Utah Birds
Photo Quiz Answer
  

  
      Quiz # 003  (August 2010)
  

  
  

 

  
Comments
:

This month’s quiz showed a bird sitting on what appears to be a telephone wire.  That is the first clue.  With that clue and the overall shape of the bird nearly everyone recognized this bird as a swallow.  Our bird is preening and we can’t see the face at all, but we do have a view of the top of the head, nape, and part of the back.  They are all green.  In Utah we have 7 swallow species, but only 1 that is this green - Violet-Green Swallow.  Tree Swallows may look greenish in some light, but it is more of a iridescent, metallic blue color and not birght green like this bird.

Also several people pointed out the long wings on our bird.  The posture makes it a bit hard to see, but it appears that the wings are quite a bit longer than the tail, another characteristic of Violet-green Swallows.  The wings of Tree Swallows are not as long compared with the length of the tail.

I photographed this Violet-Green Swallow in Island Park, ID in July.

 This month’s quiz had the highest percentage correct of all the quizzes so far – 88%.
  

 

  
Correct Answers (in order received):

  1. Craig Fosdick
  2. Dominique Roche
  3. Richard Fridell
  4. Ed Leite
  5. Eric Huish
  6. Sylvia Gray
  7. Steve Carr
  8. Lee Jones
  9. Melanie Hoffman
10. Sherry Shadday
11. Bryant Olsen
12. Milt Moody
13. Ryan O’Donnell
14. Julianne Petersen
15. Darren Shirley
16. Bill Fenimore
17. Dawn Golding
18. Weston Smith
19. Yvonne Carter
20. J. Shirley
21. Dennis Shirley
22. Kendall Brown
23. Martha Happ

Incorrect Answers:
     Tree Swallow – 2
     Green Kingfisher - 1