Photo Quiz #8 (Answer)

Photo credit: Joe Medley (I adjusted the exposure to make it brighter. Any loss in quality is my fault, not Joe's!)

Click on photo above to view larger size

So, I didn't fool anyone with this quiz (at least anyone who responded)! My good friend, Joe Medley, took this photo of an adult dark morph Ferruginous Hawk near Merced, California in January 2009.

The diagnostic features that I noticed on this bird were the large gape extending below the eyes and the rufous wash on the upperwing coverts, nape and chest of this bird. A couple of you mentioned the feathered legs (tarsi). I would be cautious using that as an identification point when a bird is perched like this. It is hard to separate the leg feathers from the belly feathers. One of you thought the bird was a juvenile. Juvenile Ferruginous Hawks don't have the extensive rufous coloring that this adult shows.

Here are the respondents who answered correctly:

Will Burt
Karen Carlsen
Lucas Foerster
Jen McCabe
Joel Such
Marcel Such

And the final top five scores from the 2009 photo quiz are (drumroll please)*:

Joel Such 8
Marcel Such 8
Karen Carlsen 7
Deirdre Viel 6
Jessica Lux 5

*out of 8 possible.

Thanks for participating. I will start a new photo quiz in the next couple weeks. I think they will be a little more difficult in the next round.

Now, get off your computers and go birding!

Jeff
RMBO Photo Quizmaster

Photo Quiz #7 (Answer)

Click on photo above to view larger size

It has been so cold in Fort Collins, lately! I thought maybe some of you could use a photo quiz from a warmer clime (but still in the United States).

Did I have any of you running to your field guides looking up the differences between Sooty and Bridled Terns? Did you notice that the white line above the eye (supercilium) on Bridled Terns extends well behind the eye and it doesn't on Sooty Terns? Also, did you notice the differences in contrast between the underwing coverts and the flight feathers of Sooty and Bridled Terns? It is fairly strong on Sooty Terns, not so much on Bridled Terns. So, our bird with a short supercilium and strongly contrasting underwing is a Sooty Tern.

I took this photo of a Sooty Tern in Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida in April 2009.

People who submitted correct answers were:

Karen Carlsen
Lucas Foerster
Joel Such
Marcel Such
Deirdre Viel


Thanks!

Jeff