Large White Bird

tonichka · #1 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 12:24 PM

Spotted in my garden - well, it been walking around for two hours. It's twice the size of a piegeon, all white, short tail, fairly long legs, but not with webbed feet. It's most distinctive feature is it's bright red eye shadow, both above and below the eyes. I'm a bit worried because a sparrow hawk has been taking all the pigeons in my garden recently, and this bird is plodding around like a lame duck. But what is it? I can't find it in any bird books or on any websites. The nearest likeness is an egret, but it definitely isn't one of those. I've taken lots of photos, but I'm not sure if I can upload them onto this site.

John · #2 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 12:33 PM

A photo is needed please. It sounds like an escapee to me but I would still like to see it to be able to have a chance of identifying it.

Try and save your image as an 800 x 600 (or larger - but not too much larger) if you can and upload it to the Forum Images Gallery. You can then link them to the thread by copying and pasting the Forum Image code below the photo into the post you make in this thread. Try it and see how it comes out.

John

paulchandler6 · #3 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 12:42 PM

A photo would be very helpful, its sounds interesting.

Paul

stirling · #4 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 02:43 PM

Can,t wait to see the photo!
Best from mike.

Dogghound · #5 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 02:50 PM

It does sound interesting i can build up a picture of it and i imagen it to look like a weird heron or something

Lance Morgan · #6 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 02:56 PM

I saw an albino heron once on the marshes at cley Norfolk.

Wild-Woman · #7 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 03:10 PM

Are you near a reserve, sea or coastal area? Just occasionally birds get injured are sick or are just exhausted and your garden is just where they've had to put down for a while.

Lance Morgan · #8 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 03:21 PM

Certainly sounds like an egret/ibis (what colour, length, shape of bill). Very interested to see photo and identify.

Gill Catton · #9 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 05:23 PM

what about a young (hence short tail) white pheasant (pheasants come in all sorts of colours)? Thinking about the red wattles around the eye that might look like eye shadow

tonichka · #10 (**permalink**) 09-10-2007, 06:31 PM

No, not a pheasant or an egret. It's like a cross between an egret and a chicken. And the red around the eyes is very bright and very distintive. It also walks with a deliberate strutting action, rather like a heron, I suppose, but it's like no heron i've ever seen. Sorry guys, but I'm not very computer lieterate and can't manage the photo upload, but if someone would like to do it for me, they can get the photos by writing to me - sweetpea.enterprises@virgin.net

Oh, and I'm hoping this bird is still with us - shortly after it disappeared this afternoon, my resident fox was lying on the lawn where the bird had been feeding.

I live in semi-urban and very landlocked Wolverhampton, so it's not a seabird or from a sanctuary, and I tried approaching it to see if it might be tame, but it strutted off immediately, looking rather worried.