It sounds like the bird you saw was a Chuckar:
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/springfield/chuckar2.JPG
They are popular game birds and have been introduced onto game farms all
over the country(where they frequently escape).
Hope this helps,
Nick
birddc.blogspot.com


On 3/10/06, Monroe Harden <> wrote:
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> This morning en route to a doctor appointment I saw a weird bird standing
> on the side of the road in Havre de Grace.  It was fairly large, almost the
> size of a chicken.  It had a reddish belly with black and white striped
> sides, and a white head with bold back stripes around the neck and
> face.  The bill was red or orange.  It did not seem to care how close I
> approached, and I got about 10 digital photos- nice clear ones that I will
> post when I get home tonight.  It didn't appear injured, and it walked
> around some and pecked at the ground a few times.
>
> A woman driving by stopped and said it was a California Quail, and it had
> been seen roosting in the condo complex up the road (at the corner of MD 155
> and Canvasback, near I-95 exit 89).  But it doesn't really look like the
> photos I checked out on line of the California Quail.  Of course, none of
> the photos i saw realy match what I saw.. .but the photo on this page:
>
> http://www.surfbirds.com/Features/fuerteventura2.html
>
> labeled "Barbary Partridge" comes pretty close.  Put a white head on the
> bird on that page and run a black stripe around the neck and face and you'll
> be pretty close.  It was definitely not a Barbary Partridge, but i have no
> clue what it really is, or what it was doing there.
>
> If anyone wants to investigate in person, I saw the bird at 7:30 EST on
> Canvasback Rd in Havre de Grace, between MD rte 155 and Chapel Dr.  There is
> a stop sign by a playground at the bottom of a hill- the bird was standing
> alongside the road, by the stop sign.  This is in the middle of a housing
> development.  There is a small marsh and some reeds across the street.  It
> did fly off as I got back in the car.
>
> Watch this space for my pictures on line later this evening, after work.
>
> Monroe Harden
> Havre de Grace, MD
> 
>