With all the talk of bird watching recently, isn't it strange how little birds feature in the Book of Mormon.
The bird life of north east America is not unlike the Old World, with even a few introduced species. The further south and west you go from New England, the more different it becomes.
If Lehi had landed in Mesoamerica, or South America, he would have been confronted by bright parrots, and rich birdlife, including chicks with claws on their wings, massive flightless birds etc. These could gave been dubbed ostriches, since people in West Asia and the Mediterranean area knew about those.
The one bird the book of Mormon mentions much is the chicken. Chickens were introduced to South America by Polynesians.
Flocks are mentioned in Ether and Alma, but these could also be sheep. (Ether 2:2; 6:4; Alma 34:10).
"If two or more men own horses, surely there will be horse races and betting on horse races. And I the Lord will be pleased so long as my Sabbath day is kept holy.