what's this bird?

CamperMan

OK, there is this bird that flies over our house each evening, it's about the size of a duck, maybe a little smaller, it has a curved down beak and a hint of reddish colour to it's breast, it sounds like a duck with it's "quack quack" followed by a whistle..

any ideas what this bird is?

Thanks

jmkennedyie

We have lots of types of duck. Do you think it is a small duck? e.g. check out teal or tufted duck (male and female different colours)

Is it a duck beak or a long thin beak? If latter then some sort of a wader and snipe and woodcock come to mind. Snipe smaller, associated with bogs/fields/wetlands. Woodcock larger, associated with woodland. Might be attempting to set up a breeding territory, or going somewhere to roost. Not sure of the hint of red though.

If you can share general part of the coutry and local habitat that might help too....middle of bog of allen or in Wicklow forestry etc. etc.

thimble

There's a pretty good bird identifier on the RSPB website. You can put in the colour plumage (e.g. red) and see if any of the pictures look familiar.
www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdidentifier/