What breed of bird is this?

[Moonspeckle]

I didn't know if this post would go on the chicken-what breed or gender discussion board, since it is definitely NOT a chicken. (Oh, and please ignore the date on these pictures, my camera is messed up >.< )

I am not even sure if this thing is even native to West Virginia......

Here it is

Here is a picture of it without the flash on:

It seems to have red eyes and a red spot right at the start of it's beak. It also has sage-looking feet.
Here is a better picture of its feet:

 

[Cowgirl71]

I don't know what it is either, but I'm eager to see what other people say! We have them too and they are very rare, I've only seen one. They sure are neat looking birds with their red eyes and green funny-looking feet!

 

[Moonspeckle]

Quote:
Well this is the first time I have EVER seen one in harts creek.

My dad actually caught it because it was stuck in his garage and was stuck in my bicycle wheel.

 

[sheila3935]

Kind of looks like a Coot. we have them here in the spring at our lake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coot

 

[Moonspeckle]

It does, but it doesn't have the white between it's eyes, it has a red spot.

 

[lasergrl]

Its a coot, there will be some variety in individuals:

http://sanfrancisco.about.com/od/sanfranciscophoto1/ig/californiabirds/americancoot.htm

It looks like a juvenile that hasnt quite gotten its full bill yet

 

[Cowgirl71]

Thanks to Sheila's link, I think it's an "American Coot." Check out this pic, it looks JUST like mine did with red eyes and funky feet: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...d=1t:429,r:6,s:27&tx=62&ty=43&biw=800&bih=363 You can try googling "American Coot" for more great pics!

The one bird I saw was one that a barn cat caught. Man, was it aggressive! We wanted to rescue it, but it was fatally injured so we put it down.

It was a beautiful unique bird though!

 

[patandchickens]

Yup, coot! Cute coot

(also remarkably dim coot, if it got stuck in a bicycle wheel in your garage

)

Feed it up and let it go.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[woodmort]

Yup ,crazy old coot--probably why it ended up where it did. If I'm not mistaken it is also a protected species.

 

[fancy]

It looks like what we call Marsh Hens here in my neck of the woods.