A difficult quiz, no doubt. Harder than the last quiz.
I thought that the clue I made up would give it away. Alas! “What is black and white and red all under?” Clearly not the riddle of my youth “what is black and white and red (read) all over?”. The answers in elementary school were a newspaper and a blushing zebra.
Jory … enough reminiscing! Wake up! Back to the present.
Drum roll please.
The answer is one of my favorite birds. All it takes is a quick glance and you can identify it in a moment. Nothing else looks quite like a BLACK-NECKED STILT.
Quotes this week from Pete Dunne’s Essential Field Guide Companion and The Shorebird Guide, O’Brien, Crossley and Karlson.
Thanks for all who participated.
Jory's first field guide-identified bird was a Northern Cardinal. This turned out to be his gateway drug into birding. In 2007 Jory became the least accomplished birder to see 300 birds in New York State in one year. He has birded the world over but maintains his birding "beginner mind", of which he is inordinately proud. Just ask him. Jory is the 10,000 Birds Avian Quizmaster, coming up with ever more diabolical ways to stump his legion of devoted fans. He lives with his wife and the possessions of his children just outside of Albany NY.
You mean Magnificent Frigatebird, right!? Wings all black, looks anorexic, frequently turns and circles in the wind, nothing else (in NA) remotely resembles it, and it is black and white and red all under (depending upon age and gender). Plus it is common but widely scattered breeder (when considering its world, not US range). Just ignore the bit about subspecies… although I think there used to be three or more subspecies recognized. It all fits! See! You just have to squint a little.
A good quiz!
@Nick … I like the Magnificent Frigatebird option. Another favorite of mine. There was a time on Long Island a couple of years ago when we followed one for about an hour as it flew eastward along the shore. Lucky we had many eyes on it while my eyes were on my GPS.
Yeah, nice legs… 😉