Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Bird Photo ID Contest Answers

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Perhaps this photo i.d. contest was way harder than I though it would be.  Or maybe bird blog readers hate taking i.d. quizzes, especially from crappy photos...even for prizes.  Oh well.  I thought it give the answers for those two individuals who even made the attempt.

Blurred in Flight
1.  Hint: Photographed in Farmington, Utah.  The background is the roof of an LDS Church building.  Photo taken when I saw the vagrant Dickcissel.  Answer: Blue Grosbeak - you can kind of see the blue hue in the photo, even a bit of the rust colored wing bars.
2.  Hint:  Photographed in Mill Creek Canyon, Salt Lake City, Utah - Two of these birds are featured in this photo i.d. contest.  Answer: Orange-crowned Warbler - this is a tough one
3.  Hint: This should be easy as its not too blurry.  Photographed at Maple Dell Scout Camp Answer: Yellow Warbler
Butt Shots
4.  Hint:  Photographed at my lunch-hour patch Answer: Black-capped Chickadee
5.  Hint:  Photographed in my backyard Answer: Black-headed Grosbeak
6.  Hint:  Photographed at my lunch-hour patch very recently Answer: Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
7.  Hint: Photographed at my lunch-hour patch - the tell-tale is in the tail. Answer: Cedar Waxwing
8.  Hint:  Its a hummingbird. Duh! Photographed at Maple Dell Scout Camp. Answer: Black-chinned Hummingbird
Chest Shots
9.  Hint:  Photo taken in Mill Creek Canyon, Utah in a Scrub-Oak tree.  Two of these birds are featured in this photo i.d. contest.  Both photos were taken of the same bird actually within minutes of each other.
Answer: Orange-crowned Warbler
10.  Hint:  Photo taken at my lunch-hour patch.  I'm gonna leave this one as a challenge for ya. Answer: Warbling Vireo
Bonus:  The Shadow Knows
11.  Hint:  The shadow reveals a lot about this bird, but if that doesn't help ya, other clues are in the photo, especially if you are a regular reader of this here blog.  Answer: Western Scrub-Jay
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4 comments:

  1. ChrisOctober 12, 2011 at 5:59 AM

    Yeh you got it a bit hard and I don't know any of those birds ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownOctober 12, 2011 at 10:30 AM

    The first two are likely unidentifiable (my guess Barn Swallow and I don't know). The others I figured out or got to the right family (gnatcatcher, jay).

    Really, though, I skipped the post for some reason.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Stewart MOctober 13, 2011 at 3:24 AM

    Hi there - I think that the first bird is a White-chested Whifflehead. This is a rare migrant from Outer Mongolia. The combination of the white bands on the covets and the pale leading edge on the forth primary are a dead giveaway. For a while I thought it was a Buff-chested Whifflehead, but then I realised that the plumage would be worn at this time of year.

    Do I win a prize?

    Cheers - Stewart M - Australia ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. RedgannetOctober 16, 2011 at 5:41 AM

    Hi, I love the idea for this challenge.
    I may well follow it with a few of my own.

    ReplyDelete

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