OK, we have never seen this before, and we think these were migrating birds and are dying to know what they were. I have researched on the net and come up zip, so I was hoping someone somewhere on here might recognize this. We found a flock of these birds in the large wetland area which borders the very large woodland behind our house, and there are also lots of fields. It was a beautiful warm sunny day today and these birds were foraging on the ground, where the water had dried up in the swamp, so maybe looking for bugs/ frogs?. They flew to to the trees when we approached. They have a high warbling call. We got a fairly good look at one; his body was dark colored, maybe dark gray or brown, possibly black. His head and neck were goldish-orange, Also, the neck feathers were very long, similar to what you find on a rooster. About seven or eight inches long. Anyone? What is this bird?
