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ABA Photo Quiz

ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 114

Answer

This month we’ve got to suss what is where on this splashing object just in order to have a shot at being sure that it is a bird, much less getting the ID correct! We do have some good clues, though, and they should not only tell us what part is what, but what the bird is. Comparing the bird to various other objects in the picture, we can determine that the beast is not at all large. If it is the head, which way is it facing? The brownish mass with some blackish streaking in the upper part of the object that is supposed to be a bird may be quite difficult to assign to a particular part of the bird, much less a species. However, the pale part has white bits, a couple of black stripes, and a bright yellow patch. Those bits don’t work for the back end of any ABA-area species, so that must be the head at which we’re looking.

The yellow patch should help in that regard, as there are a few ABA-area species with yellow above and in front of the eye, such as Savannah and White-throated sparrows and Black-throated Gray Warbler, all of which would work for the apparent size of the bird. Black-streaked brown upperparts don’t work for the warbler, but they do fine for the two sparrows. However, no plumage of Savannah Sparrow sports such bright white and distinctly and well-defined black head stripes.

I took this picture of an adult, white-striped morph White-throated Sparrow at the Cox Hall Creek W. M. A. (formerly Villas W. M. A.), Cape May Co., NJ, on 10 April 2011.

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The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the September Bird Photo Quiz—White-throated Sparrow:

  1. Pamela Corwin - Charleston, SC
  2. pat bluhm - channahon,il
  3. Darlene Emers - State College, PA
  4. Katie Andersen - Erie
  5. Patty McKelvey - Sheffield Village, Ohio; USA
  6. Greg Prelich - new Rochelle, NY
  7. Jimmy Warren - Schwenksville, PA
  8. Eric Antonio - Martinez Oaxaca, Mexico
  9. Jilly Rodriguez - Mendez Oaxaca, Mexico
  10. David Arbour - De Queen, Arkansas
  11. Chris Blazo - Chambersburg, Pa
  12. Jim Mountjoy - Galesburg, IL
  13. Marcelo Brongo - Sant Cugat del Valles, Spain
  14. Nate Fronk - Williamsport, PA
  15. Nick Lund - Silver Spring, MD
  16. Bob Proctor - Elgin, Scotland
  17. David Hollie - Ringgold, GA
  18. Jennifer Beirne - Jackson Heights, NY
  19. Junior Barnes - Cincinnati, OH
  20. Wesley Greentree - Campbell River, British Columbia
  21. Karl Erich Mayer - Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
  22. Thomas Ford-Hutchinson - Irvine, CA
  23. Dave Slager - Columbus, Ohio
  24. John Hammond - Durham, NC
  25. Anya Auerbach - New York, NY
  26. Sean Williams - East Lansing, MI
  27. Nathan Martineau - Lansing,Michigan
  28. Tom Benson - San Bernardino, CA
  29. Darrel Wilder - Johnson City, TN
  30. Vince Cavalieri - DeWitt, MI
  31. Nikki Narduzzi - Willoughby Hills, OH
  32. Andrew Aldrich - Aurora, IL
  33. Drew Malburg - Port Huron Michigan
  34. Dustin Holschuh - Rock Falls,Il
  35. Myles Falconer - Delhi, ON
  36. Stephen Joly - Kamloops BC
  37. Chloe Walker - Murfreesboro, TN
  38. Ryan Ford - Philadelphia, PA
  39. Aspen Ellis - Ann Arbor, MI
  40. Mary Margaret Ferraro- Ann Arbor, Michigan
  41. Joseph Miller - Nickerson, Kansas
  42. Yousif Attia - Calgary, AB
  43. Olivier Barden - Quebec City, Qc
  44. Jacob Drucker - Amherst, MA
  45. Rosemarie Widmer - Allendale NJ
  46. Alexandre Anctil - Rimouski, Qc
  47. Robert Doster - Chico, CA
  48. Paul Lagasi - Nepean, On
  49. Laure Neish - Penticton, BC
  50. Ann Gibson - Winfield, BC
  51. Terri Everett - Big Rapids, MI
  52. James Mckay - Mesa, AZ
  53. Larry Therrien - Belchertown, MA
  54. Jason McGuire - London, ON
  55. Benjamin Shamgochian - East Providence, RI
  56. Chris Warren - Austin, TX
  57. George Cresswell - Colorado Springs, CO
  58. Andrew Thornton - Asheboro, NC
  59. Adam Betuel - Terre Haute, IN
  60. Gordon Payne - London, ON
  61. Georgia Conti - Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico
  62. Warwick Board - Vancouver, BC
  63. Zachary Holderby - Penobscot, ME
  64. Madeleine McDonald - San Antonio, TX
  65. Spencer Hardy - Norwich, VT
  66. Michael Kline - Fredericksburg Va.
  67. William Von Herff - Ottawa, Ontario
  68. Pam Myers - Santa Cruz, CA
  69. George Cresswell - Colorado Springs, CO
  70. Dwight Porter - Portland, Oregon
  71. Larry Kline - Fredericksburg, VA
  72. Adam Beeler - Columbus, OH
  73. Andy Deegan - New London, NH



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.



Golden-crowned Kinglet
13
Cedar Waxwing
2
Black-bellied Whistling Duck
2
Virginia Rail
2
Great Blue Heron
1
Green Heron
1
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
1
Sandhill Crane
1
Ruff
1
Redwinged Blackbird
1
Mississippi Kite
1
Lincoln's Sparrow
1
Northern Pintail
1
Bald Eagle
1
Black Skimmer
1
Horned Lark
1
Wild Turkey
1
Wood Duck
1
Dusky Grouse
1
Horned Lark
1
I can't even find the bird in the photo - terrible quiz bird frankly
1
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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The photo and answer for this quiz were supplied by Tony Leukering.