I thank Mark Hoffman for his comments on this topic and Mr. McKay for  
his more detailed explanation.  Additionally, I have discussed this  
here in Michigan with a University of Michigan research  
ornithologist, who also agrees that for some kinds of research it is  
necessary to kill birds.  She also stated that she does not feel  
researchers do a very good job of explaining why it is necessary to  
kill to conduct and complete their research, commenting that  
researchers are often out of touch with non-scientist concerns.  Mr.  
McKay has made an attempt to do that here by participating in this  
debate and explaining how his research findings will ultimately be  
useful to conservation.  Unfortunately, I think we live in a world  
where deep-pocketed politicians, developers and lobbyists do not give  
a hoot about this kind of research.  I worry that research like this  
- while important to help Mr. McKay achieve his academic goals - gets  
locked in a file cabinet in some university archives and the Delmarva  
Yellow-throated Warbler be damned.

Cathy Carroll

> Then you can determine to what extent populations such as the  
> unique Delmarva populations of Yellow-throated Warbler in Maryland  
> are different, and you can place them on a hierarchy of  
> conservation priority. Unfortunately, ultimately we will be unable  
> to save everything, but, hopefully, we can make the preserves we do  
> save as potent and as packed with diversity as possible, so we will  
> have as much as possible to hand down to our children.
>
> For the birds,
> Bailey McKay