Habitat Match: the daily bird habitat quiz
How to play
- Press Play today's Habitat Match.
- Read the habitat at the top, for example "Gardens, woodland edges".
- Tap the one bird out of four that fits it. You get one answer per question and cannot go back.
- Repeat for questions two and three.
- The results screen shows your score out of three and the right bird for each habitat.
Scoring
Each correct answer earns 3 bonus points, so a clean sweep is worth 9. There are no hints and no second tries. Bonus points count towards the leaderboard once you are signed in.
Why habitat is half of bird ID
Where a bird is tells you most of what it can be. Walk into a reedbed and the likely list is short: Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Reed Bunting, perhaps a Bittern or Bearded Tit. Walk into an oak wood and the cast changes: Nuthatch, Treecreeper, Great Spotted Woodpecker. Habitat Match drills that link a few birds at a time.
Tips: which UK birds go with which habitat
- Fast, rocky rivers: Dipper and Grey Wagtail.
- Heather moorland: Red Grouse, Merlin and Meadow Pipit.
- Conifer forest: Coal Tit, Goldcrest, Siskin and Common Crossbill.
- Western oak woods in summer: Pied Flycatcher and Redstart.
- Estuary mud: Dunlin, Redshank and Curlew.
- Sea cliffs in summer: Guillemot, Kittiwake and Puffin.
- Lakes, reservoirs and gravel pits: Great Crested Grebe, Tufted Duck and Coot.
- Gardens and hedges: Robin, Dunnock and House Sparrow.
- Arable farmland: Skylark, Yellowhammer and Grey Partridge.
Two more things help in the quiz itself:
- Read the words in brackets. Many habitat lines carry a season or status, such as "(winter)", "(passage)" or "(vagrant)". A winter coast points to a wintering bird, not a summer migrant.
- Rule out the misfits first. If the habitat is open sea, cross off the woodland birds and choose from what is left.
How the daily quiz is built
Each day the game picks three birds from the Birdedex and shows each one's habitat line. Three other species fill the remaining answer slots. The four answers are shuffled, so the right bird can sit in any position. The pick is fixed by the date, so everyone gets the same three questions.
When does the quiz reset?
A new quiz appears at midnight. For players in Britain that is midnight UK time: the game goes by the date on your device. Everyone gets the same quiz on the same date. There is no archive, so a missed day is gone.
Habitat Match FAQ
Is Habitat Match free?
Yes. It costs nothing and there is no app to install. It plays in your browser.
Do I need an account?
No. Guests can play every day, and today's progress is kept on your device. Sign in with Google if you want your bonus points banked on the leaderboard.
How long does the habitat quiz take?
Under a minute. There are three questions and each one is a single tap.
Which birds are included?
Any species in our UK Birdedex can come up, as the answer or as one of the wrong options. That is more than 600 species, from garden birds to rare visitors.
Where do the habitats come from?
Each species in the Birdedex has a short habitat line describing where it is usually found in the UK. The quiz shows that line and asks you to pick the bird.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. It runs in a phone browser as well as on desktop. The four answers are large buttons.