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ABA Photo Quiz

ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 96

Answer

Bird Photo
[+] Click Image for Larger Version

A head. Just a head. That’s all we’ve got to go on this month, other than the fact that the head is, presumably, perched on top of a body that is in the water. In fact, looking carefully, we can see some of the white body between sets of bubbles. This head is white with some black somewhere in the rear, possibly on or behind the auriculars. There is also some suggestion of gray smudginess below the eye, but that might be a photographic artifact. The bird’s left eye gives me a suggestion of redness, and enlarging the photo confirms that, which should be helpful, as there aren’t that many red-eyed waterbirds. The wide bill is bicolored – black with a pinkish saddle.

Assuming that this is not some landbird in desperate straits, we can wander around in the front half of the field guide looking for white-headed, red-eyed waterbirds, but the fact that the bird’s bill is wider than deep should send us straight to the waterfowl. Once there, the bird’s white head, reddish eyes, white belly, and pink-saddled bill leave us a single option. In fact, that last feature – the pink saddle – would have taken us directly to the correct answer.

I took this picture of the head of an adult male Long-tailed Duck at Avalon, Cape May Co., NJ, on 17 January 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—Long-tailed Duck:

  1. Chris West, Richland Center, WI
  2. Yousif Attia, Calgary, AB
  3. Ben Coulter, Etna, PA
  4. Bob Proctor, Elgin, Scotland
  5. Tristan Weinbrenner, McPherson, KS
  6. Jameson Weinbrenner, McPherson, KS
  7. Patty McKelvey, Sheffield Village, OH
  8. Larry Kline, Fredericksburg, VA
  9. Ali Iyoob, Raleigh, NC
  10. Jim Mountjoy, Galesburg, IL
  11. Matthew Rymkiewicz, New York, NY
  12. Marc Ribaudo, Woodbridge, VA
  13. Vince Cavalieri, DeWitt, MI
  14. Kevin Kerr, Arlington, VA
  15. Joel Such, Lyons, Colorado
  16. Daroczi J. Szilard, Tg.-Mures, Romania
  17. Nathan Swick, Chapel Hill, NC
  18. Joshua Kamp, Marne, MI
  19. William Rockey, Davis, CA
  20. Peter Scully, Anchorage, AK
  21. Wes Serafin, Orland Pk, IL
  22. Spencer Hardy, Norwich, VT
  23. Miriam Rognlie, Bozeman, MT
  24. Andrew Fayer, Fort Washington, PA
  25. Netanel Paley, Teaneck, NJ
  26. Claude Auchu, La Pocatiere, Quebec
  27. Aaron Bilyeu, Placerville, CA
  28. Jim Flynn, Seattle, WA
  29. Harley Yerdon, Cheyenne, Wyoming
  30. Dave Tietjen, Huntsville, AL
  31. David C. Smith, Owings Mills, MD
  32. Barb Robertson, Ottawa, Ontario Canada
  33. Mike Wasilco, Caledonia, NY
  34. Kevin M Hill, SHORELINE, WA
  35. Amanda Auger, Portland OR
  36. Monica Nugent, New Westminster, BC
  37. Pam Myers, Santa Cruz, CA
  38. Josh Southern, Raleigh, NC
  39. Ed Harper, Carmichael, CA
  40. Don Pendleton, east palo alto, CA
  41. Nancy Hetrick, Albuquerque, NM
  42. Karl Erich Mayer, Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
  43. Karlo Antonio Soto, Altotonga, Veracruz, Mexico
  44. David Hollie, Ringgold, GA
  45. Andrew Thornton, St. Augustine, FL
  46. Graham Etherington, Norwich, England
  47. Joshua Hodge, Hattiesburg, MS
  48. Claire Miller, Fair Oaks, CA
  49. Nicholas Newberry, Oakton, Va
  50. Robert Meehan, Durham, NC
  51. William Von Herff, Ottawa, Ontario
  52. Margaret Smith, Boulder, CO
  53. Robert Doster, Chico, CA
  54. Laure Neish, Penticton, BC Canada
  55. Steve Arlow, Rochford, Essex, England
  56. Jeremy Kimm, Victoria, BC
  57. Ron Gerstenberg, Dinuba, CA
  58. Terri Everett, Big Rapids, MI
  59. Charles Ziegenfus, Harrisonburg, VA
  60. Darrel Wilder, Johnson City, TN
  61. Brandon Cullen, Clyde, OH
  62. Thomas Hall, Livermore, CO
  63. Jeremy Medina, Tucson, AZ
  64. dan, barrigada, guam
  65. Gabrielle Saleh, Texas
  66. Brian E. Small, Los Angeles, CA
  67. Jacob Barkett, Woodbridge, VA
  68. Ann Gibson , Winfield, BC
  69. Caity Reiland-Smith, Sioux Falls, SD
  70. Susan Hill, Velva, North Dakota
  71. John Shamgochian, East providencce RI
  72. Lauren Bryde, Star, NC
  73. Benjamin Shamgochian, East providence,RI
  74. Gary Koehn, Colorado Springs, Colorado
  75. Rick Poulin, Ottawa, Ontario
  76. Michael Cannon, Mount Prospect, IL
  77. Russell Cannings, Penticton, British Columbia
  78. Philip Kline, Tucson, AZ
  79. Lee Adams, Warsaw, VA
  80. Andre Moncrieff, Berrien Springs, MI
  81. John Habig, Carlisle, OH
  82. Sarah T., Ann Arbor, MI
  83. Terry O'Connor, Indianapolis,In
  84. Kim Boddie, Bend, OR
  85. Georgia Conti, Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico
  86. Greg Schrott, Sebring, FL
  87. Robert Packard, Riverside, CA
  88. Olivier Barden, Quebec City, Qc
  89. Rosemarie Widmer, Allendale, NJ
  90. Celestyn Brozek, Albuquerque, NM
  91. Lance Verderame, Livingston Manor, New York
  92. Ross Schaefer, Atascadero, CA
  93. Stephanie Moore, Seattle, WA
  94. Ron Pozzi, Granite Bay, CA
  95. Trey McCuen, Macon, GA
  96. Richard Laughlin, Spring, TX
  97. Michael S. Levy, Centereach, N.Y.
  98. Larry Therrien, Belchertown, MA
  99. Alexandre Anctil, Rimouski, Québec
  100. Michael Kline, Fredericksburg, Va.
  101. David Bell, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
  102. Brian C. Smith, Chicago, IL
  103. Matt Tobey, Peterborough, Ontario
  104. Chris Warren, San Marcos, TX
  105. Annie Meyer, Tacoma, WA
  106. Tom Benson, San Bernardino, CA
  107. Benjamin Van Doren, White Plains, NY
  108. Greg Tito, Williamsburg, VA
  109. Alex Watson, Alexandria, MN
  110. Greg Zupansic, Eugene, Oregon
  111. Jacob Drucker, New York, NY
  112. Rhonda Smith, South Kingstown, RI
  113. Lorena Siqueira, Miami Fl
  114. John Branchflower, Portland, OR
  115. Max Wilson, Kensington, MD
  116. Andrew Guttenberg, Bozeman, MT
  117. Elaine MacPherson, Sierra Madre, CA
  118. Andy Deegan, New London, NH
  119. Lesley Weissman-Cook, Doylestown, PA
  120. Michael Lester, Haworth, NJ
  121. John Kuenzli, Columbus, OH
  122. Steve Hampton, Davis, CA
  123. Joan Lucas, Wilson, WY
  124. Marcel Such, Lyons, CO
  125. Vinny Turner, Oceanville, NJ
  126. Su Snyder, Wooster, OH
  127. Wayne Meyer, Denison, TX
  128. Mike McCloy, Cullowhee, NC
  129. Adam Betuel, Terre Haute, IN
  130. logan kahle, San Francisco, CA
  131. ryan edmondson, fishers, IN
  132. Jim Ross, Pleasanton, CA.
  133. Lisa Moore, Seattle, WA
  134. James Rudolph, Oshkosh, WI
  135. Gary Woods, Fresno, CA
  136. Adam Sell, Grayslake
  137. Deana Gadd, Miramichi, NB
  138. Michael Miller, Chicago, IL
  139. George Cresswell, Colorado Springs, Colorado
  140. Liston Rice, Houston, TX
  141. Niko Ranta, Corvallis, Oregon
  142. Kathy Vazquez, Madison, WI
  143. Gregory Bennett, Akron, Ohio
  144. Jeff Loy, Chester, New Jersey
  145. Lucie Bruce, Houston, TX
  146. Shaun Hicks, Fairless Hills, PA
  147. Eric Plage, St. Petersburg, FL
  148. Travis Mangione, Belmont, MI
  149. Benoit Dorion, Laval, Quebec, Canada
  150. Martin Sharp, Edmonton, Alberta
  151. Dean Nicholson, Cranbrook, B.C.
  152. Chris Sukha, Field, Ontario
  153. Brandon Percival, Pueblo West, CO
  154. Jimmy Warren, Schwenksville, PA
  155. Jim Kopitzke, Mesa, AZ
  156. LindaMcElvany, Williston, Vermont
  157. Liz Payne, Chicago, IL
  158. Richard Jeffers, Santa Clara, CA
  159. Mike Fialkovich, Pittsburgh, PA
  160. Jeff Cole, Xalapa, Veracruz
  161. Shane Roberts, Perrysburg, OH
  162. Bob Trotter, Shemya Island, AK
  163. Lady Peregrines WSB Team, Centreville, MD
  164. Daniel Bancroft, Kinsman, Ohio
  165. Brendan Lanpher, Bethesda, MD
  166. mary ann kolb, barnwell, sc
  167. Matt Daw, Raleigh, NC
  168. Kara Carragher, Colorado Springs, CO
  169. Brad Hammond, Davenport, Florida
  170. Kolby Olson, Ontario, California
  171. Sam Plew, LaGrange, Indiana
  172. Kim, College Park, MD
  173. Jon Atwood, Keene, NH
  174. Blake Mathys, Williamstown, NJ
  175. Sarah Baxter, Cabot, AR
  176. Aaron Lang, Homer, AK
  177. John Reynolds, Belcarra, BC
  178. Barb Duncan, Jefferson City, MO
  179. Jim Valimont, Cheswick, PA
  180. Fritz Davis, Tallahassee, Florida
  181. Matthew Schneider, Silverton, Oregon
  182. Kim Savides, Chardon, OH
  183. David Tyrer, Ottawa, On Canada
  184. Kayla P., Hamler, OH
  185. Nancy P., Hamler, OH
  186. John Hammond, Durham, NC
  187. Angel Abreu, Miami,FL
  188. Linda Swanson, San Francisco, CA
  189. Joel Mundall, Loma Linda, CA
  190. Larry Harms, Redlands, CA

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.

Long-tailed Duck
190
American Wigeon
1
Labrador Duck
1
Northern Harrier
1
Surf Scoter
1

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