It has been far too long since the last of the diabolical quizzes. And this quiz is truly diabolical. Horribly diabolical. Diabolical squared.
At least, I think it is. I tend to judge these things rather poorly.
As always, you are to use the comments to provide the common name of the bird in each image. The winner is the one who gets the most correct answers soonest and wins the adulation of everyone.
The only context you get for these pictures is that they were taken in the last two weeks in New York and New Jersey and are of wood-warblers. May the best birder win!
Quiz Bird 1
Quiz Bird 2
Quiz Bird 3
Mwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! Diabolical!
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Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
Black-throated Green Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, and Pine Warbler.
All Blackpolls.
Black-throated Blue, Common Yellowthroat, Pine.
Blackpoll, Kentucky, Bay-breasted
Black-throated Blue Warbler (you get a hint of a side-stripe), Kentucky Warbler (a unique silhouette), Pine Warbler (Blackpoll has yellow feet)
I’m not really sure about that first one. Black-throated Blue sounds like a good guess. Kentucky Warbler looks good for the second. I like Bay-breasted for the third bird because of the leg color and the tertial color.
Two of the three have been identified correctly…
I had to look twice to actualy see the bird in pic 1, let alone identify it…. ;-))
Warblers are one of my many weak areas. I admire anyone who gets this right!
I was sure Clay had gotten it! And I like Jacob’s answer the best. 😉 So looking again, is it possible that the tail on the middle bird is longer than it seems in the photo? Hmm… I hate seeming like an idiot, but here goes: Black-throated Blue Warbler, Canada Warbler (looking up? the wide-based bill looking larger from that angle?), and Bay-poll (do I really have to choose?) OK Bay-breasted Warbler. Gawd I can’t believe I’m actually posting this.
1) Can’t tell, 2) maybe an ‘opornis’ species by silhouette, 3) might be a vireo by the heavy hooked bill.
@Everyone: Catherine wins! Catherine wins! Catherine wins! Incredible!
Oh wow, I’d never have gotten the Canada Warbler. Good job, Catherine.
Nice job Catherine – maybe you should think about illustrating some warblers silhouettes 😉
Ha ha Luke. In full disclosure, I have spent the last two months drawing warbler silhouettes for an upcoming warbler book. I don’t know if the drawings are going to be any good but I definitely learned a lot.
The middle bird shows a classic slicked-down, active Canada Warbler silhouette. My first reaction though was solidly Oporornis/Geothlypis! But the bird doesn’t quite have that full-bellied look, the bill looked “wrong”, and I started wondering if the tail projection beyond the coverts was a bit longer than it seems. Also the only color information showing is that the ut coverts are quite light, which given how dark everything else is made me think that they were likely white…
On the third bird, bill shape, no apparent yellow on the feet, degree of white on tertials and remiges, and the faintest wash of greenish neck to pinkish sides made me think Bay-breasted. Even with such rationalizations I still was not sure. Was the person who took the photo completely sure? 😉
@Catherine: The only one I was remotely unsure of was picture 1, but I am pretty sure it is a BT Blue. The only other warbler I took shots of at that time was a parula. And it just doesn’t fit for that to be a parula.
The Bay-breasted was wonderfully cooperative and other shots of it will appear on the blog at a later date…