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Photo Quiz 4: Fall Gets Confusing

Images via Birdshare. Clockwise from top left: (spoiler alert: clicking on these links may give away the IDs) Ganesh Jayaraman, Greg Page, kellycolganazar, Ganesh Jayaraman.

It’s technically still fall, even if we do have snow on the ground already. Perhaps the warm colors in our photo quiz will bring back some toasty memories of birding a couple of months ago. Did you see any of the above species? For that matter, what are the species up there? It’d even be helpful to know the genus for starters.

As always, our photo quiz welcomes answers from all comers, whether you know what these birds are, you’re outright guessing, or you’re just thinking out loud the way you might on an outing with your friends. In the scheme of things, these aren’t the absolute hardest little songbirds we could throw at you—but there’s nothing straightforward about them, either. Newer birders, in particular, have lots of odd anatomical features to focus on here.

We’d love to hear a description of what aspects of each bird and photo lead you to your identification, and not just the final identification you come up with. It’s like in math class: show your work for full credit. Thanks for playing!

Like these photo quizzes? Check out Quiz 1, Quiz 2, and Quiz 3.

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American Kestrel by Blair Dudeck / Macaulay Library