International education and research in ecology and conservation, wildlife tracking, and human culture
Subscribe to our email list if you’d like to receive these quizzes as soon as they come out in our monthly newsletter.
Sometimes these quiz photos will be from Africa, sometimes from North America, and sometimes from elsewhere, but don’t worry, we will always tell you the location. Give it a try and let’s learn together!
These tracks are from a Springhare (Pedetes capensis) in the Kalahari region of Nambia, a country in Southern Africa. These rodents look like rabbits and have 5 toes on the front feet and 4 on the hind, contributing to the pointed aspect of the hind tracks. Springhares have 4 legs and padded feet, but typically move in a bi-pedal hop like a kangaroo, capable of making up to 4 meter bounds, and are prolific diggers of burrow systems. They are mostly nocturnal, and we see their red eyes “bouncing” across the landscape in our spotlights at night when we have worked in South Africa, Botswana, and Nambia (when we accidentally shine on them for a fraction of a second). Here, the springhare has set down its tiny front feet, pausing for a moment, and we can also see the “heel” of the hind feet.
Photo by Sandy Reed, Kalahari, Namibia
These small bird tracks are from a spotted sandpiper. Sandpipers are shorebirds, found alongside water, and here we see the tracks in the beautiful muddy banks of the Allegheny mudflats of Southwestern NY, USA, in North America. The most common sandpiper in the region is the spotted sandpiper (Actitis macularius), which may also hybridize with its sister species the common sandpiper (A. hypoleucos). As you can see in the tracks, sandpiper tracks are small, which is fitting with the small stature of the bird. It does, however, have relatively long legs for its size, and those widely splaying toes are good indicators of wet habitat use. We can see 4 toes in most of the tracks, with 3 long toes forward and one tiny toe, the hallux or toe 1, positioned at the back. We call this structure anisodactyl, but semi-palmatate. Anisodacyl just means 3 toes forward, and one back, in “classic” bird foot structure, like a child draws in a picture. Palmate refers to webbing, and semi-palmate birds often have a bit of webbing visible in good substrate, between toes 3 and 4 (the outer 2, front-facing toes). The bird seems to be moving slowly here, not reflecting the length of its true stride, perhaps foraging in the mud (those might be beak holes near their tracks).
Photo by Shane Hawkins, Southwestern New York, USA
How did you do? We’d love to hear from you!
In fact, we welcome your photo contributions from anywhere in the world! Send them to us HERE with your explanation of where they are from, what you think they are, and why you think so, and we could include them in a future quiz (giving you credit of course). Your photos will also become part of our searchable database that trackers can use for learning!
You can view old quizzes on the Original Wisdom website under the Resources tab, in the Tracking Gallery.
Happy Tracking!
The Team at Original Wisdom
One hundred percent of donations made in Brandon’s name are set aside to help provide for a high school or college student to travel to South Africa to participate in an Original Wisdom program. The student must have a strong passion for photography and/or wildlife tracking and be a part of a program or class that is learning about and working towards conservation.