Quiz #392 (2011-1-13) Solution

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Answer by Tony Leukering

Monday's intake of 25 responses (including 11 new respondents, either for the year or ever) must have set an all-time first-day-of-new-quiz record. There have been weeks without that many responses!

This week's quiz bird has one really obvious field mark -- white wing patch -- and numerous less-obvious field marks, some of which were probably not taken into consideration by some/many. Included among these field marks are the pale pink legs that rule out both of the incorrect species provided as answers. The olive head and back, the yellow belly, and the very black outer wing and tail encompass the remainder of those field marks visible. The placement of the white wing patch is an imporant aspect of that field mark. The patch encompasses the secondaries and the greater coverts. The wing patches of both Lark Bunting and Bullock's Oriole (and White Wagtail; Magnolia, Audubon's, Cape May, and Blackburnian warblers; and Painted Redstart) encompass only coverts, leaving the secondaries black. This is a case where understanding which feathers one is looking at on a bird -- either flying or perched -- plays a huge role in identification and was the primary reason that I used this picture for the quiz.

There are only two ABA-area passerines sporting white secondaries and our quiz bird is obviously not a Clark's Nutcracker. I took this picture of a male Evening Grosbeak at Allenspark, Boulder Co., CO, on 31 March 2006.

This was the last quiz of the competition quarter, so it's time to award the prize of a year's membership in CFO, which, of course, includes a subscription to the organization's great journal, Colorado Birds. For the second time in as many years, a woman has won a quarterly competition; WAY TO GO! For whatever reasons, women are, unfortunately, not well-represented among the subset of birders that are well-known for their expertise and I'm always happen to see one receive her just acknowledgment. This goes doubly this time, as not only did Pam Myers come out on top, she got a perfect 13-of-13 score! Four others did not submit any incorrect answers but submitted answers for only 12 of the quarter's quizzes: Ben Coulter, Nick Komar, Christian Nunes, and Joel Such. Perhaps this quarter's results will encourage Rachel Hopper, a phenom from previous years of the competition, to start playing again, now that she's no longer on the CFO Board of Directors, thus eligible to win.

Incorrect species provided as answers:
Lark Bunting - 1
Bullock's Oriole - 1

Congratulations to the 42 of 42 getting the quiz correct:
Tyler Bell
Ben Coulter
Su Snyder
Robert McNab
Thomas Hall
Kirk Huffstater
Brandon Percival
Nick Komar
Christian Nunes
Joe Hildreth
Michael Speegle
Michael Porter
Ben Warner
Chip Clouse
Scott Jennex
Richard Jeffers
Pam Myers
Margaret Smith
Ned Keller
Al La Sala
Christopher Hinkle
Kara Carragher
George Cresswell
Devich Farbotnik
Thomas Pollock
Peter Wilkinson
Louie Toth
Margie Joy
Bruce Webb
Ali Iyoob
Matt Bristol
John Kuba
Jim Nelson
Joseph & Rachel Brown
Al Guarente
Michael McCloy
Adrian Hinkle
Bryan Guarente
Chishun Kwong
Marcel Such
Joel Such
Chuck Carlson

Answer: Evening Grosbeak

Quiz #391 (2011-1-12) Solution

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Answer by Tony Leukering

I was a bit surprised by the answers this week for two reasons: the species submitted and the species not submitted. With an Eastern Towhee as the quiz subject two weeks ago, I was expecting folks to choose among the two black species of Pipilo towhee. Given that most of the quiz bird is obscured by the Rocky Mountain Juniper in which it is perched (and many respondents correctly identified the genus of the tree), I thought that there would be a division of responses between the two species. And, as I've run the same species twice in succession on a couple of occasions in the Mr. Bill Mystery Quiz, I knew that the regulars would not assume that since the previous quiz bird was an Eastern that this one couldn't be.

First off, as a couple of respondents noted, there just are not many options when trying to identify a red-eyed, black-headed passerine. Bronzed Cowbird is one of those options, but that species has an arched culmen, unlike our bird's straight one. Also, that arched culmen means that there is more bill above the cutting edge than below, opposite that of our quiz bird. Additionally, the species has a sloped forehead that does not create an angle at the junction of the bill, unlike on our quiz bird.

So, like two weeks ago, we are left with the Eastern vs. Spotted bit of trickiness. With only the head, there's no way to choose between the two species, short of eeny-meeny-meiny-mo. But, as is evident in the enlarged bit of the quiz photo presented below, we can see that there is more than just the head to go on.


Now, we can see that the bird does, indeed, have rufous sides and extensive white spotting on the scapulars, the latter being the determining factor in opting for the correct answer. I took this picture of a male Spotted Towhee at the hawkwatch site at Dinosaur Ridge, Jefferson Co., CO, on 16 April 2006.

Incorrect species provided as answers:
Bronzed Cowbird - 5

Congratulations to the 24 of 29 getting the quiz correct:
Chris Schoenfelder
Thomas Hall
Ben Coulter
George Cresswell
Devich Farbotnik
Julie Rouse
Jim Nelson
Su Snyder
Michael Speegle
Kirk Huffstater
Robert McNab
Adrian Hinkle
Christopher Hinkle
Pam Myers
Brandon Percival
Margie Joy
Christian Nunes
Nick Komar
Al Guarente
Matt Bristol
Bruce Webb
Chishun Kwong
Marcel Such
Joel Such

Answer: Spotted Towhee