BIOL 4142 Photo QuizLab 1 Ornithology birds:
Gaviidae through Cathartidae
First, you’ll see a photo showing just enough to allow you to clinch the ID. Then, you’ll see the full photo with the name and perhaps some ID tips on specimens (not field ID)
Black-crowned Night Heron; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
The only heron with a black crown and back, clean whitish underparts
Blackish body and nearly feather-less grayish black head
Black Vulture; Cathartidae; Accipitriformes
White Ibis; Threskiornithidae; Pelecaniformes
Only the White-faced Ibis has a decurved bill like this, and it isn’t white
Wood Stork; Ciconiidae; Ciconiiformes
Bare head like a vulture; bill decurved at tip
Tawny crown and center of breast; pale bill and legs
Cattle Egret; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
American Bittern; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
The only heron with complex, brown plumage; note the blackish malar
Yellow-crowned Night Heron; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
The only bird, much less heron, with a yellowish crown; note uniform gray underparts
Turkey Vulture; Cathartidae; Accipitriformes
Specimens never have heads this red, but they are never blackish
Green Heron; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
Small heron with green feathers in back, dark crown, dark reddish brown neck, breast, and face
Little Blue Heron; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
The only heron with reddish brown head (variable) and grayish blue body
Snowy Egret; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
All white heron with black bill
Unfortunately the yellow feet don’t retain that color much in the specimens
Great Egret; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
All white heron with yellow bill
Great Blue Heron; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
Large gray heron with black crown
Magnificent Frigatebird; Fregatidae; Suliformes
Large, black, long FORKED tail, hooked bill
Double-crested Cormorant; Phalacrocoracidae; Suliformes
Large, black, relatively short tail, hooked bill; posterior border of facial skin relatively rounded; lores not feathered
Wilson’s Storm-Petrel; Hydrobatidae; Procellariiformes
Small, blackish, white upper tail coverts; single elevated tubular nostril, visible even in this photo
Neotropic Cormorant; Phalacrocoracidae; Suliformes
Like Double-crested, but posterior border of facial skin relatively angular, often bordered by white feathers; lores feathered
Least Bittern; Ardeidae; Pelecaniformes
Tiny heron with dark back and crown, tawny brown face and upper wing coverts
Large, black, relatively long tail, straight bill (no hook like cormorants); silvery feathers in upperwing coverts; notice corrugated central rectrices, tipped light brownish
Anhinga; Anhingidae; Suliformes
White-faced Ibis; Threskiornithidae; Pelecaniformes
Decurved bill and not white, so …
May look black, but …
Audubon’s Shearwater; Procellariidae; Procellariiformes
Blackish brown above, white below; note parallel tubular nostrils on bill (barely visible at the base of the bill in this photo)
Roseate Spoonbill; Threskiornithidae; Pelecaniformes
What else could it be?