Quiz #4 (answered)

Quiz #4 02/18/08-02/24/08

 

Ok, say you have a sub-par, a.k.a. a piece of crap, scope like me but you see a bird way out in the water just at the edge of your binocular range. Well, you just have to make do don’t you? At times like this IDing birds, at least tentatively, by overall gestalt and behavior. The quiz bird is acting very still at the moment so we’ll work on gestalt and field marks.

 

This bird is sitting quite low in the water which should make us think non-Anceriformes birds. Plus it has a very thin bill and a strong black on top, white below plumage pattern. Generally that’s all we can see but there are subtleties that make all the difference. Certainly the overall black-white pattern and thin bill bring up options like the loons, grebes, especially the Aechimorphorus members, and the alcids. Most alcids have stubby necks and bills except for the Murres. However, Thick-billed are mostly dark-headed and, importantly, dark cheeked even in basic plumage. Common Murre in basic also should have a black tear stripe down the cheek. Plus both should show more white on the flanks than our quiz bird does. Of the grebes we can eliminate Pied-billed and Red-necked for lacking the amount of white on the undersides that our bird possesses. Although Red-necked looks good in terms of structure they are usually duskier and especially show a contrast between the neck and ear versus the sides of the face. Eared should have dark cheeks in basic but Horned looks good based on plumage except that the bill of our quiz bird is far too long and thin for this to be a Horned.

 

The remaining group, the Aechimorphorus grebes and the loons can all be tricky in different lights and distances. (Certainly behavior would help here) The bill is certainly too thin and dark for this to be a Yellow-billed Loon and Common Loons always show some ziz-zag pattern on the neck. Looking at the neck of our quiz bird we can note that the white is quite extensive, covering the majority of the neck to the border of the nape. Pacific and Arctic Loons should never show this much white on the neck. Plus we can see white intruding in front of the bill if we look closely further eliminating these options.

 

Now looking at overall gestalt again. Both Aechimorphorus grebes have exceptionally long, thin necks which usually give them a distinctive lolly-pop look where their heads appear noticeably thicker than their necks, even at rest which our quiz bird clearly isn’t. Our quiz bird has a thick neck with little contrast between it and the head. Plus Aechimorphorus grebe bill color is visible even at some serious distances. Clark’s particularly are bright. Maybe not different enough from Western at a distance but brighter certainly than the quiz bird. Basic Western’s can have darkish bills but both them and Clark’s bills should also be noticeably longer and lighter than the quiz bird’s.

 

So there we have it, our answer. I took this picture of an adult basic RED-THROATED LOON at Kelley Point Park in Portland, OR on February 11, 2008. Even though we already eliminated the other loons we can also notice a few other things about this bird. We can see a little white flank patch which helps remove Pacific (and Western Grebe) as well as the facing “upwards” posture that is so diagnostic of this species.

 

This one seems to have tricked more respondents than past quizzes. In the end I received six answers with only one correct answer. This quiz had lower participation than in the past but still a good showing. Good luck everyone on the next quiz!

 

ANSWER:

 

RED-THROATED LOON

 

ANSWER BREAKDOWN:

 

Western Grebe – 3

Red-necked Grebe – 2

Red-throated Loon – 1

 

Congratulations to:

 

Dave Irons

 

 

Done