Hello Tweets,
I suspect someone has replied privately to David, but since this issue has
popped up a few times in the last year or so without any public replies I
figured I'd add the little I know.

My understanding is that live upland game birds such as Northern Bobwhite,
Chuckar as well as the more expected California Quail and Ring-Necked
Pheasant are used by hunters to train their dogs. The dogs actually learn
the scent of the birds and use that to find and flush them. I'm not 100%
sure of the process, but the end result is that birds end up escaping and
are occasionally encountered by birders. Typically these birds are found in
places used during hunting season, but I suppose someone could use
Discovery Park for training, although I'm not certain of the legality.
These birds are not countable for those who care about that although I have
seen some get "confirmed" on eBird for whatever reason.

In a post I dug up from a couple of years ago, Martha Jordan mentions
people have been keeping them as pets as well:
https://mailman1.u.washington.edu/mailman/htdig/tweeters/2012-July/091996.html

Josh Adams
Lynnwood, WA
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/20140602/8dcc4cd6/attachment.htm