In the Twelve Labors of Hercules, which birds did Hercules drive away from Lake Stymphalia?

The Stymphalian Birds were the dangerous birds Hercules drove away from Lake Stymphalia.

The birds lived in the marshy region around Lake Stymphalia in Arcadia. Ancient descriptions portray them as man-eating creatures with metallic feathers, sharp beaks, and claws. Their numbers made them difficult to confront directly, because they could obscure the sky and attack from above.

The goddess Athena helped Hercules by giving him a bronze rattle made by the smith god Hephaestus. The noise startled the birds and forced them into the air. Hercules then shot many of them with his bow. The survivors flew away and were later encountered by the Argonauts near the Black Sea in some traditions.

The Stymphalian Birds are not the Harpies, although both groups are dangerous birdlike creatures in Greek mythology. The labor’s setting at Stymphalia and its metallic-feather tradition make the identification specific.