest</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>K2</button>

<p>8. The Netherlands have a large population of what native waterbird, named for its unusual bill?</p>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Grey heron</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Common eider</button>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>Eurasian spoonbill</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Common scoter</button>

<p>9. What time period did Archelon, a giant sea turtle, live in?</p>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>Cretaceous</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Jurassic</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Paleogene</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction”>Neogene</button>

<p>10. Which one of these birds are the New world vultures closely related to?</p>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Old World vultures</button>
<button onClick=“correctFunction()”>Storks</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Hawks and eagles</button>
<button onClick=“wrongFunction()”>Falcons</button>

<script>

function correctFunction() {
 alert(“Correct!”)
}

function wrongFunction() {
 alert(“Wrong”)
}

</script>

In the code above, the HTML and CSS style the page, and the Javascript adds interactivity to the buttons created using HTML. The CSS code sets the styling of the page (in this case, a black background with a blue border), and the HTML make the questions as well as the answer buttons. The HTML code is linked to the Javascript code through the onClick property. The Javascript code includes the correct and wrong functions and the javascript alerts for correct and wrong selected answers.