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Message: <blockquote data-quote="jmorlan" data-source="post: 1797783" data-attributes="member: 1564">Eight specimens seems reasonable to me although I would much prefer that they come from different localities.  But even if they are all from a single locality, one needs more than one bird to do any kind of statistical analysis or test for significance.  Many birds have considerable variation which may be from different age, sex or just individual variation.  It's really easy to be misled by a single specimen.   The important thing is that the most information possible be obtained from each specimen.  These are not just museum trophies.  They include tissue samples, analysis of stomach contents, etc.  Along the same line, the specimens are most valuable if the entire series remains in one place.  Trading off extra specimens results in a situation where direct comparison of birds in a series becomes increasingly difficult.  I hope Cornell keeps the entire series in one place.But I agree that collecting a few specimens is just the beginning.  Learning about and recording their vocalizations, studying their breeding ecology and behavior, all of it is important.  That said, I remain unalterably opposed to the collecting of out-of-range vagrants merely to obtain a voucher specimen to prove its identity.  The information gained from such collecting is insufficient to justify it in most cases and it has political consequences when the scientific community is seen as villains by the twitching community.  It can lead to suppressing of information which is not in the interest of either science or recreation.  Here is a reference.  I agree with much, but not all of it:REMSEN, J. V., JR. 1995. The  importance of continued collecting of specimens to ornithology and bird conservation. Bird Conservation  International 5: 145-180. (<a href="http://www.museum.lsu.edu/%7ERemsen/1995BCI.PDF" target="_blank">PDF</a>)</blockquote>

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