Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Birds/Country lists

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[edit] Other potential elements for the table

  • Should we include a "Last checked" column, dated to make it easier to check lists periodically for updates, vandalism reverts, etc.?
  • Should we include all regional lists here, including states, counties, etc.? Or restrict it to countries only?
  • And can anybody think of other table elements that might be useful? MeegsC | Talk 17:14, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
last checked: no objection, but isn't it duplicating page history?
My preference would be just countries and larger (eg continents, southern Africa, south Asia - we can't really chuck out North America Jimfbleak 18:45, 6 November 2007 (UTC)
Is there any way of autogenerating the ToCs for the modified headings - it's very tedious doing it by hand? Jimfbleak 07:57, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
I don't know anything about autogeneration; I've just been copying them from similar lists and making the necessary modifications by hand. MeegsC | Talk 08:54, 7 November 2007 (UTC)
My 2 cents......Bird lists do get updated perodically (i.e. North America just added 7 new species to the list), so it would be nice to have a last checked date column listed (and hope it doesn't get vandalized) rather than checking through all the page history. I agree with Jim that every state in the US doesn't need to be on this verification, (perhaps another list similar to this one for US States?????) however we should add places like Hawaii and Puerto Rico, Guam, etc. to this list since these birds do not appear on the North American list.
Some questions I have.....There is a Canadian List and a North American List. I know this has been hashed about many times before, but we really should do something about carrying a North American list and a Canadian list. For what it's worth, there are some birds which have only appeared in Canada and not the US (Grey Heron, and Eurasian Oystercatcher for 2 birds I know, I also know there aren't very many more). My peference is to edit the North American list to have a separate Continental US and Canadian list to promote both countries identities for equal footing (so to speak). The other option is to merge the Canadian list into the North American one, but I think the Canadians would get upset at that one?????). Haiti and Hispaniola lists have similar issues. Also as the list gets longer, maybe it should be split by either alphabetic sets of letters (i.e. A-F, G-L, etc, or by continental grouping)Pmeleski 02:17, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
I don't personally see any problem with carrying a NA list and a Canada list. How is it any different than carrying a NA list and a Massachusetts list, for example? The same goes for Haiti/Dominican Republic/Hispaniola. And while there are only a few species that have appeared in Canada and not in the continental US, there are quite a few that have appeared in the continental US and not in Canada—so merging the two lists doens't really seem like a good answer. MeegsC | Talk 08:57, 1 December 2007 (UTC)
The other problem with the North American list is Mexico and the Carribean are also considered part of North America, but are not included on the continental list. I know that the body of the text states the list is for birds seen north of Mexico, but in the spirit of being accurate, it sure looks confusing. The North American list is more of an ABA list. I know this has been discussed before, but in order to be fully accurate, we should have a North American list, a Canadian List, a continental United States list, and so on........Pmeleski 13:11, 1 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] List template / format

Did we discuss and agree common formatting for these lists somewhere? Seems the style used for eg Afghanistan is favoured here? Local (Aus) preference has generally been for the Sibley-Monroe-type style. Also adopted for our mammal lists. Brief summary:

  • __NOTOC__ or {{TOCright}}
  • Brief intro paragraph and map
  • Generally two levels of headings at the Order and Family level, formatted as heading levels 2 and 4 (3 is a bit large for Family names); not bold.
  • Add or substitute Class, Subclass, Suborder, Subfamily, Tribe etc only where they add something useful.
  • No heading at genus level (redundant - the binomial covers it).
  • Headings are the bare latin name, wikilinked - ie omit the redundant words "Order", "Family", etc (the standard latin forms already say it). Add clarifying group common names in parenthesis where warranted (but watch TOC width).
  • A bullet for each species
  • An indented bullet for each sub-species, where warranted (mostly not, for birds)
  • Common name first (wikilinked), then scientific binomial (italics), then notes, all comma separated
  • Wikilinking the scientific name is redundant and reduces readability (it loses the colour contrast), but it helps initially with finding typos and missing redirects

See List of birds of Queensland for a nice tidy example.

I'd especially question adding the descriptive para for each Family. Appears highly redundant and repetitive (it's just a list after all!), makes long lists even longer, and makes the actual bird names harder to see, and find...--Gergyl (talk) 01:38, 31 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] List of bird families

A sample picture to use for sizing entries...
A sample picture to use for sizing entries...
A sample picture to use for sizing entries...
A sample picture to use for sizing entries...

Order: Procellariiformes Family: Hydrobatidae

Storm-petrels are small birds which spend most of their lives at sea, coming ashore only to breed.[1] They feed on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering or pattering across the water. Their flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like. There are 22 species worldwide, five of which have been recorded in Country name.

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae

Pelicans are very large water birds with distinctive pouches under their beaks. Found along both inland and coastal waterways, they are primarily fish-eaters. Many species hunt in groups, chasing fish into shallow waters and then scooping them up in their huge bills, but one plunge-dives after prey. They nest colonially. There are eight species worldwide; of these, two have been recorded in Country name.

A sample picture to use for sizing entries...
A sample picture to use for sizing entries...

Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Phaethontidae

Tropicbirds are medium-sized seabirds found primarily in tropical oceans; they typically come ashore only to breed. They are predominantly white, with elongated central tail feathers. When hunting for the flying fish (and occasional squid) they feed on, they hover above the water, then plunge dive in after their prey. There are three species worldwide, all of which have been recorded in Country name.

A sample picture to use for sizing entries...
A sample picture to use for sizing entries...

Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae

Grebes are small to medium-sized diving birds. They breed on fresh water, but often visit the sea whilst migrating and in winter. They have lobed toes and are excellent swimmers and divers; however, their feet are placed far back on their bodies, making them quite ungainly on land. There are 20 species worldwide, though one—the Alaotra Grebe—may now be extinct.[2] Of these, four species have been recorded in Country name.

[edit] Passerines

[edit] References

  1. ^ Brinkley, Edward B.; Alec Humann (2001). "Storm-Petrels". The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behaviour. Ed. Chris Elphick, John B. Dunning, Jr. & David Sibley. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6250-6. 
  2. ^ Ogilvie, Malcolm; Chris Rose (2003). Grebes of the World. Uxbridge, UK: Bruce Coleman. ISBN 1-872842-03-8.