As always, the “Just for Fun Avian ID Quiz” is brought to you by Jory Langner, our esteemed Avian Quizmaster.
Brrrr. It’s cold out there. It’s winter in North America now, no time for long quizzes, no lounging around in the park or on your back porch. It just cold and time to be quick about everything. So here’s a mid-winter very short quiz.
But you remember springtime. Of course you do. In fact you remember that beautiful morning when you saw a male warbler in regular breeding plumage. It was not a hybrid. Due to all the foliage, the only field mark you saw was yellow under-tail coverts. This narrows the possibilities to about 14 species.
What other common field mark do these 14 or so species have in common?
I suggest a quick look in a field guide. You’ll be surprised! I was. Regular rules apply, ABA birds, codes 1-3 only. The answer will be posted in a few days.
Have fun!
It looks like the vast majority of yellow-undertail-coverted warblers lack wingbars, though whether one applies that to all such warblers depends on one’s interpretation of the markings on the greater and median coverts of yellow and prairie warblers.
Absence of wing bars? Interesting observation, Jory!
Quite the coincidence … a relationship between wing bars and undertail coverts. Who would have thought?
@John – your point is well taken. There is an entire spectrum of wing bar “intensity”, from striking to barely discernable.