Quiz 25: Wing patterns

Update: Congratulations to Alvan, the winner of the Backyard Birds poster. Thanks to all who took the quiz and entered. The response was fantastic, and keep watching for another prize giveaway in the near future.

Today’s quiz introduces a new feature – a prize!

If you get all three questions correct, be sure to click the “Get Results” button at the end of the quiz and submit your results. Everyone who submits a perfect score by 5 PM Eastern Time today (April 6th, 2012) will be entered into a random drawing for the prize.

There is no limit to how many times you can attempt the quiz, so feel free to keep trying until you get all three questions right. ((Some more rules: This contest is open to anyone, however, the prize must be deliverable by the United States Post Office to an address in the United States or Canada only. No shipments outside of this area will be made.
The winner will be notified by email.
Entering your email address means that you might receive occasional emails from me in the future about upcoming Sibley Guides events, but I will never give your email address to anyone else.))

The prize is an autographed copy of my poster Backyard Birds of Eastern/Western North America. The winner will be able to choose either the Eastern or Western version of the poster. Beautifully designed and produced by Scott & Nix, this 24″ x 36″ poster shows about 100 species of the most frequently seen backyard birds. Sophisticated and functional, it could hang in any home or classroom.

Click START below to take the quiz, and good luck!

White wing patches 5

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Congratulations - you have completed White wing patches 5. You scored %%SCORE%% out of %%TOTAL%%. Your performance has been rated as %%RATING%%

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Question 1

The species is:

A	Eastern Phoebe
B	Loggerhead Shrike
C	Townsend's Solitaire
D	Northern Mockingbird

Question 1 Explanation: 

Question 2

The primary coverts are mostly:

A	white
B	dark

Question 2 Explanation: 

The primary coverts are essentially all white, with the mostly dark alula lying across them. All of the primaries are white at the base, with only a little white on the outermost and lots of white on the inner primaries. This means that only a small amount of white shows when the wing is folded (the inner primaries are hidden, stacked up underneath the secondaries) and a big white flash appears when the wing is spread.

Question 3

Comparing the two different birds in these photos (the perched bird in the explanation of question 1 and the spread wing in the explanation of question 2), is the pattern of white on the median secondary coverts the same on both of them?

A	No, the pattern of white is different.
B	Yes, they both show the same pattern of white.

Question 3 Explanation: 

The folded wing of the perched bird shows obvious white tips on the median coverts, forming a second wingbar. On the spread wing these white tips have worn off (click the photo to see in more detail) leaving just a trace of the white wingbar. The presence of melanin actually strengthens a feather, so it is common to see this condition in which the white parts of each feather have disintegrated, leaving only the dark parts.

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Perfect! Congratulations, and thanks for taking the quiz. The winner of this week's poster has already been selected, but watch this website for future contests.