Date: Thu, 25 Apr 2002 13:29:52 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: "Simonson, Don (OD/ORS)" Subject: Request for ID help - Exotic bird MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" I live in Darnestown, MD, a semi-rural area 20 miles nw of Washington, DC. Yesterday my wife saw a strange bird in the yard, we followed it across the yard and out into a stubble cornfield behind the house. The bird is back again today. It is large, about the size and shape of a Ring-necked Pheasant, but with a slightly shorter tail. The overall impression is of a completely black bird, like a crow. when we approached to about 25 feet, we could see small copper-colored flecks on the back, and an area of slightly bluish iridescence on the neck. The bill was light gray. The eye and skin around the eye were black. The neck is long and the legs are long and powerful. When approached closely, it hunkered down to the ground, then ran for a dozen yards before taking flight. There was no whirring sound (unlike Ring-necked Pheasant) when it flew. Long tail coming to a point; but not nearly as long as the tail of an adult male Ring-necked Pheasant. Clearly a gallinaceous bird. Melanistic Ring-necked x Japanese Green Pheasant??? Is there such a bird as a Black Pheasant? Don Simonson, MCP Information Technology Manager National Institutes of Health, Office of the Director Office of Research Services, Veterinary Resources Program Building 14A, Room 103, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 phone: 301-496-3348 fax: 301-402-2819 email: Simonson@nih.gov ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================