ABA Photo Quiz

ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 45

Answer

Bird Photo

Early Winter. Owls, finches, waxwings, longspurs, Snow Buntings, bloody-cold pelagic trips, gulls and...hummingbirds? Yes. Hummingbirds. Late fall and early winter are now the premier season for finding stray hummingbirds, at least across most of the ABA area. Throughout much of the ABA area, reports of Rufous Hummingbirds barely cause raised eyebrows anymore. And many birders and bird-watchers have learned that keeping hummingbird feeders can produce some startling results.

So picture this, you look out your back window and see this! Hummingbird! In December! At your feeder! Boo-yah! Cha-ching! At the very least a delighted "Oh my!" But what is it?

Hummingbird identification can be tricky, sometimes impossible. There are entire books and DVDs devoted to the subject of hummingbird ID.

But here we have a bird that's cooperative. The first step is always to eliminate the common species. Since we don't know where we are, this is hard. Either Ruby-throated or Black-chinned Hummingbird is found in much of our region, and the face pattern bears some similarity to a female of those species. But the face pattern is on the strong side, even for the most strongly marked birds. Some other things are also wrong. First, the underside of the bill appears red. While pollen can color a hummingbird's bill and face, it would not do so where the underside of the bill appears uniformly reddish-pink and the top appears black. Also note the green spotting on the side of the breast.

The combination of bill color and green spotting to the side of the breast and face pattern really only leaves us with Broad-billed Hummingbird. The bill does look broad at the base and the white corners to the relatively broad tail that is slightly cleft are also classic feature of Broad-billed Hummingbirds. This female Broad-billed Hummingbird was photographed at Clifton, Colorado in November 2002 (and was a first for Colorado).

For those of you particularly interested in hummingbird identification, you have a variety of material to choose from. I particularly recommend Steve Howell's Hummingbirds of North America: The Photographic Guide.

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The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the December Bird Photo Quiz—Broad-billed Hummingbird:

  1. Sam Galick, Flemington, NJ
  2. Ian Davies, Medford, MA
  3. A. McAndrews, Xalapa, Veracruz
  4. Tom Benson, San Bernardino, CA
  5. Christopher Warren, Portland, OR
  6. Aaron Hulsey, Smiths Grove, Ky
  7. Neil Gilbert, beverly hills, mi
  8. Richard Hibpshman, Issaquah, WA
  9. Bruce Dugger, Albany, OR
  10. Ben Young, Salem, OR
  11. Jake McCumber, Austin, TX
  12. Urs Geiser, Woodridge, Illinois
  13. Brooke Miller, Los Altos, California
  14. Bill Maynard, Colorado Springs, CO
  15. Luke Buckardt, Deerfield, IL
  16. Brian Gatlin, Grand Canyon, AZ
  17. Leslie Rountree, Fayetteville, Ga
  18. Luke Seitz, Falmouth, Maine
  19. Richard Garrigues, San Antonio de Belen, Heredia, Costa Rica
  20. Jenifer Detter, Eureka Springs, Arkansas
  21. Jessica Bruland, Damascus, MD
  22. Noah Gaines, Flagstaff, AZ
  23. Jim Parker, Bishop,CA
  24. Su Snyder, Wooster, OH
  25. George Cresswell, Colorado Springs, CO
  26. John Bissell, Grimes, Iowa
  27. Michael Todd, McKenzie, TN
  28. Aaron Boone, Columbus, Ohio
  29. Vera Capogna, Sayville, NY
  30. Anne Brown, Durham, NC
  31. Jason Waanders, Washington, DC
  32. Thomas Snetsinger, Brownsville, OR
  33. Oscar Johnson, Santa Barbara, CA
  34. Andrea Leistra, Pasadena, CA
  35. Leighton Reid, Sewanee, TN
  36. edward j raynor, brooklyn, ny
  37. Matt Baumann, Abq,NM
  38. John Van Kirk, Huntington, West Virginia
  39. Steve Hampton, Davis, CA
  40. Jeremy Gabriel, St. Louis, MO
  41. Shawn Billerman, Ithaca, NY
  42. Marlene Jay Cashen, Veradale, Washington
  43. Marcelo Brongo, Barcelona, Spain
  44. Stephen Seiffert, Lansdowne, Ontario Canada
  45. Geoff Malosh, Pittsburgh, PA
  46. Sarah Zastrow, Riverdale Park , MD
  47. Sherry Leffert, Cambridge, MA 02138
  48. Henry Trimpe, Sagamore Hills, Ohio
  49. Michael S. Levy, Centereach, N.Y.
  50. Alison Village, Berrien Springs, MI
  51. Petro Pynnonen, Helsinki, Finland
  52. Eleanor Proctor, Peterborough, Ontario
  53. Tom Auer, Allouez, MI
  54. Jim kopitzke, Mesa AZ
  55. Jason Giovannone, Columbia, SC
  56. Lori Fujimoto, Colorado Springs, CO
  57. Lois Goldfrank, Santa Cruz, CA
  58. Rich Swartzentruber, Salem, Oregon
  59. Joseph Lautenbach, Grand Rapids, MI
  60. Jonathan Lautenbach, Grand Rapids, MI
  61. Malia Wenny, Galena IL
  62. Jack, Galena IL
  63. Julia Marko Dunn, Newmarket, Ontario
  64. John G. Anderson, Reno, Nevada
  65. Anton Mach, Yardley, PA
  66. Jon Atwood, Keene, NH
  67. Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA
  68. Colin Gjervold, Tampa, Florida
  69. T L Egbert, Amherst, NH
  70. Elaine MacPherson, Sierra Madre CA
  71. James McKay, Mesa, AZ
  72. Jerry Chandler, Marshfield, Missouri
  73. David Bell, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
  74. Julie Cocke, Jacksonville, FL
  75. Francesc Jutglar, Cardedeu, Spain
  76. Aaron Bilyeu, Placerville, CA
  77. Robert Mottershead, Philadelphia, PA
  78. Mary Keim, Orlando FL
  79. Myles Falconer, Lakefield, Ontario
  80. Steven Mitten, Belize City, Belize
  81. Jeff Hole, Orlando, Florida
  82. Hope Batcheller, Petersburgh, NY
  83. Harry Hooper, Tallahassee, Florida
  84. John Boback, Morgantown, WV
  85. Nick Anich, Ashland, WI
  86. Pam Baum, Tucson, AZ
  87. Diana Bradshaw, Damascus, OR
  88. Roberto Cavalieros, Brooklyn, NY
  89. David Copplestone, Lakefield, Ontario
  90. Laura Coble, Cannnon Falls, MN
  91. Liis Veelma, Winnipeg, MB
  92. Kevin M Kincaid, Indianapolis, IN
  93. Ed Harper, Sacramento, CA
  94. nell haberman, portland, Oregon
  95. Matthew Schneider, Silverton, OR
  96. Paul Glass, South Boston, VA
  97. Joshua D. Kreitzer, Sandston, VA
  98. Barb Duncan, Jefferson City, MO
  99. G Kelsey, Jacksonville, FL
  100. kurt Pohlman, kaneohe Hi.
  101. Greg Tito, Richmond, Virginia
  102. Blue Rubinstein, New York, NY
  103. Karen Rubinstein, New York, NY
  104. Cinda Crosley, Pflugerville, TX
  105. James P. Smith, Amherst, MA
  106. Robert Doster, Albuquerque, NM
  107. Malkolm Boothroyd, Whitehorse, Yukon
  108. Lois Lindsay, Frankford, WV
  109. Michael Woodruff, Spokane, WA
  110. Jeff Marks, Portland, OR
  111. Cliff Weisse, Island Park, ID
  112. Corey Plank, Portland, OR

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.

Broad-billed Hummingbird
112
Anna's Hummingbird
15
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
14
Black-chinned Hummingbird
13
Magnificent Hummingbird
13
Costa's Hummingbird
9
Blue-throated Hummingbird
3
White-eared Hummingbird
3
Lucifer Hummingbird
2
Calliope Hummingbird
1
Violet-crowned Hummingbird
1

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The photo and answer for this quiz were supplied by Chris Wood.