What would be some pro's and con's in these type of genetic studies?

Question

What would be some pro's and con's of using different tissue types (ie blood, feathers, muscle ect) for genetic studies of wild animals in terms of destructive, non destructive (invasive) and non invasive sampling?

Answer 1

Feather sampling is non-invasive but feathers may be contaminated with bacteria, fungi or components of food, so the results may be incorrect. One can collect feathers without having to catch a bird (when a bird is caught it probably feels a stress). Feathers consist mostly keratin (protein), and DNA can be obtained from skin cells which stick to feathers.

Muscle and blood are obtained by invasive sampling. Muscle sampling is probably more harmful