February 2018 Photo Quiz

Click photo to enlarge.

We don’t have lot of plumage pattern to hang an ID on in this drab bird. All that we can see of the body plumage is unrelieved grayish-brown, or brownish-gray. The lack of wing pattern also provides little in the way of clues: no wing bars, no ulnar bar, no distinct patch of pale coverts. The wings are darker than the body plumage. Apparently. But, hey, at least the lack of wing bars means that it’s not an Empidonax flycatcher! Nope, there is so little in the way of plumage coloration patterns that, heaven forfend, we are going to have to use structural cues to get to this bird’s ID.

Please submit the correct Common or English name exactly as it appears in the ABA Checklist.

What species is this?

Photos and answers are supplied by Tony Leukering, a freelance ornithologist based in the Tampa Bay area, with strong interests in bird migration, distribution, and identification. He has worked for four different bird observatories from coast to coast and considers himself particularly adept at taking quiz photos (that is, bad pictures!). Leukering is a member of the Colorado Bird Records Committee, and reviews Colorado and Wyoming eBird data. He is also interested in most everything else that flies, particularly moths and odonates.