Mysterious birds have puzzled students on campus this week.

The perplexing poultry was a guinea fowl. The creatures were described as a “turkey chicken,” by Josh Montgomery, sophomore in industrial engineering who first discovered the birds on the ISU campus. 

Montgomery and Heather Milder, junior in animal ecology, were near the Physics II building at 11 p.m Monday, Feb 5, when they came upon three guinea fowls “shivering” in the cold. 

“We just heard this really odd noise, and we just look over to the right of us and there it is: a bird with a really small head, a tiny horn, two red [wattles], and a fat plump body,” Montgomery said. 

After calling in a report to the police, Montgomery and Milder enlisted the help of friend Jake Swanson, senior in global resource systems. The three students herded the guinea fowl into the building until a security guard arrived on the scene and confiscated the birds. 

There are still several guniea fowls roaming campus. The domesticated bird originates from Africa but is not uncommon to be kept by farmers.