Birds

Answers to the Diabolical Waterfowl ID Quiz

January 8, 2008 by Corey 2 Comments

The Diabolical Waterfowl ID Quiz was both more and less diabolical than I had intended.  It’s surprising how drake ducks, with their bright colors, can still be so difficult to identify if one only has a small chunk of the bird to use for one’s identifying attempt.  Nonetheless, correct answers were, eventually, given for each bird.  Below are the original quiz pictures, the names of the bird, the first to correctly identify each bird, and the pictures from which the quiz pictures were taken.

Diabolical Waterfowl ID Quiz Picture 1:

Quiz pic 1

The above picture is a small portion of a Northern Pintail, which John got correct on his second guess.  Below is the original.

Northern Pintail

Diabolical Waterfowl ID Quiz Picture 2:

Quiz pic 2

Nathan was the first to correctly identify this image is being that of an American Wigeon, though he later second-guessed himself.  See the full picture below.

American Wigeon

Diabolical Waterfowl ID Quiz Picture 3:

ID quiz 3

No one had a problem pointing out that this picture is of a Ring-necked Duck.  Next time, I’ll leave the ring out of the image.  Congrats to John, who, by virtue of being the first to guess, was the first to get two correct!

Ring-necked Duck

Diabolical Waterfowl ID Quiz Picture 4:

ID quiz 4

This difficult one was first answered correctly by Drew Weber, who figured out it is a Wood Duck, the most gaudy of North American ducks.

Wood Duck

Diabolical Waterfowl ID Quiz Picture 5:

ID Quiz 5

Perhaps the easiest of the five original pics to figure out, John got this one correct first, the only person to get three right before anyone else.  Next time, people, make sure get to an ID quiz quickly!  Oh, and the bird is a Cinnamon Teal.

Cinammon Teal

Diabolical Waterfowl ID Quiz Picture 6 (bonus):

ID quiz 6

I added this one after the others had been mostly guessed, and far too quickly I might add.  Will was the first to figure out it is an American/Eurasian Wigeon hybrid.  And if you think that was tough to figure out, wait until I do an ID quiz on the female ducks!

Hybrid Wigeon (American and Eurasian)

Written by Corey
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.