ABA Online Bird Photo Quiz 48

ANSWER

Frequent participants in the online photo quiz know that we tend to focus on structural clues in identifying birds. Many of these are found on the shape and size of a bird's bill. Of course, there are times in the field when you can't see a bird's head (and even more times when the bill is hidden in a photo quiz!).

In this case, there are three things that could/should stand out. First, this bird has a bright red rump, along with some reddish tones to the head and mantle. Second, this bird has relatively long wings with several primaries extending far beyond the tip of the tertials. Third, the bird is perched on what appears to be a fairly substantial amount of the white stuff—snow.

One group of birds should come to mind—finches. True, there are other birds that share these characteristics, but finches are frequently seen in the snow, have long wings and often have red in their plumage. If we can't find our bird there, we can always return to other groups.

Since the wings were helpful in bringing us to plumage, let's look at them more carefully. I know what you may be thinking—there isn't much else to look at—no wing bars, no broad edges to the tertials, in fact there appear to be no markings at all to the tertials. What can we look at! In this case, the absence of these markings are exactly what is useful. The great majority of finches have obviously patterned tertials. In fact, only one North American finch has dark brownish wings with no markings on tertials and greater coverts—Red Crossbill.

The red rump fits Red Crossbill, as does the more diluted red cast to the upperparts and head. If we need anything else, look closely at the pattern of the undertail coverts—bright white with some kind of dark pattern. That, too, fits Red Crossbill, which has white undertail coverts with dark centers to each feather.

This Red Crossbill was photographed in Hamilton County in Upstate New York, February 2007.

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The following people (listed by submission date beginning with the earliest) submitted correct answers for the March Bird Photo Quiz – Red Crossbill:

1. kevin bolton, Prospect Park N.J
2. Brian McAllister, Saranac Lake, NY
3. Joseph Morlan, Pacifica, CA
4. Petro Pynnönen, Helsinki, Finland
5. Aaron Bilyeu, Placerville, CA
6. Karl Erich Mayer, Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
7. Mikey Lutmerding, Frostburg, Maryland
8. Karen Rubinstein, New York, NY
9. Brandon Percival, Pueblo West, CO
10. Nick Anich, Ashland, WI
11. Sam Collins, Vancouver, BC
12. E.J. Raynor, fairfield, ct
13. John Bissell, Grimes, IA
14. Diana Bradshaw, Damascus, OR
15. Jessica Bruland, Damascus, MD
16. Rich Swartzentruber, Salem, Oregon
17. Ed Harper, Sacramento, CA
18. David Perpinan, Barcelona, Spain
19. Kevin Kerr, Guelph, ON
20. Alex Ewing, Rocky Hill, NJ
21. Kevin M. Kincaid, Indianapolis, IN
22. David Bell, Sault Ste. Marie, ON
23. Wayne Meyer, Denison, TX
24. Stephen Joly, Kamloops, BC
25. Mike Burrell, Heidelberg, Ontario
26. Bernard Grossman, Rexford, New York
27. Pat Paternostro, Uniontown, Oh
28. Sam Galick, Flemington, NJ
29. Matt Pike, Baghdad Iraq
30. Nels F. Thompson, Owatonna, MN
31. Andrew Keaveney, Guelph, ON
32. Vaughn Morrison, Todd, NC
33. Nathan Swick, Chapel Hill, NC
34. Sam Pratt, Inman, SC
35. Tom Auer, Allouez, MI
36. Grant Rettig, San Luis Obispo, CA
37. Melissa Hein, North Branch, MN
38. Ethan Kistler, Newton Falls, Ohio
39. Michael Miller, Chicago, Illinois
40. Aaron Barriger, Meriden,CT
41. Don Koch, Salineville, Oh
42. Brendan Fogarty, Garden City, NY
43. JoHanna Stahl, Fordville, North Dakota
44. Chris Warren, Portland, OR
45. Ian Davies, Medford, MA
46. Bill Glenn, Las Cruces, NM
47. Jim Pawlicki, Williamsville, NY
48. Jim Mountjoy, Galesburg IL
49. Marcelo Brongo, Barcelona, Spain
50. Dave Nurney, GB
51. Haynes Werner, Beaufort, SC
52. David Irons, Eugene, OR
53. Phoebe Mundall, Tai Chung, TAIWAN
54. Rob Fergus, Perkasie, PA
55. Steven Mitten, Belize City, Belize
56. Seabrooke Leckie, Toronto, Ontario
57. Jennifer Perry, Deerfield, NH
58. Steve Hampton, Davis, CA
59. Olivier Barden, Quebec City, Qc
60. Joshua Covill, Columbia Falls, MT
61. Joshua D. Kreitzer, Enterprise, UT
62. Charlie Corpening, Cumming, Georgia
63. Nell haberman, Portland, Oregon
64. Alan J. Knue, Seattle, WA
65. Sarah J. Zastrow, Riverdale Park, MD
66. lenny warren, topsham,me 04086
67. Terri Everett, Big Rapids, MI
68. Johanna Wielfaert, Britton, MI
69. Ben Coulter, Erie, PA
70. Susan Powell, Williamsburg, Virginia
71. Marlene Jay Cashen, Veradale, Washington
72. Robert Mottershead, Philadelphia, PA
73. A. McAndrews, Xalapa, Veracruz
74. Gerald J Brow, Cedar Michigan
75. Rick Poulin, Ottawa, Ontario
76. Edward Raynor, NY, NY
77. Harry Hooper, Tallahassee, Florida
78. Malkolm Boothroyd, Whitehorse, Yukon
79. Lowell Young, Mariposa, CA
80. Pam Baum, Tucson, AZ
81. Cole Wolf, Albuquerque, NM
82. Rhys jones, Waunfawr, UK
83. Szilard Daroczi, Targu Mures, Romania
84. Marc Ribaudo, Woodbridge, Va
85. Steve Steimel, Severna Park, Md.
86. Louie Toth, Fairview Hgts, IL
87. Francesc Jutglar, Cardedeu, Spain
88. Greg Gillson, Hillsboro, Oregon
89. Tim Hochstetler, millersburg, OH
90. Henry Wilton, Rutland, VT
91. Joseph Lautenbach, Grand Rapids, MI
92. Thomas Snetsinger, Brownsville, OR
93. Sabrina Himschoot, Jonesboro, AR
94. Andrew Deegan, Huntington, VT
95. Greg Zupansic, Eugene, Oregon
96. Kevin Welsh, Novi, Michigan
97. John G Anderson, Reno, NV
98. Jacob Saucier, Baton Rouge, LA
99. David Copplestone, Lakefield, Ontario
100. Sulli Gibson, Northfield, Illinois
101. Eleanor Proctor, Peterborough, Ontario
102. Philip Stahl, Fordville, Norh Dakota
103. Oscar Johnson, Santa Barbara, CA
104. Matthew Schneider, Silverton, OR
105. John Habig, Carlisle, Ohio
106. Robert Doster, Albuquerque, NM
107. Anne Brown, Durham, NC
108. Jon Atwood, Keene, NH
109. Ryan Dudragne, Swift Current, SK
110. Jonathan D. Lautenbach, Grand Rapids MI
111. Julia Marko Dunn, Newmarket, Ontario
112. Blue Rubinstein, New York, NY
113. Andre Pelletier, La Prairie, Quebec, Canada
114. James P. Smith, Amherst, MA
115. Jeff Hole, Orlando, FL
116. Myles Falconer, Lakefiled, ON, Canada
117. Ben Young, Salem, OR
118. Susannah Lerman, Amherst, MA

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.

Red Crossbill		118
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch		43
House Finch		14
Eastern Towhee		8
Pine Grosbeak		6
Purple Finch		6
Cassin's Finch		5
Dark-eyed Junco		4
Common Redpoll		3
American Robin		2
Black-Headed Grosbeak		2
Chestnut-backed Chickadee		2
Cliff Swallow		2
Orchard Oriole		2
Brambling		1
California Towhee		1
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch		1
Hermit Thrush		1
Hoary Redpoll		1
Horned Lark		1
Killdeer		1
Red-tailed Hawk		1
Scarlet Tanager		1
Seaside Sparrow		1
Vermilion Flycatcher		1

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The photo and answer for this quiz were supplied by Chris Wood.