Quiz #475 (2012-4-07) Solution

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Solution by Tony Leukering

Ah, another tricky swallow/swift thing. The upperparts are unrelieved brown. While we cannot see much of the underparts at all, the throat is quite pale. First, we'll tackle the swift/swallow dichotomy. The wide-based wings with a fairly wide arm (part of wing from base to wrist) is wrong for swifts, particularly Chimney and Vaux's, which have very narrow-based wings and short arms.

Once we're among the swallows, we can quickly rule out all but the "brown" swallows: Northern Rough-winged, Tree, and Bank (this bird does not have the heft of a martin, such as Brown-chested). Unfortunately, we cannot see the tail shape well, but there's at least the suggestion of a notch or fork, though I'd be leery of depending upon that mark from this tricky view, so we'll keep Northern Rough-winged in the mix for now. The striking aspects of the bird to me are the very dark wings and the rump being the palest part of the upperparts plumage. Northern Rough-winged Swallow is typically unicolored -- or very nearly so -- above, particularly with brown flight feathers, not blackish ones. Tree Swallow shows an obvious indentation of whitish behind the wing on the flank that is lacking in our quiz bird. Other features supporting the ID as Bank Swallow include the very narrowly-pointed wings, narrow back end of the body, and pale fringes to the uppertail coverts. In my experience, from above, Bank Swallow's color is palest on the rump and gradually gets darker in all directions. I have another picture of this individual Bank Swallow on my Flickr site, which I took at Big Johnson Res., El Paso Co., CO, on 1 June 2011.

Incorrect species provided as answers:
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 11
Chimney Swift - 3
Tree Swallow - 3
Purple Martin - 1

Congratulations to the 1 of 20 getting the quiz correct:
Joshua Little

Answer: Bank Swallow

Quiz #474 (2012-4-06) Solution

 

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Solution by Margie Joy and Tony Leukering

A pile of swallows perched on wires, this is obviously a quiz photo that demands careful scrutiny. When we study such birds, many know to look at tail shape, among other features. However, many birders do not particularly notice that the various ABA-area species of swallows are of differing size, such that in congregations as this, one can often note a smaller or larger species among a horde of other swallows. Though I intended to write a lengthy piece, Margie Joy provided a succinct solution, so I'll start there.

"The perched birds appear to be Purple Martins in various plumages. I see several all-dark adult males, gray adult females, pale-bellied juveniles, and heavily spotted first-summer males. All seem the same size and most show the forked tail of Purple Martin.

"I first thought that the smaller, flying bird was behind the martins but, on looking closer, is actually in front. It shows the long, narrow, curved wings and bullet-shaped body of a swift. My best guess is Chimney Swift because of the mostly dark color and narrow wings. It's difficult to see marks on this bird but the throat appears to be a bit paler than the top of the head, but not as contrasty as Vaux's or White-throated swifts, and it doesn't seem as dark overall as Black Swift would be."

Indeed, Margie has dealt with this one nicely. While there are a couple of birds that look smaller or that sport a pale forehead, none of the perched birds are actually smaller, and all for which we can see the tail shape have the deeply-notched tails of Purple Martin. I have included, below, a cut-out of the swift for your ogling pleasure. I took this picture of massing Purple Martins and a flying Chimney Swift from my roof in Villas, Cape May Co., NJ, on 13 August 2011.

It is interesting that the names of all three of the correct respondents have a 'j' in them; the first two are the only respondents with perfect 6-for-6 scores in the current quarterly competition.

Twelve respondents provided answers that included no incorrect species but just one correct species, Purple Martin.

Incorrect species provided as answers:
Northern Rough-winged Swallow - 2
Cliff Swallow - 1

Congratulations to the 3 of 18 getting the quiz correct:
Margie Joy
Richard Jeffers
Joe Bens

Answer: Chimney Swift, Purple Martin