Bird man of Texas:When is the answer going to be posted?
Right now!
Here we have a raft of 9 ducks (and maybe something else), 8 of which featherbrain has labeled as the quiz birds. Let's start with...
...#1: As we can see, this bird has a blue bill, an all-black head, neck, and breast, a medium-gray back, whitish flanks, and and a black "butt." These features distinguish it as a male scaup species. Distinguishing Greater from Lesser Scaup is one of the age-old identification problems in birding, and can sometimes be unbelievably difficult. Thankfully, this bird is giving us a nice frontal view, and we can see that the bill nail (that little black spot on the end of the bill) is small and narrow, which tells us that #1 is a Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis).
(If you want, you can compare the quiz bird's nail to the much larger, broader nail in the Greater Scaup in this photo.)
#2 is rather funny looking. It's obvious that it's facing away from us, and the impression I got was a very round, wholly sooty-gray bird. When compared to the surrounding ducks, it appears to be a fairly small bird. No North American small duck species shows this coloration, or body shape. The white marks on the bird's tail confirm this as an American Coot (Fulica americana).
#3 is really very simple. The black head, mostly white body, tall, peaked crown, and round white "cheek spot" make it recognizable this a male Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula). A Barrow's Goldeneye would show considerably more black on the body, a low, flat head, and a crescent-shaped "cheek spot."
#4, we're almost half-way done! This bird is most dark brown, with a lighter, contrasting area near the base of the bill and very faintly at the bird's "shoulder." If you look closely, it also has a pale eyering, and a faint supercillium (eyebrow). These features coupled with the white tip near the end of the bill confirm this as a female Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris).
#5 shows the typical arrow-shaped feathering all-over of the Anas species, the dabbling ducks. Notice the rounded puffy head, thin bill, dark eye-line, and silvery tertials (the feathers where the arrow is pointing). All these points tell us that this is an eclipse (non-breeding) male Gadwall (Anas strepera).
#6 is probably the easiest bird to identify in this photo, being that it is so distinctive. The vivid white body, striking black back, and white "bite-out-of" against a black head make it obvious that this is male Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola).
#7, almost done! As we can see, this bird has a very high, peaked crown, and a short, swayed appearance. It is mostly black, with a gray flank, and a bright white "spur" at the "shoulder." The bright white tip near the end of the bill once again confirms this as a
male Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), probably the mate of the nearby female (#4).
#8 is rather plain, has a rounded puffy head, thin bill, dark eye-line, and silvery tertials. Hmm, sounds familiar! Yep, it's another Gadwall (Anas strepera), except this one is a male in breeding plumage.
And in case anyone wondered, the bird behind the American Coot (#2) is a female Lesser Scaup. The reason we decided not to include that bird in the quiz is because we determined that it was not identifiable from this photo.
So, here's the summary:
#1 Lesser Scaup
#2 American Coot
#3 Common Goldeneye
#4 Ring-necked Duck
#5 Gadwall
#6 Bufflehead
#7 Ring-necked Duck
#8 Gadwall
Unfortunately, I'm having some troubles with a new email account, and won't be able to post incorrect answers, correct guessing users, the current score, or the next quiz photo until this evening. Again, I'm very sorry! 
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