The red rump and head sounds like a red-morph ruffed grouse, which
is what we should expect in these parts. The rest of the description
-- particularly the beak -- is a bit of a stretch for ruffed grouse,
however. Is the shape right or wrong?

Jim McCoy
jfmccoy at earthlink.net
Redmond, WA



-----Original Message-----
From: Issymacds at aol.com [mailto:Issymacds at aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 03, 1999 4:07 PM
To: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu; tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Pheasant-like bird


I have a strange bird hanging around my feeders that I can't identify.
Before I had a good look I thought it might be a female ring-necked pheasant
but now I don't think so. It could be some exotic excapee but I still would
like to put a name to it.

It's about 18-22 inches, mottled brown with a very large bright
rust-colored
rump and head. Some white shows in the long tail feathers. It has a large
black eye with kind of a bare-looking patch below. It's beak is
multi-colored - orange, yellow, etc. Anybody got any idea what this might
be?

Joan Macdonald
Issaquah, WA