I saw a pair of unusual birds this afternoon - unlike anything I've seen before in Western, PA. They were in a rural hay field. Judging from the height of the grass, I would say the more visible of the two was ~18" to ~24" tall with it's neck extended. Unlike a turkey, the neck was somewhat long and tubular in profile - similar to a goose or swan. The head was orange (not red) and did not appear to have a long pointed beak like a crane or heron. The body was medium brown in color with a lighter brown rear. With it's short tail features, the body reminded me of an emu - much smaller of course with a more proportional neck to body ratio. The second bird remained well hidden in the grass, only poking its head up once or twice. The head was similar in appearance to the first bird, but was brown matching the body. I assume they were a male and female pair. I have conclusively excluded wild turkey, turkey vulture, Canadian goose and most varieties of water bird familiar to our area. I'm stumped. Any thoughts from the bird folks? Thanks!

Sandhill crane is what it sounds like. It they have red on their head and you said it didn’t have a long beak. Could it be an immature one?

Did they look anything like this:

Fuzzy, is that a Bittern? Looks like it but I don’t have my book with me.


HJS, what time of day was this and was the sun behind you, overhead etc? I wonder if the sun made Red look orange. I’m sticking with sandhill crane.

quote:

Originally posted by pbramlett:
HJS, what time of day was this and was the sun behind you, overhead etc? I wonder if the sun made Red look orange. I’m sticking with sandhill crane.

It was ~3:00 PM. with full sun over the hay field. After a quick Google search, a strong argument may be made for the sandhill crane. The body shape is dead on. Of course at ~75 yards, my old eyes may not have been able to discern the pointed beak against the tall grass. One Google image shows a sandhill looking straight towards the camera. At that angle, the entire head appears reddish-orange. Also, there is a body of water ~2 miles from where the birds were spotted.

quote:

Originally posted by pbramlett:
Fuzzy, is that a Bittern? Looks like it but I don’t have my book with me.

Yes it is. This is the first time in three years they haven't shown up here.

Isn't that a green heron? We have them near our cabin along French Creek, in Venango county Pennsylvania.

quote:

Originally posted by Kuisis:
Isn't that a green heron? We have them near our cabin along French Creek, in Venango county Pennsylvania.

Green herons are usually much smaller. The Bittern is a tall bird whic is difficult to discern in this photo. Yet they do look very similar except for height.

Thanks pbramlett, not very familiar with the Bittern.

If you have a smart phone there’s an app for identifying birds called Merlin Bird ID put out by Cornell University. It narrows down birds by asking for size, colors, location & date to present a list of probable candidates. It has helped me figure out what’s flapping around on my property.