Comments on: Large Bird Crashes Into Van

By: dustybug

dustybug — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 17:14:17 +0000

I live in Atlantic County, NJ was running outside one day (early July) and saw this thing just chilling on the ground and I was kinda startled! So I crossed the street because I never saw a bird that big. At first I thought it was turkey or a guinea hen until I saw the thing take off and fly to the top of a two story house! The wing span was huge and then I thought is this thing a giant hawk or something?! This bird definitely did NOT stay close to the ground and I kinda knew turkeys can fly but they stay low and fly kinda slow, so I was totally thrown off. Long story short, I kicked it up a notch and hawled my butt as fast as I could away from that thing.

Do these things attack humans ever?

By: Shelley

Shelley — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:34:54 +0000

We have wild turkeys and turkey vultures here in southern Illinois. Last year there was an incident where a turkey ended up going through the windshield of a car; I don’t remember if he flew or was thrown by an impact. You occasionally see a dead turkey vulture on the road, as they love road kill and are more slow moving than smaller birds, but I have never heard of them flying into cars. Turkey vultures are good flyers, although a bit slow to take off. Wild turkeys are clumsy fliers and tend to cruise close to the ground, so I could see one flying into the path of a car by accident.

By: dogu4

dogu4 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:18:45 +0000

Not a teratornis. Dang!

By: maslo63

maslo63 — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 01:08:32 +0000

It is not a female pheasant or Guinea hen. Female pheasants don't have a rusty colored tail or the same intense banding on the wings and is too small to really be an option. Guinea hens look nothing like the bird photographed. Female pheasant Guinea hen Turkey

By: bray_beast

bray_beast — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 22:19:47 +0000

Looks like a female ringneck pheasant, or a guinea hen. The red under the eyes is what says it’s not a female turkey to me.

By: The Rish

The Rish — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 19:50:28 +0000

It is a Guinea Hen. They are a free roaming domesticated bird. They can get very large. A neighbor down the road has some. As soon as they come in my yard again, I will let you know how good they are on the grill.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:13:53 +0000

Yep, looks like a turkey.

By: kittenz

kittenz — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:01:50 +0000

Maybe someone said “turkey” and was misunderstood to say “turkey vulture”. I see wild turkeys almost every day. That looks like a turkey.

By: Richard888

Richard888 — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 12:44:27 +0000

I can see how throwing a FROZEN turkey at a car’s windshield can smash the windshield but didn’t realize that a living bird could do same damage.

By: maslo63

maslo63 — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:31:39 +0000

I agree with swnoel, the bird in the car is a turkey. How anyone could confuse the two is beyond me.