The Decisive Moments

One bird + bracketed exposure + HDR with ghost removal off = three birds. I tried retouching to remove two birds. That makes one bird, but are there still three band stands? Does three birds reflect reality better than one bird? After all the bird was moving. And the shutter did click three times. Is it about reflecting reality? Or is it about communication and trust between the photographer and the viewer? Are there rules of photography? I prefer it with three.