ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 111
Answer
Despite that we do not have much to go on with this month’s quiz, the subject is identifiable. The fact that what we can see is obviously the top-front quarter of a bird head and that the visible plumage is all iridescent green, we really have only four options: Mallard, Northern Shoveler, and Common and Red-breasted mergansers. I used this picture – or, I should say, part of the picture (the whole picture is presented below) – to encourage folks to look at two features: eye color and head shape. With those two features and the plumage coloration, we can ID this bird with certainty.
Because all four of these duck species have green heads only in males and, then, only in “breeding” plumage, we can be certain that that is the plumage that our quiz bird holds. With that, we can eliminate Northern Shoveler and Red-breasted Merganser on eye color, with the former having yellow eyes and the latter red. Discerning which of the remaining two dark-eyed options our quiz bird represents is a bit more problematic, and rests on head shape. Common Merganser has the peak of the crown in front of the eyes, while that of Mallard falls behind the eye. I took the below picture – out of which the quiz photo was selected – of a male Mallard at Cape May Point State Park, Cape May Co., NJ, on 30 November 2011.
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The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the March Bird Photo Quiz—Mallard:
- Daroczi J. Szilard - Tg.-Mures, Romania
- Julie Desmeules - Québec
- Charlotte Wasylik - Alberta Canada
- Aaron Bilyeu - Placerville, CA
- Melissa G Chattaraj - Enfield, CT
- Rosemarie Widmer - Allendale NJ
- Laure Neish - Penticton, BC Canada
- Dan Barrigada - Guam
- Derek Killby - West Vancouver, British Columbia
- Benjamin Shamgochian - East providence, RI
- Michael Lester - Tucson, AZ
- Claude Auchu - La Pocatiere, Quebec
- Nathan Webb - Elba, AL
- Monica Nugent - New Westminster, BC
- Martin Sharp - Edmonton, Alberta
- Marcelo Brongo - Sant Cugat del Valles, Spain
- Graham Etherington - Norwich, UK
- Marie M. - Clinton Township, MI
- Pamela Corwin - Charleston, SC
- Tom Benson - San Bernardino, CA
- Bob Proctor - Elgin, Scotland
- Chloe Walker -Murfreesboro, Tennessee
- Michael S Levy - Centereach, N.Y.
- Karl Erich Mayer - Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
- Dean Nicholson - Cranbrook, B.C.
- John Rodgers - Pasadena
- Warren Walker - Spokane, WA
- Sam Manning - Omaha, NE
- Tom Howe - Alcoa, TN
- Nick Minor - Libertyville, IL
- Laura Hendrickson - Pittsburg, mo
- Peter Mooney - Jackson, NJ
- logan kahle - San Francisco, CA
- David Bell - Guelph, ON
- Michael Cannon - Mount Prospect, IL
- Josh LaCelle - Camden, New York
- Ruth Stearns - Lincoln
- Kim Savides -Chardon, OH
- Dustin Holschuh - Rock Falls,IL
- Anya Auerbach - New York, NY
- ashwini anand - London, KY
- Larry Kline - Fredericksburg
- Georgia Conti - Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico
- Darrel Wilder - Johnson City, TN
- greg prelich - New Rochelle, NY
- Robert Wilson - Salt Lake City, Ut
- Ben Thompson - San Juan Bautista, California
- Alvan Buckley - St. John's, Newfoundland
- Ann Gibson - Winfield, BC
- Josh Southern - Raleigh, NC
- Ian Bixby - OK
- Olivier Barden - Quebec City, Qc
- Joan Campbell - Marinette, WI
- A. Algazzali - Hercules, CA
- Don Pendleton - East Palo Alto, CA
- Emily Mott - Lowell, IN
- Larry Therrien - Belchertown, MA
- Linda Fink - Grand Ronde, OR
- Greg Zupansic - Eugene, Oregon
- William Rockey - Esparto, CA
- Greg Schrott - Avon Park, FL
- Patty McKelvey -Sheffield Village, Ohio; USA
- Billi Krochuk - Burlington, ON
- Lucie Bruce - Houston, TX
- Aspen Ellis - Ann Arbor, MI
- Mayn Hipp - Riverside, CT
- Gabe Cohen -Glinick Providence, RI
- Chris Warren - Austin, TX
- Ryan Steiner - Smithville, OH
- Wes Hatch - Chagrin Falls
- Thomas Ford-Hutchinson - Irvine, CA
- Ali Iyoob - Chapel Hill
- Gary Koehn - Colorado Sprngs, Colorado
- John Farley jr -. Woodland,CA
- Cole DiFabio - Kirtland, Ohio
- Andrew Aldrich - Aurora, IL
- Barb Duncan - Jefferson City, MO
- Barb Robertson - Ottawa, On., Canada
- Claire Miller - Fair Oaks, CA
- Jill Tarabul -a Peru, NY
- Michele Keane-Moore - Longmeadow, MA
- Tanya Seebacher - Kelowna, BC
- Jilly Rodriguez Mendez - Oaxaca, Mexico
- Eric Antonio Martinez - Oaxaca, Mexico
- Kari Barlan - Chicago, IL
- Sam Brunson -Savannah, Georgia
- Jason Coombs - Athens, GA
- Brendan Riley -Waterford, Mi
- Celestyn Brozek - Albuquerque, NM
- Mike Wasilco - Caledonia, NY
- Dave Slager - Columbus, Ohio
- Ludacris Al Thrasher - Altlanta, GA
- Tim Pinkston - Warrensburg, Missouri
- Annika Young - Oakville, ON
- Elaine MacPherson - Sierra Madre, CA
- Charlie Weaver - Kalkaska, MI
- Zachary Holderby - Penobscot, ME
- Rob Batchelder - Bandon, Oregon
- Chris Blazo - Chambersburg
- Nolan Walker - Murfreesboro, TN
- Trace - Edwardsburg, MI
- Oscar - Sweden
- Jason Kitting - Albuquerque, NM
- Mike Fialkovich - Pittsburgh, PA
- Robert Packard - Riverside, CA
- Terri Everett - Big Rapids, MI
- Stephanie Seymour - Englewood, NJ
- W Denison - TX
- David Hollie - Ringgold, GA
- Dana Dabov - Redlands, California
- Wesley Greentre -e Campbell River, British Columbia
- Su Snyder - Wooster, OH
- Gabrielle - Texas
- Jimmy Warren - Schwenksville, PA
- Andrew Guttenberg - Bozeman, MT
- George F. Cresswell - Colorado Springs, CO
- Yousif Attia - Calgary, AB
- Nick Newberry - Oakton, Va
- J. Spallin - Ottawa ON
- Thomas Hall - Livermore, CO
- victor hugo valencia - patzcuaro michoacan mexico
- Ed Harper - Carmichael, CA
- Jim Mountjoy - Galesburg, IL
- gary woods - Fresno, CA
- James McKay - Mesa, AZ
How Did You Compare?
As stated in the quiz rules, answers must consist simply of the Common or English name exactly as it appears in the ABA Checklist.
The following list shows the number of submissions for each species guessed.
- Common Merganser
- 4
- Mallard Duck
- 3
- Falcated Duck
- 3
- Northern Shoveler
- 1
- Green-winged Teal
- 1
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The photo and answer for this quiz were supplied by Tony Leukering.