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ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 61
ANSWER
This month's quiz bird produced an interesting array of responses, but most were of some species
of duck. The wide bill and webbed feet certainly support such an identification. However, I
suspect that the picture was something of an optical illusion for some and I can vouch for that
possibility as no small number of times upon glancing at the picture, my impression was that the
head was at a very different angle than it really is. And that makes all the difference. In
actuality the bird is flying right at us with its bill leading the way.
So, we have a generally dark duck with two white spots on the head, one each anterior and posterior
to the eye. This pattern should reduce the possibilities to just three species, White-winged and
Surf scoters and Harlequin Duck. Thus it is well that those three species topped the list of
responses. Of course, two of those species have to be incorrect. White-winged Scoter differs
from the other two in having white secondaries, so it ought to be most readily eliminated from
consideration if we're sure that we can see the quiz bird's secondaries. That tract is visible in
the picture on the bird's left wing, though I won't fault anyone for thinking otherwise. There is
another way to rule that species out that does not depend on our correct analysis of precisely
which wing feathers are visible in the picture: we simply need to scrutinize the head pattern.
The meeting of bill and head feathering on White-winged Scoter is strongly slanted, allowing the
white on the front of the face to extend well forward virtually to the nostrils. That is not the
pattern we see in the picture, where the white patch meets the bill base in a nearly vertical
manner, thus constraining the white into a more-vertical-than-horizontal patch unlike the reverse
pattern of White-winged Scoter. Additionally, the white is well separated from the nostrils.
Our bird's head pattern is fairly similar to that of a female Harlequin Duck. Note that male
Harlequin Duck is ruled out by the lack of any other white bits, particularly the vertical
stripe on the side. Unfortunately for those guessing the species, female Harlequin Ducks sport
pale bellies, something that our quiz bird lacks.
The bird's head pattern is an exact fit for Surf Scoter and the dark belly tells us that our bird
is not a juvenile. I took this picture of an adult female Surf Scoter at Bolinas Lagoon, Marin
Co., CA in November 2007.
~~~~~~~~
The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the April Bird Photo Quiz – Surf Scoter:
- Aaron Bilyeu, Placerville, CA
- Adrian Azpiroz, St. Louis, MO
- Brendan Fogarty, Hempstead, NY
- Daroczi J. Szilard, Tg.-Mures, Romania
- John Gluth, Brentwood
- Raymond VanBuskirk, Albuquerque, NM
- Ian Davies, Medford, MA
- Jim Peck, Wausau, WI
- Jeremy Medina, Tucson, AZ
- Jim Kopitzke, Mesa AZ
- Gary W. Potter, Sanger, California
- Liis Veelma, Winnipeg MB
- Joshua Watson, Gainesville, FL
- Alan Dupuis, Cambridge, NY
- Stephen Joly, Kamloops, BC
- Matt Pike, Lacey, WA
- tom graham, seabrook, NH
- John Bissell, Grimes, IA
- Mark LaRose, Waconia, MN
- Willis Brubaker, Wooster, OH
- Mark Rosenstein, Cambridge, MA
- Matthew Kenne, Algona, Iowa
- Matt Baumann, ABQ, NM
- Grant Gardner, Ottumwa, IA
- Kelly McKinne, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Kathryn Zimmerman, Ann Arbor, Michigan
- Nathan Swick, Chapel Hill, NC
- Terri Everett, Big Rapids, MI
- Kevin M Hill, Shoreline, WA
- Thomas Hall, Livermore, Colorado
- Tom Benson, San Bernardino, CA
- Amy St.Pierre, Kelly, WY
- Richard Garrigues, San Antonio de Belen, Heredia, Costa Rica
- Wayne Meyer, Denison, TX
- Jason Giovannone, West Columbia, SC
- Steve Arlow, Rochford, Essex, England
- Sam Burckhardt, Chicago, IL
- Eric Huston, Tumwater, WA
- Chris Warren, Portland, OR
- Greg Schrott, Sebring, FL
- Maria Mayer, Saint Clair Shores, MI
- Eva Pratt, Inman, SC
- Jim Mountjoy, Galesburg IL
- Rob Lane, Chandler, AZ
- Beau Schaefer, round lake beach, IL
- Graham Etherington, Norwich, UK
- Ben Kolstad, Boca Raton, FL
- Mikey Lutmerding, Frostburg, MD
- Brian McDermott, Asheville, NC
- Mike Wasilco, Scottsville, NY
- Michael S. Levy, Centereach, NY
- Greg Gillson, Hillsboro, OR
- Dave Tietjen, Huntsville, AL
- Andrew Fayer, Fort Washington, PA
- Angie Hardesty, Bowling Green, KY
- Julie Desmeules, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
- Pete Fenner, East Peoria, IL
- Bret McCarty, Lakewood, OH
- Nell Haberman, Portland, Oregon
- Josh Southern, Apex, NC
- Joshua Covill, Columbia Falls, MT
- Olaf Soltau, New Preston, CT
- Lori Fujimoto, Colorado Springs, CO
- Kevin Kerr, Guelph, ON
- Wes Serafin, orland park, IL
- Luke Downey, Friendswood, TX
- James P. Smith, Amherst, MA
- John Kuenzli, Columbus, OH
- Gerald Hockemeier, Omaha Ne
- Daryll Myhr, Kelowna,BC
- David Perpinan, Omaha, Nebraska
- Tamara Brenner, Elmhurst, IL
- Jeff Hole, Orlando, FL
- Ed Harper, Sacramento, CA
- Patty McKelvey, Sheffield Village, OH
- Kathy Brodhead, San Quintin, Baja California
- Phoebe Mundall, Tai Chung ,Taiwan
- Howard Sands, Eagle Point, Oregon
- Andy Johnson, Ann Arbor, MI
- Richard Jeffers, Santa Clara, CA
- Luke Seitz, Falmouth, ME
- Javier de Leon, Edinburg, TX
- Philip Kline, Tucson, AZ
- Marcel Such, Lyons, CO
- Shaun Hicks, Morrisville, PA
- Malkolm Boothroyd, Whitehorse, Yukon
- Deneise Conrad, San Antonio, Texas
- Urs Geiser, Woodridge, Illinois
- Ana Komro, West Bend, WI
- Evan Houston, Seattle, WA
- Jonathan Lautenbach, Grand Rapids, MI
- Koel Ko, Cambridge, UK
- Jason Pietrzak, Logan, Utah
- Jessica Prutzman, Philadelphia, PA
- Rick Poulin, Ottawa, Ontario
- Romney Bathurst, Highlands, NC
- Geoffrey A. Williamson, Chicago, IL
- Michael Bernard, Nashville, TN
- Steve Freed, Milan IL
- Adam Nisbett, Saint James, MO
- Robert Doster, Albuquerque, NM
- Max Wilson, Kensington, MD
- Jonathan Cooley, Mooresville, NC
- Alex Watson, Austin, MN
- Stephanie Smith, Redford, MI
- Ben Loehnen, New York, NY
- Sean Williams, Boston, MA
- Steve Steimel, Severna Park, MD
- Alex Ewing, Rocky Hill, NJ
- Michael Lester, Haworth, NJ
- Steve Carbol, Naples, Florida
- Henry Trombley, Starksboro, Vermont
- Anthony H. Bledsoe, Pittsburgh, PA
- David Yeany II, Cumberland, MD
- James McKay, Mesa, AZ
- Alexandre Anctil, Québec, Québec
- Jerry Jourdan, Wyandotte, MI
- Brendan Collins, New Haven, VT
- Thomas Collins, Pittsfield, MA
- Georgia Conti, Patzcuaro, Michoacan, Mexico
- Steve Klotz, Rineyville, KY
- Marcelo Brongo, Barcelona, Spain
- Matthew Schneider, Silverton, OR
- Scott Gilmore, Lantzville, British Columbia
- Michael Youn, Grand Rapids, MI
- Myles Falconer, Lakefield, ONTARIO
- Blake Mathys, Milltown, NJ
- Bobby Walsh, Davis, CA
- Randall Royal, Beaufort, SC
- Erica Wunder, Beaufort, SC
- Phil Kenny, Vienna, VA
- Tim Hochstetler, millersburg oh
- Mary Walsh, Valencia, CA
- Julie Hart, Hartland, VT
- Matthew Daw, Raleigh, NC
- Dan Walker, Canyon, Texas
- Matt Medler, Niskayuna, NY
- Pam Baum, Tucson, AZ
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.
| Surf Scoter |  | 138 |
| Harlequin Duck | | 45 |
| White-winged Scoter | | 14 |
| Black-footed Albatross | | 7 |
| Blue-winged Teal | | 7 |
| Canada Goose | | 4 |
| Masked Duck | | 3 |
| Audubon's Shearwater | | 2 |
| Ruddy Duck | | 2 |
| Black Scoter | | 1 |
| Black-vented Shearwater | | 1 |
| Brant | | 1 |
| Garganey | | 1 |
| Golden Eagle | | 1 |
| Mallard | | 1 |
| Muscovy Duck | | 1 |
| Northern Goshawk | | 1 |
| Rhinoceros Auklet | | 1 |
| Snow Goose | | 1 |
| Spectacled Eider | | 1 |
| Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | | 1 |
~~~~~~~~
The photo and answer for this quiz were supplied by Tony Leukering.
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