Since last week’s puzzler was an invertebrate that is found in clean bodies of freshwater in eastern North America, I thought I would do another puzzler featuring an animal commonly seen in freshwater. This one however, has bones and is a bird. You may have seen it if you’ve spent any time in the Everglades or other similar places.
Here’s a silhouette of this bird. Do you recognize it? A great hint is that its long thin neck is sometimes confused with a snake. If you see it swimming in water, you’ll see why, as with its body underwater and only its head visible, it does resemble a snake at first glance. This silhouette is another hint as this bird is often seen along roadways or bodies of water in this characteristic pose.
If you think you know or want to guess, give it a try! Today is the first day to be entered in the new quarterly drawing. To be entered you need to be a blog subscriber AND answer the puzzler correctly. You will have many more chances–the more times you guess correctly, the better your chances are for winning. I will pull the next winner on the first day of spring. Yes! I know that’s a long way off, but it will be here sooner than you think. (This quarter’s drawing is usually on the first day of winter, but that is so close to the 25th, that I pulled this winner two weeks early so that I could mail the prize before Christmas)
My guess is a cormorant.
Arden, nice to see you here again! But your answer is wrong— it’s not a cormorant. Thanks for guessing!
Spooky-eyed Cormorant?
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8099/28827551920_388bf653bc_b.jpg
Good guess, Jock, but no. Cormorants do sit with their wings open just like puzzler 179 and I can see that it would be easy to confuse the two. But my bird has a sharper bill— though not sure this is obvious in the silhouette. The key is that it’s often thought to be a snake when people see it. Thanks for guessing.
Too easy for most kids of any age and interest in birds, Sharon. Puzzler #179 is an Anhinga. Murray
Murray— nice seeing you here. Of course you are correct! Thanks for guessing. And just FYI, many of my blog subscribers are not birders and so these bird puzzles are not that easy! Sounds like you might be really good at guessing all my puzzles; I’ll look forward to hearing from you more. Thanks for reading!
Water Turkey!
Yes!!! This is one of its nicknames. Thanks for reading.