167 Nikon Photo Quiz Sponsored by Nikon Canada
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VOLUME 24 NUMBER 3 168 December 2006 Quiz
Glenn Coady
This time we are presented with a Turkey. It is simply a much bigger plump, ground-dwelling bird with a and more uniformly darker short, stout bill and short legs. It is plumaged bird with a much longer probably safe to assume that bird neck than this quiz bird. ers of all experience levels would A Ring-necked Pheasant of instinctively associate this bird's either sex should show an extreme chicken-like appearance with it ly long tail, but we are unable to see belonging to one of the species of the tail on this bird. Nonetheless, it upland game birds in the order lacks the bright red facial skin and Galliformes. wide white neck-ring of a male There are ten species from this pheasant as well as the general pale order on the Ontario bird checklist, buff ground colour and the combi nine from the family Phasianidae nation of long neck and relatively (partridges, pheasants, grouse and small head which impart a "pin turkeys), namely Gray Partridge, headed" appearance to the female Ring-necked Pheasant, Ruffed pheasant. Grouse, Spruce Grouse, Willow Our quiz bird does not show Ptarmigan, Rock Ptarmigan, Sharp the obvious rufous flank barring tailed Grouse, Greater Prairie nor the generally gray ventral col Chicken and Wild Turkey; and one oration of either sex of the intro from the family Odontophoridae duced Gray Partridge. It certainly (New World quail), the Northern also lacks the orange face and Bobwhite. chestnut brown belly patch of a We can quickly eliminate the male Gray Partridge. Northern Bobwhite from consider Thus we have ruled out three of ation since our quiz bird has a fair the nine species of Ontario birds ly non-descript head pattern and from the family Phasianidae: one both sexes of the Northern species from the sub-family Bobwhite show a striking head pat Meleagridinae (Wild Turkey); and tern, with a strong contrast provid two from the sub-family Phasianinae ed by a very noticeably paler super (Ring-necked Pheasant and Gray cilium and throat that lack any Partridge). Our quiz bird is therefore streaking. one of the six Ontario grouse species Similarly, just about anyone belonging to the sub-family who has ever eaten Thanksgiving Tetraoninae. dinner would not be inclined to The grouse most easily elimi mistake our quiz bird for a Wild nated are the Willow Ptarmigan and
ONTARIO BIRDS DECEMBER 2006 169
Rock Ptarmigan. Adults of both Ontario ptarmigan species are ptarmigan species are extensively more uniformly dark than this bird. white in the non-breeding season, Likewise, the Spruce Grouse is quite unlike our quiz bird. Male not a good fit either. Adult male Willow Ptarmigan in the breeding Spruce Grouse have black throats season show a solidly rufous head and breasts with large white spots and neck and have extensively on the belly and very distinctive unmarked white bellies and under comet-shaped streaking on the tail. Male Rock Ptarmigan in the flanks, completely unlike our quiz breeding season have a head, neck bird. Female Spruce Grouse have and back that are a variegated mix breasts that are extensively linearly ture of black, brown and white bar barred with black, gold and white, ring. They also retain an extensively inconsistent with the scalloped white belly and undertail in the breast pattern seen on this bird. breeding season. Additionally, adult They also show extensive pointed ptarmigan in all seasons also usual white spots on their flanks. Both ly show some of their white flight sexes of Spruce Grouse also show feathers on the folded wing, but this small whitish lines on the head run is not useful for our quiz bird pho ning laterally back from both above tograph as we are unable to see the and below the eye, which are not flight feathers. Juveniles of both apparent on this bird.
VOLUME 24 NUMBER 3 170
narrowed the possibility down to _~L--- one of the two Ontario species of the genus Tympanuchus, the Sharp eleeCWillils tailed Grouse and the Greater ry Prairie-Chicken. NATURE STORE Quite apart from the fact that it 636 Point Pelee Dr. Leamington ON N8H 3V4 Birding' Nature' Optics' Books has been extirpated from Ontario Canada's Largest Selection of Binoculars and Scopes for over forty years, we can easily All at Discount Prices! exclude the Greater Prairie • Swarovski Chicken. It would show a complete • Kowa • Pentax ly and evenly barred body all over, • Leica a pale throat, and elongated neck • Nikon pinnae should be visible. • Swift • Bushnell Our quiz bird is, therefore, a • Zeiss Sharp-tailed Grouse, and although • Brunton we are unable to see its pale, cen • Celestron • Vortex/DLS trally-pointed tail in this photo For FAST Mail Order Delivery or Quote... graph, we are able to see many of the key field marks that reliably identify it: a slight crest, a scalloped breast pattern, large white spots in Although our bird has a short the black and gold wing coverts, and crested appearance slightly similar perhaps easiest to discern, a pale to a Ruffed Grouse, that species is belly and flanks with obvious dark easily ruled out by the lack of very chevrons. long and bold dark barring on the I photographed this adult flanks. Ruffed Grouse also do not female Sharp-tailed Grouse at the have a scalloped breast pattern like Gore Bay airport lek on Manitoulin this bird. Our quiz bird is also sim Island on 23 April 2006. My thanks ply not a good colour match for to Steve Hall and the many other either the gray or rufous morphs of Friends of Misery Bay for the dedi the Ruffed Grouse. cation they put forward in sharing Having ruled out all the other their knowledge of this lek, to the Ontario Galliformes, we have thus benefit of so many Ontario birders.
Glenn Coady, 604 - 60 Mountview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M6P 2L4 E-mail: [email protected]
ONTARlO BIRDS DECEMBER 2006