Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Cattle Egret

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The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted 15:17, 8 May 2008.

[edit] Cattle Egret

We are nominating this article on behalf of the bird project for featured article. It has passed GA and had a subsequent independent review. Sabine's Sunbird and Jimfbleak 05:41, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

  • Support (moral or otherwise)Comments -giving this a final look over...I have seen the article develop and chipped in ovre time and feel it is FA worthy, though I'll just note a couple of things.Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 11:51, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
''a natural rapid expansion - reads a bit ungainly to me, I think we can drop the 'natural' as is redundant once the rest of the sentence has explained how it has spread.
Agree, done Jimfbleak (talk) 12:00, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Comment - sources look good. Ealdgyth - Talk 13:51, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Comments (Edit conflict) I havn't gotten a chance to read the whole thing, but I noticed a couple things. Is it possible to get a map that shows where the bird lives, such as the one in Bald Eagle? Also, The prose is genrally good, but in some parts it seems stop-and-start, with short sentences. I'll give a more throughout reviewing once I get the chance. Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 13:54, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
Despite attempts (see talk page), it's not proved possible to get adequate data to map for the whole of its huge range, although colouring all the warmer temperate and tropical regions except deserts and mountains wouldn't be far out. Jimfbleak (talk) 15:41, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
Alright, that's fine; it doesn't affect the article at all. I'd still like to see some copyediting, though. Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 21:07, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
It can be tricky balancing succinct vs choppy. I have scanned through it a few times over the past few months and just now found some more. I agree it can be hard as I have stared at it a few times. could you highlight some of the more obvious ones still left (and I'll see what I can do)? Cheers, Casliber (talk · contribs) 21:15, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
Sure, let me give it a good look-through and I'll have some examples shortly. Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 15:58, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

More comments

  • It is a stocky white bird adorned with buff plumes in the breeding season. It nests in colonies, usually near bodies of water and often with other wading birds. The nest is a platform of sticks in trees or shrubs. — Three short, stop-and-start sentences. Also, the first two begin with "It", which usually isn't a problem, but a lot of the sentences begin with "it". Try to mix up the wording some.
  • It weighs 270–512 grammes (9.5–18.1 oz). — Another.
  • Its bill and tarsus are longer on average than in B. i. ibis. — Same.
  • A small flock of eight birds was also seen in Fiji in 2008. — Why isn't Fiji linked?
  • Breeding season in Australia is November to early January, with one brood laid per season. — What is a brood? Might want to link it or explain it some.
  • The male advertises in a tree in the colony, using an range of ritualised behaviours such as shaking a twig and sky pointing,[35] and the pair forms over three or four days. — Might want to explain what "Advertises" means. Also, what is sky pointing?
  • The pale bluish-white eggs are oval-shaped and measure 45 mm x 53 mm. — Needs a conversion.
  • They begin to leave the nest and climb around at 2 weeks, fledge at 30 days and become independent at around the 45th day. — What does fledge mean? (serious question)
  • Sibling rivalry can be intense, and in South Africa third and fourth chicks inevitably starve. — South Africa needs a link.
  • The Cattle Egret feeds on a wide range of prey, particularly insects, especially grasshoppers, crickets, flies, and moths, as well as spiders, frogs, and earthworms. — I'd give all those types of insects a link.
  • The species is usually found with cattle and other large grazing and browsing mammals which disturb small creatures which the egrets then catch. — "Which" is used one to many times in that sentence.
  • Its performance is similar when the follow farm machinery, but it is forced to move more. — Is that supposed to say "when they follow farm machinery..."?

That's it from me. Overall, good work, but there's just a couple minor issues that I can see. Great pictures, as well. Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 18:08, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Fixed Jimfbleak (talk) 18:26, 5 May 2008 (UTC)


  • Support Much better. Good work! Juliancolton Tropical Cyclone 00:34, 6 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Support as GA reviewer. My only (slight) reservation would be the alignment of the image in Description, divorcing headers and text always makes it a little hard to read. However, prose and sourcing are absolutely top notch. Fine work! VanTucky 22:04, 3 May 2008 (UTC)
Agree about image, moved to right now Jimfbleak (talk) 05:31, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Support. I found it very well-written. I was wondering, however, if you could possibly explain the terms semialtricial, conspecifics, heartwater, and Newcastle disease. I had to look at their articles to figure out what they were. As they seem to be terms ornithologists would be familiar with, not explaining them is use of jargon. --Moni3 (talk) 15:54, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
"semialtricial" I've removed and rewritten the choppy section, "conspecifics" I've replaced with less technical term. I don't think disease names are jargon, no sensible alternative to leaving as links. Jimfbleak (talk) 18:04, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Support. I must say, I'm impressed. This page has improved immensely since my first attempt to create some form of an article from the previous stub, thanks to the tireless edits of you guys. Well done. Abbott75 ღ 07:20, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Support—Excellent. TONY (talk) 13:24, 8 May 2008 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.