I don't know if anyone can help me but this has been really bugging me! I am not a bird person at all but I live in an area where there are all sorts of wild birds around. The other day I saw a really unusual bird that I have never seen before & I have trawled the internet to try and identify it with no luck so just wondered if anyone could help.......

It had a very large round body, bigger than a football, which was mottled black. It had a long-ish neck and a tiny head with a very long, straight red beak. And long thin legs.

Any ideas? The only thing I have seen online that even comes close is a Glossy Ibis. But it definitely wasn't that.

Need more info....how tall ...where seen?..tree/ground? leg colour? straight beak?length of tail?...water nearby?

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It was about 2ft to the top of it's back approx. It had black legs. I didn't notice a tail particularly, just the large round body. It had a straight red beak about 6ins long maybe. It was on the side of the road (alive!) in herefordshire. I think there is a pond nearby.

ooh sounds like a mystery itching to be solved, from the description it sounds like some sort of heron or crane, although the only bird from the UK I can think of with a red bill is an oystercatcher

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I don't normally take any notice of birds, but this one was so unusual & it's bugging me. I don't think it was a heron or crane, we have lots of them round here & it didn't look like one.

Just had a look at an oystercatcher & it wasn't that. It had a big, round, black speckled body, with no white on it. And it's neck & legs were longer.

its really bugging me now
black swan? I think the legs are too short though

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Nope it wasn't a swan. The neck was not that long and much thinner.

I could draw an exact picture (not very well lol) but that doesn't really help you guys!

It might
It could be a bird passing through on migration who went off course

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Could it have been a guinea fowl? They have the most notably round bodies and dark speckling, and perhaps looking at the helmet made you think the beak was longer? Also they are quite likely to be found on road verges as they wander quite a bit.

Oooooh, that the closest looking thing. It was very large, I'm sure it had longer legs though. But you could be right about the helmet/beak.

Thank you all for your help