Monday, September 27, 2010

Quiz #367 (2010-3-12) Solution


Click on picture(s) for a larger view.

Answer by Tony Leukering

Since this is not a dragonfly quiz, the subject must be that big white blob in the background. There aren't an awful lot of large white birds that occur in the ABA area, so this ought to be fairly straightforward. The really long neck rules out American White Pelican and the white geese, and the bill color rules out all of the other options but one. Yes, the orange bill with a suggestion of a black base must make our quiz bird a Mute Swan. Juvenile swans of the other ABA-occurring species can have colorful bills, but they would be pink or pinkish, rather than orange and would show more extensive dark bits. (Snow Goose does not sport a nearly unicolored bill.)

I took this picture of a Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens) that just happened to have a Mute Swan in the background at the TNC's Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge (aka South Cape May Meadows), Cape May Co., NJ, on 21 August 2010. The glider can be identified by the combination of yellow body, red eyes, lack of strong black lateral stripe or row of spots/patches, and lack of spot at hindwing base. Wandering Glider is the only odonate found on all six continents on which Odonata occur. Two respondents identified the dragonfly correctly. While no credit was given for that in the competition, I indicated those correct respondents with an asterisk to give them some additional glory.

With this being the last quiz of the quarter, it's time to award the quarterly prize: a year's membership in CFO. Three players (Chuck Carlson, Su Snyder, and Peter Wilkinson) tied with 10 of 12 correct and with no bonus points awarded this quarter, the tie-breaker is a coin toss (rather, a spreadsheet-generated random integer between 1 and 3, inclusive), with the winner being...

Su Snyder! Congratulations!

Incorrect species provided as answers:
Snow Goose - 1
American White Pelican - 2

Congratulations to the 14 of 17 getting the quiz correct:
Tyler Bell *
Su Snyder *
Tom Takano
Nick Komar
Bryan Guarente
Al Guarente
George Cresswell
Robert McNab
Thomas Hall
Margie Joy
Peter Wilkinson
Chuck Carlson
Marcel Such
Joel Such

Answer: Mute Swan