Please ID the bird

Hi Peps,

The birds are Helmeted Guineafowl. These are african birds that still live in the wild (seen some myself in South Africa) but which have also been domesticated and shipped over. I suppose that if you have a stately home, having a few chickens pecking around doesn't quite cut it and you need something grander! :)

I am glad someone identified those at last. I was really stumped!

Many thanks Chris. Nobody I spoke to knew what they were so was sure they must be unusual birds. As you say, not the sort of bird you will just see anywhere!

And thanks to the RSPB site - I know where to come when I have a wildlife mystery that needs to be solved!

Peps

If you haven't already tried it, have a play with our bird identifier.

It just covers wild birds though, so it wouldn't have coped with the guineafowl! But hopefully you'll find it useful in future.

Thank you Katie for your help here and all over the place.   We sure keep you all busy up there. 

I used the bird identifier and found something I had been wondering about for a while now.  I had seen this white bird that looked similar to a swift but I hadn't a clue what it was.  My husband said that it was probably a seagull and I got  "annoyed" with him for thinking I wouldn't know the difference between a seagull and what I had just seen.   lol

After checking I am sure it was an Arctic Tern so I can now add that to my list of birds I have seen.

You will gather from the above that I am not very knowledgeable about the more unusual birds but I am always learning.

Hi Teresa,

I see from your profile that you live in Lincolnshire. In which case the bird is more likely to be a Common Tern than an Arctic Tern, the latter tend to stay up in Scotland wheras Common Terns will come a lot further south. Its an easy mistake to make, the two birds are *very* similar. Indeed, many birdwatchers can't tell the difference either and lump them together with the name 'Commic Terns'.

Thank you for your reply Chris.

I should have said I saw this bird when we were visiting Abbotsbury so it was somewhere along the Chesil beach area.  Nowhere near Scotland        

Even less likely to be an Arctic Tern then! :)

Hi Pepes

Lovely pictures of the Guinea Fowl.

Hi Chris

We have seen a lot of Common Terns living/nesting close to where I stay at Castlemill Sluice local to me at Bedford. (not too far form the RSPB Lodge)

I could see them a couple of months ago though - as I have not been able to walk properly for a while due to a broken foot ( I am on my feet once more slowly and surely)

My partner and I have noticed that Common Terns seem like to live inland more so these days.  Years ago I remember the local nature group I  worked with used to have to protect nesting birds from disturbance each nesting period.  This meant some temporary fencing off areas so the birds where left in peace on the East Coast shoreline.

This was many years ago, and now things have changed once more.  The birds have adapted to environmental changes now and I hope that they continue to do so.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

there Guineafowl of corse

     dan