This past weekend I had a very good look at a bird that I've not been able
to find in any of my bird books. I think it may be a captive pet that's
escaped.

The bird had a chicken like head with a red beak and red cheek patches. It
was quite large almost the size of a goose. It had a strange shape, almost
like a raccoon, or an armadillo, really humped. It was a uniform grey colour
with tiny white spots that were slightly larger on the sides. The neck was
chickenish too and sloped down to a light brown area just at the base of the
neck. The legs were thick and grey.

I saw the bird on the shoulder of the Island Highway on Vancouver Island,
near Mud Bay. It was weaving back and forth along the shoulder of the road,
in and out of the bushes, pecking at the ground now and then. We turned the
car around to go back for a better look and it walked right up to the car. I
scared it away when I stuck my head out the window with my camera to get a
picture. It was only about a metre away from me at that point, but it ran
away very quickly into the woods when it saw me. It almost looked like some
kind of peacock. Anybody have any ideas what I might have seen?

Thanks,

Ingrid Lae