This is how an article about a bird species should look. If you want to see how something is coded, click on the edit tab. Notice that two square brackets around a word or expression makes this into a link to another part of the Opus.
On the top you may find {{incomplete}} This means that there is information missing for one or more parts of the article.
If you add some information to all sections you can then remove the incomplete.
At the top is the picture (if there is one available).: [[File:FILENAME.JPG|thumb|550px|right|MALE/FEMALE/SUBSPECIES ETC<br />Photo © by {{user|Gammon+D+Steak|Gammon D Steak}}<br />LOCATION & DATE (DAY MONTH YEAR]] Pictures are placed on the right side and are usually 550 pixels wide. Note that pictures should have been taken by a Birdforum member.
Then follows the name. The first line in bold is for alternative names, the second for the scientific name (with a link to the genus page), the third for possible splits, which are not yet recognized by all lists (see taxonomy section for details).
Alternative name: Black-bellied Gnatcatch-Wren; Ecuperuvian Gnatcatch-Wren
;[[:Category:Xxencoroides|Xxencoroides]] pusilla
Includes Lesser Black-bellied Gnatcatch-Wren
Note: as this is an international site, it is Birdforum policy to not use abbreviations in our articles.
Identification
12cm (4¾ in)<br /> Here you can describe the bird, pointing out the ID-features and maybe compare it with similar species. If you mention a similar species, put a link to it: Links.
Distribution
Here you can give the distribution of the bird. If you mention countries or continents, put also a link to them. Try to be as exact as possible (eg. Mountains of Sumatra and Java instead of Indonesia). When making a list of countries, place them in geographical rather than alphabetical order.
Taxonomy
Here you can list subspecies (or that the species is monotypic) and make notes about taxonomy in general. If some authorities place the species in a different genus (or if they all recently moved it from another genus to the one currently used), if they split or lump the species, etc., mention it here. Likewise, place information about recent splits here using a wording similar to:
- This species formerly included [[Recently split species name]].
Taxonomy depends on interpretation of data which will not give the same result for all experts. Additoinally, the data underpinning taxonomy changes all the time and therefore so does the evidence in favour of or against particular relationships. This means a) taxonomy will never stop changing and b) there is more than one version of "the truth". We should aim to capture these diverse views in our accounts.
Opus policy is to have one page per species. Our list of species is based on the latest update of Clements [1]; However, if the latest editions of the Howard and Moore [2] and IOC [3] lists agree on a split (or a lump) then we follow that consensus. If only one of the two splits, we mention it (Includes: ...) here, but we don't have an article for the split. To check which list accepts which species we use the spreadsheets available on the Clements and IOC web pages and/or the web-based database Avibase. These rules dictate whether a "species" gets its own page or not. We invite contributors to mention all other variant taxonomies within this framework. In addition to mentions in the "taxonomy" section, there should be updates to the "Includes:" and "Alternative name:" sections (see above).
For the common English name (page title for each species) we use the same approach; we use the name in the latest Clements update unless the latest versions of Howard & Moore and IOC agree on a different name. However, where local usage indicates that a name used in only one of these sources is the one commonly used, this is the name we most often will use. Most users are not able to rename a bird page. If you feel a rename is in order, start a discussion thread for the species to seek advice (and note that some cases are complicated).
If you want to give information that describes all members of a genus rather than the specific species, then we have a page for each genus. When the species page is saved, click the genus part of the scientific name to be taken to this page.
Subspecies
The taxonomy section should always have a "subspecies" section even when the species has no subspecies. Our subspecies lists are based on Clements. Other taxonomic authorities may differ in which subspecies are recognized, therefore, please use the following wordings when introducing the list to make this clear. Use either this (monotypic species):
Clements regards this as a [[Dictionary_M-O#M|monotypic]][[#References|[1]]] species.
Clements recognises the following subspecies [[#References|[1]]]:
- X. p. pusilla: Breeds from Great Basin and central Rocky Mountains south to [[Utah]] and [[Colorado]]
where the basic range descriptions come from the Clements spreadsheet (note the introductory colon). The main change we make to those is to expand the compass direction abbreviations (so "n" becomes "northern") as well as other abbreviations. Please add any subspecies descriptions after the range in square brackets to give a net result like this:
- Clements recognises the following subspecies [1]:
If a subspecies is distinctive and may merit species status, first record it in the main "taxonomy" section. Then indicate this using the quoted common name in bold against the subspecies affected to give a net result like this:
- P. m. reichenowi: "Blue-breasted Parrot". Coastal north-eastern Brazil (Alagoas to Espírito Santo) [upperpart blue duller, darker, more grey without red flecks; lower underparts paler/brighter blue from blue suffusion; no obvious dark ear patch; red undertail [[Topography#General Anatomy|coverts]] with blue tips]
In a case like this, place the following information below the subspecies list:
- Some authors elevate subspecies reichenowi as "Blue-breasted Parrot" or "Reichenow's Parrot", P. reichenowi (e.g. [6], [7]) leaving subspecies menstruus and rubrigularis in a restricted "Blue-headed Parrot", P. menstruus.
The reason for delimiting the subspecies descriptions in this way is to make it easier to extract / manipulate them programmatically later (when this access is possible): the same is true for the range designation.
Habitat
The habitat the bird is found in. Include typical elevation for montane species.
Behaviour
Notes about breeding, diet, migration. These should be divided by subtitles. Subtitles should be coded like this: ====Breeding====. Other common subtitles would be for Movements (whether or not they are resident, or make altitudinal movements, say in winter), Flight (any flight postures for instance one may be "flap, flap, glide").
Another common one may be:
Vocalisation
Notes about calls, songs etc
Code for uploading sound files: {{Audio|Alberts Lyrebird 090709b.mp3}} <br /Recording by © {{user|Gammon+D+Steak|Gammon D Steak}}<br />LOCATION AND COUNTRY, DAY MONTH, YEAR]]
References
Here you can give references of the books or websites you use for creating the article. Start every reference with a # and you will get a numbered list. If you want to give footnotes you can do so with [[#References|[1]]] which looks like this [1].
Guidelines for references:
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Dickinson, EC, ed. 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed., with updates to October 2008 (Corrigenda 8). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117010
- Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2010. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.7). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
- Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
- Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154
- Birdforum Members Observations
- Avibase
- {{User|Arthur+Grosset|Arthur Grosset}}
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Guideline for Bird Articles. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Guideline_for_Bird_Articles
External Links
{{GSearch|"Xxencoroides pusilla" {{!}} "White-throated Gnatcatch-Wren" {{!}} "Black-bellied Gnatcatch-Wren" {{!}} "Ecuperuvian Gnatcatch-Wren" {{!}} "Lesser Black-bellied Gnatcatch-Wren"}}
This link creates a gallery search. It should already be there for all species.
{{VSearch|"Xxencoroides pusilla" {{!}} "White-throated Gnatcatch-Wren" {{!}} "Black-bellied Gnatcatch-Wren" {{!}} "Ecuperuvian Gnatcatch-Wren" {{!}} "Lesser Black-bellied Gnatcatch-Wren"}}
This link creates a video search. It is only included if a video is added to the Gallery. The word video should be in the tags on the relevant image
More external links:
Some articles have links to other sites, for example the Australian Bird Image Database or others. These links are used only if there is no, or only a poor picture of this species in our gallery. If there are many pictures, these links should be deleted.
Other useful links are to threads which deal with the species or with its identification.
At the end you will find the categories for the article. Every bird should be in the Category:Birds and in the Category with its genus. More categories are:
- Missing Images
- Bird Songs (if there is a song)
- Maps (if there is a map)
- Videos (if there is a video)
All categories are coded like this: [[Category:Birds]]
