While putting together this week's quiz I decided to create a category just for the quizzes on the blog page and, in doing so, discovered that the sequence of quizzes contained a duplication - there were 2 #5's. So no, you haven't missed one - last week's quiz was really #11 and the answer was Black-legged Kittiwake. And, since a few of you deemed it to easy, here is one that you may have to work at a little. Another confusing "non-adult" plumaged gull (after this one we'll leave the gulls alone for a while). Good luck!
Recently in 2006 Bird Quizzes Category
Last week's bird was a Spotted Sandpiper and, since shorebirds are so much fun, let's continue with another this week. This bird was found on the shoreline of Resurrection Bay near Seward, Alaska.
Last week's quiz bird a little confusing for me at first but after much deliberation decided that it could only be a Bonaparte's Gull. For this week we have a shorebird that had, up until the other day, proven to be a tough one for me to get. I made the image at the western end of Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge east of Tok, Alaska.
(It is worth noting that Tetlin NWR borders Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve on the north; this park is the largest in area of all the U.S. National Parks at over 13 million acres. These two huge areas border the Yukon Territory on their eastern edges and, in turn, adjoin Canada's Kluane National Park & Preserve. The 2 national parks combined with the refuge protect approximately 19 million acres and represent the largest protected area in the world!)
So we're a little late after all but settled in up here in the Yukon where it is about 45 degrees here this morning. Last week's bird was a female Blue Grouse who was still tending to a group of just barely flying young.
This week's mystery bird is from one of the most confusing families - the Larids. Gulls, terns, and the Black Skimmer make up this group and gulls come in all sizes and plumages. This particular specimen was lurking around the Fish Creek Wildlife Viewing Area though, unlike the other gulls around, did not seem to be scavenging on the salmon carcasses left behing by the bears. It appeared to be feeding in the water - possibly the salmon roe (eggs)?
Have fun!
Yikes! Another late post with the Friday Quiz. Things haven't been great for image making this week and with the sun shining today I tried to make the most of it. I'm currently in the mountains of west central British Columbia and that is where this week's quiz bird can be found.
The answer to Quiz #5 was Steller's Jay - who are aka "Camp Robber" for their habit of flying right to your picnic table and stealing food (Gray Jays have also earned this monikor). Actually this very bird landed on the mirror of my truck as I was preparing to leave the area. Not bashful at all.
Good luck with this week's (confusing) bird!
Last week's bird was a little tricky, I suppose, with some 6 sub-species of Dark-eyed Junco, knowing the range we can narrow down the list of possible suspects to 3: Slate-colored, Pink-sided, and Oregon. Looking closely at the Pink-sided we see that in adult plumages the lores (the fleshy area between the base of the bill and the eyes) is black, eliminating this sub-species as a contender. The Slate-colored female can be similar in appearance but, in mid-July, highly unlikely as they nest in the Boreal forests of Canada and would be extremely rare in mid-summer. In addition, our bird has a a full grey hood where the Slate-colored "brown" female has brown on the back of the head. So the answer is female Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon sub-species.
This week's bird is also a forest dweller that was photographed in western Montana. Good luck!
Last week's quiz was definitely a toughie since there wasn't a whole lot to go on. What you couldn't see that made it so tough were the blue feathers on the wings - our bird was a juvenile Mountain Bluebird.
This week's should be a little easier, the biggest downside being it is difficult to tell the bill shape since this bird's is full of bugs.
Good Luck!
