Viddler.com - What is this bird? - Uploaded by freshyill

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freshyill

About This Video

This video is Public

[EDIT: Turns out it's probably a helmeted guineafowl. Thanks to Laura Erickson at Cornell Lab of Ornithology for help in identifying it - http://www.allaboutbirds.org]

I've never seen a bird like this before (except when I saw the same one a few weeks earlier). I heard it in my yard long before I saw it. After it walked away, I went outside to try to film it, and I could hear it from very far away. It was extremely loud, and when it saw me coming, it ran. It looks sort of goose-like, but it moves much faster than a goose. It appeared in the yard again a little while ago, but it wasn't making any sounds this time. It ran off along the edge of the woods after a minute or so.

I never saw it fly, and it walks in a chicken-like fashion. The first time I saw it was on the local high school grounds on a rainy day similar to today. Could it be some kind of coot or moorhen? My North Carolina field guide for birds doesn't mention this bird.

Here's a photo where you can clearly see that it's not a turkey: http://www.flickr.com/photos/freshyill/3509957601/in/photostream/

HD version at Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/freshyill/3509944407/in/photostream/