It is with mild annoyance that I find the Audubon Society's campaign to replace the mockingbird with the scrub jay as Florida's state bird on the front page (Nov 22). Is the environmental desolation of our state so inconsequential that a major news source and conservation organization can squander resources on such a trivial exercise?

Even from a public relations perspective, the scrub jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) is a poor choice for a symbolic role. According to the Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds and the Audubon Handbook, this species is not even peculiar to Florida, being well established west of the Rockies, from Canada to Mexico. Even the insular Florida population is believed to have had a far larger range, extending from California to the Atlantic. Besides, do we want our state bird to be a species that supplements its diet with the young and eggs of other birds? Look it up.

It is sad that A. coerulescens is declining. The Florida subspecies, isolated from its cousins in the West, might eventually become a distinct organism, a textbook example of evolution. This process is observed in other isolated populations of the scrub jay in the West.

But the best way to preserve this animal is to protect its habitat. This will not only protect the scrub jay, but even more important, preserve the unique community of plants and animals it depends on and contributes to.