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ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 39
ANSWER
Some birds are notoriously tricky to identify – many Empidonax flycatchers, some large gulls, some shorebirds. If there is one group that poses an underappreciated identification challenge it's the Catharus thrushes. In the U.S. and Canada we only have five species that regularly occur – Swainson's Thrush, Hermit Thrush, Veery, Gray-cheeked Thrush and Bicknell's Thrush. But these five species can present some very real identification challenges.
The shape and spotted underparts of this bird can leave us with little doubt that we are dealing with one of the dreaded Catharus. One of the most important characteristics to look for on any Catharus thrush is the face pattern, and this bird shows why. Our bird has a distinctive spectacle on the face created by the strong pale eye ring and superloral – a face pattern that is really only shown by Swainson's Thrush. These contrast strongly against the darker face. No Veery, Gray-cheeked or Bicknell's Thrush would show this strong of a facial pattern with contrasting eye ring and a buffy supraloral area. Some Hermit Thrushes may come close to this individual, but Hermit Thrushes show a dark area that separates the pale eye-ring from the pale supralores. So if you answered Swainson's Thrush – well done, you're still in the running for the binocular!
But there is more to identifying Swainson's Thrushes than simply getting it to Swainson's Thrush. Which Swainson's Thrush? The plumage differences between these Olive-backed and Russet-backed Swainson's Thrushes are at least as great as those between Bicknell's and Gray-cheeked Thrushes.
The warm brown upperparts on this bird may call to mind Russet-backed Swainson's Thrush. But the eye-ring is on the heavy side for Russet-backed Swainson's Thrush – more what we would expect with Olive-backed Swainson's Thrush. More importantly, the flanks on this bird appear olive without the rufous expected on Russet-backed Swainson's Thrush. Look particularly at the flanks near the primary coverts where there is no hint of rufous at all. From what we can see, the breast spotting appears quite extensive, another feature of Olive-backed Swainson's Thrush.
For more on Catharus Thrush ID, see Dan Lane and Alvaro Jaramillo's excellent three part series in Volume 32 (issues 2-4) of Birding. Use some caution when looking at these photographs, many of them were taken using a flash. While flash photography makes for some pretty pictures, it can also make birds appear considerably different than they would in the field.
With the addition of this image of the same bird we can be more confident that this is an Olive-backed Swainson's Thrush given the olive flanks and distinct spotting on the breast. That these images were taken in Colorado is another strong clue that this is an Olive-backed Swainson's Thrush. Of course judging colors on photographs is challenging, even more so when they are viewed on a variety of computer monitors. For that reason, perhaps it's safest to leave this bird as a Swainson's Thrush.
This Swainson's Thrush was photographed by Bill Maynard at Chico Basin Ranch, El Paso County, Colorado in May of 2006.
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The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the June Bird Photo Quiz – Swainson's Thrush:
- Brian Ahern, Tampa, FL.
- Karl Mayer, Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
- John Bissell, Grimes, Iowa
- Joel, Anacortes, Washington
- Kai reed, putney, vermont
- Eva Pratt, Inman, SC
- Rick Poulin, Ottawa, Ontario
- Jim Mountjoy, Galesburg, IL
- Malkolm Boothroyd, Whitehorse Yukon
- Ian Davies, Medford, MA
- Bertram.E.B.BREE, Jersey island,European Channel Isles
- Leslie Rountree, Fayetteville, GA
- Alex Lin-Moore, Houston, TX
- Erica Clark, Bothell, Washington
- Kevin Winegardner, Ithaca, NY
- Matthew Daw, Raliegh, NC
- Jason Giovannone, Columbia, SC
- Nathan Swick, Chapel HIll, NC
- Lauren B, East Northport, NY
- Sam Pratt, Inman, SC
- Jenifer Detter, Eureka Springs Arkansas
- Aaron Hulsey, Smiths Grove, Ky
- Gabriella Howard, Augusta, Maine
- Charlie Corpening, Cumming, GA
- Aaron Bilyeu, Placerville, CA
- Kevin Kerr, Guelph, ON
- Peter Osswald, Lindenhurst, N.Y.
- Michael Denning, Taylorville,Ilinois
- Richard Garrigues, San Antonio de Belen, Heredia, Costa Rica
- Ethan Kistler, Newton Falls, Ohio
- Brent Bomkamp, Northport, New York
- Julia C. Pappas, Salt Flat, TX
- Alan J. Knue, Seattle, WA
- Tom Auer, Manomet, MA
- Hannah Kistler, Newton Falls, OH
- Michael Lester, Haworth, NJ
- Steve Hampton, Davis, CA
- Lori Fujimoto, Colorado Springs, CO
- Ben Young, Salem, OR
- Brian E. Small, Los Angeles, CA
- Jason Waanders, Washington, DC
- Karen Rubinstein, New York, NY
- Mary Austin, Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Nick Anich, Ashland, WI
- Gene Stagner, Tacoma, WA 98446
- Neal Reilly, Schenectady, NY
- Philip Kline, Tucson, AZ
- Will Miller, Boise, Idaho
- Bill Maynard, Colorado Springs, CO
- Dave Worthington, Toronto, Ontario,
- Yves Gauthier, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- George Cresswell, Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Marcelo Brongo, Barcelona, Spain
- Stephen Seiffert, Lansdowne, Ontario Canada
- James Lerner, Lloyd Neck, NY
- Loren Hansen, Kingsley, IA.
- Ry Farley, Pasadena, CA
- Tracy McCarthey, Tempe, AZ
- Lee Barnes, Seattle, WA
- Rob Young, alexandria, va
- Jeff Hole, Orlando, Florida
- Edith Prince, Seattle, WA
- Michael S. Levy, Centereach, N.Y.
- Pam Baum, Tucson, AZ
- Gary W. Potter, Sanger, CA
- Stephanie Smith, Lansing, MI
- Catherine Craig, San Diego, CA
- Matt Anthony, Bel Air, MD
- Andy Bankert, Melbourne Beach, FL
- Matt Pike, Lacey WA
- Marcel Gauthier, St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC, Canada
- Richard Hibpshman, Issaquah, WA
- Matthew Johnston, Tucson, AZ
- Brian Schiefer, Hazlet, NJ
- Mike Bedson, Ellington, CT
- Mike Weaver, Eugene, OR
- Cynthia Taylor, Tucson, AZ
- Michael Hartley, Tallahassee, FL
- Brad Wilkinson, Tallmadge, Ohio
- Theresa Burby, Midland, MI
- Ben Coulter, Erie, PA
- Greg Gillson, Hillsboro, OR
- TJ Hathcock, Cleveland, OK
- Jennifer Perry, Deerfield, NH
- Jay Keller, Arlington, VA
- Oscar Johnson, Santa Barbara, CA
- Jackie Allison, Nipomo, California
- Ben Archer, Wimberley, Texas
- Vicki Sandage, Ashland, KY
- Shaun Hicks, Morrisville, PA
- Daroczi Szilard, Romania
- Rob Fergus, Perkasie, PA
- Lindsay Swanson, Portland, OR
- Linda Swanson, San Francisco, CA
- Will Richardson, Truckee, CA
- Gary Bird, Maxeys, GA
- Leta Bird, Maxeys, GA
- Noah Gaines, Flagstaff, AZ
- Benjamin Griffith, Merrimack, NH
- Colin Woolley, Lee Vining, CA
- Hannah Nadel, Fresno, CA
- Louie Toth, Fairview Hgts, IL
- Harry Hooper, Tallahassee, Florida
- Matthew Schneider, Silverton, OR
- Philip Chaon, Cleveland, Ohio
- Nels F. Thompson, Owatonna, MN
- Greg Zupansic, Eugene, Oregon
- Mary Chambers, Davis, CA
- Blake Mathys, New Brunswick, NJ
- Benoit Dorion, Saint-Laurent, Quebec, Canada
- Nicolas Hallé, St-Nicolas,Qc,Canada
- Matthew Toomey, tempe, az
- Blue Rubinstein, New York
- Jill McElderry-Maxwell, Springfield, PA
- Arun Bose, Richmond, VA
- Jon Mundall, Connell, WA
- James McKay, Mesa, AZ
- Robert Lengacher, Tallahassee, FL
- Tony Leukering, Brighton, CO
- Jack Rothman, City Island, New York
- Gerald J Brow, Cedar Michigan
- Sandra Lautrup, Effingham, ILL.
- Francesc Jutglar, Cardedeu, Spain
- Emily Rich, Clinton, NY
- James P. Smith, Amherst, MA
- Melissa Hein, North Branch, MN
- Meghan Powell, Enfield, Ct
- Ron Pozzi, Granite Bay, CA
- Rich Swartzentruber, Salem, Oregon
- Carolyn Vance, Los Alamitos, CA
- Gerard Koehn, colorado springs colorado
- David C. Smith, Owings Mills, MD
- David Schas, Powell Butte, Oregon
- Tim Hochstetler, millersburg OH
- William Haffey, Norwalk, CT
- David Zeitlin, Stonington, CT
- Tim Avery, Indianapolis, IN
- Rachel King, Brooklyn NY
- Richard Green, Brooklyn NY
- Joel Mundall, Loma Linda, CA
- Jim Kopitzke, Mesa AZ
- Eddie Mundall, Klamath Falls, OR
- Laurina Mundall, Klamath Falls, OR
- Bryan Patrick, Woodland Park, CO
- Ryan Dudragne, Swift Current, SK
- alice jackson, columbus, oh
- Dane Rockwell, Indianapolis, IN
- Cathleen Frey, Pensacola, FL
- Erik Mundall, Yilan, TAIWAN
- Pilaiporn Mundall, Yilan, TAIWAN
- Jimmy Kirshberger, Liberty, IN
- Peter Dedicoat, Stafford, UK
- Adrian Azpiroz, St. Louis, MO
- Kathryn Holm, Tamuning, GU
HOW DID YOU COMPARE?
As stated in the quiz rules, answers must consist simply of the Common or English name exactly as it appears in the ABA Checklist.
The following list shows the number of submissions for each species guessed.
| Swainson's Thrush |  | 154 |
| Hermit Thrush | | 32 |
| Bicknell's Thrush | | 21 |
| Gray-cheeked Thrush | | 11 |
| Veery | | 5 |
| Ovenbird | | 2 |
| Carolina Wren | | 1 |
| House Finch | | 1 |
| Lincoln's Sparrow | | 1 |
| White-throated Sparrow | | 1 |
| Wood Thrush | | 1 |
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The photo and answer for this quiz were supplied by Chris Wood.
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