Peacocks. Are they considered rare, accidental, migrants or common? I know of a few places I have seen them running free and I have about a dozen living across from my house (in a zoo). Sometimes, they escape and come into my yard. Should I claim them for my yard bird list? Once, while driving near Lake Itasca in my R.V., I went around a corner and an Ostrich ran out in front of me. I followed it down the road for a few blocks before it took off into a field. I didn't see any houses around so it could have been wild. I never did verify if it was a rare find that may have migrated in or a local raised bird that escaped. I've been thinking about this for a while. Should I have submitted this find to the committee for review, because, I do have a picture, positive identification and most important, I have experience with the bird. I am joking but I have debated how we determine birds like Whooping Cranes, if they are or are not a legitimate find that can be counted on a life list? What do we do when we find a non-migratory bird from Texas that is found in Grand Marais? Was it a stow away on a ship, did someone let a pet loose, or did a bird that doesn't fly more than 50 miles from its range decide its going to head north for 2000 plus miles? I guess the only way we can be sure is if we ended its existence and checked what it has been eating. In reality, only the professionally trained ornithologists can make that determination, which, only a few of us are (not me). Now, I need to focus on reality. I have to get a Lewis's Woodpecker on my Minnesota life list after missing the Acorn Woodpecker that was found only a few miles from where I live. I hope it doesn't turn out to be like the White-Headed Woodpecker that was reported in Long Prairie and it turned out to be a carved model on a feeder. P.S. I should claim that Ostrich. I don't think anyone else has it on their list in this State.
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