Or surely an easier way to use feathers (or other genetic material from it) than DNA analysis is to obtain the feathers from a moulting bird (if it is and they can be found), especially those that show important characters such as the white tips to wing feathers, the back colour and the other minutiae described by others as field ID characters between the various options, and compare these to known museum reference materials. Excuse me for suggesting this, as if someone else mentioned it I missed it. Although I only just thought of it, it seems such a simple obvious suggestion.
Philip
