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ABA Photo Quiz

ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 64

Answer

Bird Photo

Takers of the ABA quiz, if they haven't already, will quickly learn that I love pictures of birds in flight, which is why I take so many of them. This month's quiz picture's subject has obvious orangish wing linings that will probably come in to play. Other prominent features are a whitish eye ring, a distinct white chin and throat bordered by blackish lateral throat stripes, a virtually all-black tail, and a pale belly. Finally, the bird's whitish undertail coverts have large, blackish centers that really ought to do something for us. Despite that last, I think that we'll start with the wing linings.

Few species have wing linings of approximately this color, including a few doves, a few hummers, Say's Phoebe, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Barn Swallow, Bluethroat, American, Rufous-backed, and Clay-colored robins, Flame-colored Tanager, and six species of orioles. Shape and proportions can readily eliminate the doves, the hummers, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and the swallow, leaving us with the phoebe, four thrushes, and six orioles. Bluethroat, Clay-colored Robin, and two of the orioles (Bullock's and Baltimore) can be eliminated by our bird's all-dark tail. None of the remaining orioles or the phoebe sport dark-centered whitish undertail coverts. In fact, the combination of orangish wing linings and our bird's undertail coverts' color and pattern reduce the options to just one species: American Robin. In fact, with the knowledge of the correct answer, all of the other clues line up in the American Robin camp.

Looking more closely, we can see that our quiz bird has just barely a hint of a white tail corner on the bird's right side—there is a minuscule white dot at the outermost rectrix shaft terminus. This feature enables us to guess that the picture was not taken in the east, as individuals of the various races there exhibit strong and obvious white tail corners. Indeed, I took this picture of an American Robin in Loveland, Larimer Co., CO, on 29 March 2008.

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The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the July Bird Photo Quiz—American Robin:

  1. Kimberly Sucy, Rochester, NY
  2. Brad Wilkinson, Tallmadge, OH
  3. Jacob Drucker, New York, NY
  4. Rick Poulin, Ottawa, Ontario
  5. Nick L, Falmouth, ME
  6. Justin Jones, Glendale, Arizona
  7. Nathan Swick, Chapel Hill, NC
  8. geoff moore, sandy, ut
  9. Karl Erich Mayer, Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
  10. Terri Everett, Big Rapids, MI
  11. Adam Nisbett, Saint James, MO
  12. Thomas Hall, Livermore, CO
  13. Josh Southern, Raleigh, NC
  14. Andrew Fayer, Fort Washington, PA
  15. Brandon Percival, Pueblo West, Colorado
  16. John Bissell, Grimes, Iowa
  17. Ryan Phillips, Campbell, CA
  18. Joshua Covill, Columbia Falls, MT
  19. Brendan Fogarty, Hempstead, NY
  20. Joshua Watson, Gaineville, FL
  21. David Bell, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
  22. Josh Anderson, Litchfield
  23. Tucker Lutter, Bronson, IA
  24. Kevin Kerr, Guelph, ON
  25. Jonathan Comeau, Williston, VT
  26. Richard Garrigues, San Antonio de Belen, Heredia, Costa Rica
  27. Chris West, Richland Center, WI
  28. Greg Lawrence, Rochester, NY
  29. Steve Arlow, Rochford, Essex, England
  30. JT, NY, NY
  31. Stephen Joly, Kamloops, BC
  32. Linda Swanson, San Francisco, CA
  33. Kathy Galligan, Bridgewater NJ
  34. Larry Therrien, Belchertown, MA
  35. Bracey Tiede, San Jose CA
  36. Cheska Lorena, Las Vegas, NV
  37. Ana Komro, West bend, WI
  38. Ted Stiritz, Russellville, AR
  39. Noah Gaines, Santa Barbara, CA
  40. Toby Ross, Davis CA
  41. Thomas Hopkins, St. Petersburg, FL
  42. Victor Ayala Perez, La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
  43. Claude Auchu, La Pocatière, Québec
  44. Celestyn Brozek, Albuquerque, NM
  45. Benoit Dorion, Laval, Quebec, Canada
  46. Lee Barnes, Seattle, WA
  47. Brad Hammond, Brooksville, Florida
  48. Grant Gardner, Ottumwa, IA
  49. Troy Alello, Denham Springs, La
  50. Chris Warren, Portland, OR
  51. Michael S. Levy, Centereach, NY
  52. Seabrooke Leckie, Toronto, Ontario
  53. Geoffrey Parks, Gainesville, FL
  54. Urs Geiser, Woodridge, Illinois
  55. Chuck Carlson, Ft. Peck MT
  56. Avery Bartels, Nelson, BC
  57. Ruth Stearns, Lincoln, NE
  58. Matt Pike, Lacey, WA
  59. Brian E. Small, Los Angeles, CA
  60. Pete Fenner, East Peoria, IL
  61. Scott Gilmore, Lantzville, British Columbia
  62. Annie Meyer, Tacoma, WA
  63. Michael Butler, Woodview, Ontario
  64. Louie Toth, Fairview Hgts, IL
  65. Linda Hoffman, Springville, NY
  66. Su Snyder, Wooster, OH
  67. Jim Kopitzke, Mesa AZ
  68. Sam Burckhardt, Chicago, IL
  69. Robert Mottershead, Philadelphia, PA
  70. Chad Williams, Indianapolis, IN
  71. Jason Pietrzak, Logan, Utah
  72. Greg Schrott, Sebring, FL
  73. Tim Hodge, Roseland, VA
  74. Marc Ribaudo, Woodbridge, VA
  75. Jim Peck, Wausau, WI
  76. Philip Kline, Tucson, AZ
  77. Wayne Meyer, Denison, TX
  78. Marcel Such, Lyons, CO
  79. Joel Such, Lyons, CO
  80. Jerry Jourdan, Wyandotte, MI
  81. Gay Gruner, Beaconsfield, Quebec
  82. Stephen Seiffert, Lansdowne, Ontario, Canada
  83. Phillip Casteel, Madison,TN
  84. Denise Lindsay, Vicksburg, MS
  85. Daroczi J. Szilard, Tg.-Mures, Romania
  86. Corey Husic, Kunkletown, PA
  87. keith corliss, west fargo, ND
  88. Don Burt, Anaheim, CA
  89. Jon Atwood, Keene, NH
  90. Malkolm Boothroyd, Whitehorse, Yukon
  91. Shaun Hicks, Morrisville, PA
  92. Blair Sterba-Boatwright, Corpus Christi, TX
  93. Lesley Howes, Ottawa, Ontario
  94. Tristan Weinbrenner, McPherson,KS
  95. Tiarella Hanna, Edmonton, AB
  96. Marcelo Brongo, Barcelona, Spain
  97. George F. Cresswell, Colorado Springs, CO
  98. Rebecca Clark, Madisonville, Kentucky
  99. Matthew Daw, Raleigh, NC
  100. Ian Davies, Medford, MA
  101. Tom Benson, San Bernardino, CA
  102. Andrea D. Wieland, Greeley, Colorado
  103. Bret McCarty, Lakewood, OH
  104. Andy Johnson, Ann Arbor, MI
  105. tim Hochstetler, millersburg oh
  106. Lev Frid, Maple, Ontario
  107. Angie Hardesty, Bowling Green, KY
  108. Alan Dupuis, Cambridge, NY
  109. Mike Ellis, Omaha, NE
  110. Henry Trombley, Bristol, Vermont
  111. Glenn L. Werner, Beaufort, S.C.
  112. Gallus Quigley, Orlando florida
  113. Anthony H. Bledsoe, Pittsburgh, PA
  114. Max Wilson, Kensington, MD
  115. Liis Veelma, Winnipeg MB
  116. Rob Lane, Chandler, AZ
  117. Eddie Mundall, Yreka, CA
  118. Olaf Soltau, New Preston, CT
  119. Michael Bender, Athens, GA
  120. Cinda Crosley, Pflugerville, TX
  121. Phil Wixom, Fort Wayne, IN
  122. Sam Koenen, Bozeman, MT
  123. Erica Wunder, Beaufort, S.C.
  124. Valerie Mann, Racine, WI
  125. Maggie Maners, Owens Cross Roads, AL
  126. Spencer Hardy, Norwich, VT
  127. Jeremy Medina, Tucson, AZ
  128. Julie Desmeules, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
  129. Michael Lester, Haworth, NJ
  130. Matt Kenne, Algona, Iowa
  131. Aaron Bilyeu, Placerville, CA
  132. Tamara Brenner, Elmhurst, IL
  133. Patty McKelvey, Sheffield Village, Ohio
  134. Randall Royal, Beaufort, S.C.
  135. Amy St. Pierre, Kelly, WY
  136. Jim Mountjoy, Galesburg, IL
  137. Elaine MacPherson, Sierra Madre, CA
  138. James McKay, Mesa, AZ
  139. Haynes A. Werner, Beaufort, S.C.
  140. Jeff Bouton, Port Charlotte, FL
  141. Evan Barrientos, Milwaukee, WI
  142. Kevin Cherney, Naramata,BC
  143. Sarah MacLean, Escondido, CA
  144. Steven Mitten, Belize City, belize
  145. Matt Baumann, ABQ,NM
  146. Georgia Conti, Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico
  147. Robert Lockett, Portland, OR
  148. Michael Woodruff, Spokane, WA
  149. Sulli Gibson, Northfield, Illinois
  150. Robin LaFortune, Delano, MN
  151. gary koehn, colorado springs, colorado
  152. Kathy Doyon, Plymouth, MA
  153. Joshua Gahagan, Oakham, MA
  154. Melissa Hein, North Branch, MN
  155. Machelle Johnson, Orem, Ut
  156. Charles Hornaday, Louisville
  157. Susan Kritzik, Portola Valley, CA
  158. Greg Gillson, Hillsboro, OR
  159. Blake Mathys, Milltown, NJ
  160. Marlene Jay Cashen, Veradale, Washington
  161. Kevin Bell, Philadelphia, Pa
  162. Lars Hemmendinger, Arlington, Virginia
  163. Ed Harper, Carmichael, CA 95608
  164. Travis Cooper, San Diego, CA
  165. Myles Falconer, Lakefield, ON Canada
  166. Thomas Collins, Pittsfield, Ma.
  167. chloe scott, forest knolls, ca
  168. Mike Burrell, Heidelberg, Ont
  169. Brooke Miller, Los Altos, CA
  170. dave, Norfolk
  171. Alexandre Anctil, Québec, Québec
  172. Daryll Myhr, Kelowna,BC
  173. Carolyn Broussard, carencro, la
  174. Matthew Johnston, Tucson, AZ
  175. Travis Rosenberry, Boise, ID
  176. Steve Hampton, Davis, CA
  177. Matthew Toomey, Tempe, AZ
  178. Barbara Scoles, Tigard, OR
  179. Phillip J. Kenny, Vienna, VA
  180. Greg Zupansic, Eugene, Oregon
  181. Lauren Bryde, St Petersburg, FL
  182. David Rosenbaum, Waco, TX
  183. Robert Doster, Albuquerque, NM
  184. Robert Packard, Riverside, CA
  185. codie otte, san francisco, ca
  186. Maria Comsa, Santa Cruz, CA
  187. Ron Pozzi, Granite Bay, CA
  188. Kari Williams, Milwaukee, WI
  189. Kelly McKinne, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  190. Kathryn Zimmerman, Ann Arbor, Michigan
  191. John Kuenzli, Columbus, OH
  192. L. Long, Chandler, AZ
  193. Richard Jeffers, Santa Clara, CA
  194. Lori Fujimoto, Alameda, CA
  195. Dean Nicholson, Cranbrook, B.C.
  196. Ann McDonald, Calgary, Alberta
  197. Brian McAllister, Saranac Lake, NY
  198. Sandie Wilson, Severna Park, MD
  199. Matthew Schneider, Silverton, OR
  200. Charles Rossa, Manassas, Va
  201. Gerrad Jones, Philadelphia, PA
  202. jacob holloway, clinton township MI
  203. James McRacken, Charlotte, NC
  204. David R. Schas, Powell Butte, OR
  205. Barbara Breen, Grimsby, Ontario
  206. Geoffrey A. Williamson, Chicago, IL
  207. Julie Hart, Hartland, VT
  208. Jeff Hole, Orlando, Florida
  209. Matthew Medler, Niskayuna, NY
  210. Javier de Leon, Edinburg, TX
  211. Kevin M Hill, Shoreline, WA
  212. wes serafin, orland park il
  213. Bobby Walsh, Davis, CA
  214. Mary Walsh, Valencia, CA
  215. Katherine Ross, Anchorage, AK
  216. Jill Kaminski, Naples, FL

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.

American Robin
216
Eyebrowed Thrush
5
Redwing
3
Bluethroat
2
Buff-breasted Flycatcher
2
Eastern Bluebird
2
Townsend's Solitaire
2
American Redstart
1
House Sparrow
1
Mountain Bluebird
1
Rufous-backed Robin
1
Say's Phoebe
1
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
1
Swainson's Warbler
1
Varied Thrush
1
Western Bluebird
1
Wood Thrush
1

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