tags: Attwater's Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus cupido attwateri, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Attwater's Prairie Chicken, Tympanuchus cupido attwateri, photographed in Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 6 December 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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Female Tympanuchus pallidicintus?
It's hard to differentiate T. pallidicinctus females from T. cupido, but the Texas location argues for the former. The males are easier to tell apart by the colours of the wattles and pinnae. T. cupido attwateri exists in Texas, so I suppose that's a possibility. Finding a T. cupido pinnatus in Texas, or a T. cupido cupido anywhere, would be quite a coup.
I'm calling that a Lesser Prairie-Chicken, based on the Texas location and the "weakly barred belly" (Sibley).
I'm voting for Lesser Prairie Chicken simply because the Attwater's is so endangered.