Hi Gjon, Where we differ is that you want Idaho authorities to make
the best-informed decision possible when determining the optimal number of eggs
to destroy and adult pelicans to kill, whereas I want them to make an entirely *different*
decision, one that doesnt involve either of those options. You evidently can
reconcile assisting them in their efforts, while I cant. A similar banding
study involving Double-crested Cormorants being conducted on Sand Island at the mouth of the
Columbia River employs similar methods in hopes of achieving similar aims as
those in Idaho. After researching this project online, I contributed money to
the Audubon Society of Portland to assist their lawsuit seeking to halt the
project rather than choosing to contribute cormorant band-numbers to assist the
project itself. The bottom line is that birders deserve to know why they are encountering
bands on these fish-eating species and how the data they contribute might be
used in service of these studies. Maybe theyll conclude that the ends justify the
means, or maybe they wont. Jim Pike
HB

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