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ACTION NEEDED: Capitalization of English names on Wikipedia (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter MichaelRetter
- Start date
Henceforth to be known on BF as wikipedia
There you go, don't get mad, get even! Wish I'd thought of that.
stonechat1
New member
Paul Clapham
Well-known member
It looks like this project is now under way; earlier today I looked at the Wikipedia article about Tanimbar Corella and noticed that the page's title had been changed to "Tanimbar corella" on 1 June as part of the "Bird common name decapitalization" process. However none of the couple of dozen instances of "Tanimbar Corella" in the article had been decapitalized.
It's possible that the decapitalization project only applies to article titles, but I couldn't determine that based on the enormous discussion page.
It's possible that the decapitalization project only applies to article titles, but I couldn't determine that based on the enormous discussion page.
Just thought I'd chime in that bird articles on wiki are now, of course, a mess. For the sole reason that they mass edited all the titles of the articles for their precious Manual of Style (of course THAT is capitalized...). To adjust the copy of over 10,000 articles to make sure there's no capitalized names throughout is a near impossible task. The inconsistency is rampant.
What a mess. Truly a case of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.
What a mess. Truly a case of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face.
Well, standard journalism already gave us the short end of the stick with lowercase.
You'd think an encyclopedic reference site would follow the according authorities in that scientific field. Nope.
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Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Hardly surprising - the uneducated masses who so heavily push for the use of uneducated ideas at en:wikipedia have pi**ed off all the good editors, who are giving up on editing. I gave it up as a bad job years ago.
How can we get Birdforum's Opus to get higher google ratings so more people see and use it instead?
How can we get Birdforum's Opus to get higher google ratings so more people see and use it instead?
dantheman
Bah humbug
How many hits per day extra does it need?
How sneaky would it be to suggest that everyone on BF googles (other search engines do exist?) the opus, say 5 times a day (shouldn't take more than 45 seconds in all?) for the next month or so ...
Steve Babbs
Well-known member
There are plenty of reasons for the capitalisation of bird names e.g. the 'little gull' dilemma. However, following the rules of English, the name of a bird is a noun not a proper noun (such as Wikipedia) and should start with a lower case letter. Now there may well be an argument for breaking those rules, for the sake of clarity, but they do know them and are following them.
Snapdragyn
Well-known member
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_dog_breeds
If the English names of specific breeds of dogs are considered proper nouns and capitalized accordingly, I don't think it's asking to much to suggest that the English names of specific species of birds be treated likewise.
If the English names of specific breeds of dogs are considered proper nouns and capitalized accordingly, I don't think it's asking to much to suggest that the English names of specific species of birds be treated likewise.
Snapdragyn
Well-known member
Some other Wikipedia pages in need of correction for apparently improper capitalization (if we apply the 'bird names aren't proper nouns' logic consistently):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cat_breeds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_goat_breeds#List
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sheep_breeds [Not even consistent within itself, since it capitalizes words like Face, but leaves sheep uncapitalized.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_horse_breeds [Riddled with inconsistancy - is it Horse, or is it horse? Make up your mind, Wikipedia.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cattle_breeds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pig_breeds
Hmm. Does anyone feel up to a little helpful Wikipedia editing?
Edit: Forgot roses - & with that, I think 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' shall be my standard examplar of the folly of this so-called 'proper capitalization' movement by Wikipedia editors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Award_of_Garden_Merit_roses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cat_breeds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_goat_breeds#List
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sheep_breeds [Not even consistent within itself, since it capitalizes words like Face, but leaves sheep uncapitalized.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_horse_breeds [Riddled with inconsistancy - is it Horse, or is it horse? Make up your mind, Wikipedia.]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cattle_breeds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pig_breeds
Hmm. Does anyone feel up to a little helpful Wikipedia editing?
Edit: Forgot roses - & with that, I think 'A Whiter Shade of Pale' shall be my standard examplar of the folly of this so-called 'proper capitalization' movement by Wikipedia editors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Award_of_Garden_Merit_roses
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Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
What's worst is the way you now need to know the etymology of a name in order to give it the correct capitals by wikipedia's perverse rules. This can be surprisingly difficult to find out in some cases*, and its main use is to allow those 'in-the-know' to pour withering scorn on those who aren't. It also makes lists look silly, with Superior Capitalised Birds mixed up with inferior lower-case birds. Maybe someone could rearrange lists in wikipedia so they are sorted A-Z first then a-z below; that would show up just how stupid it is.
* e.g. is Takahe to be capitalised or not? Is it named after some historical Maori cheiftain (so capitalised)? Or after a place it occurs (so capitalised)? Or its shape or colour (so not capitalised)? I for one, don't have the faintest clue. Anyone know any Maori etymology?
* e.g. is Takahe to be capitalised or not? Is it named after some historical Maori cheiftain (so capitalised)? Or after a place it occurs (so capitalised)? Or its shape or colour (so not capitalised)? I for one, don't have the faintest clue. Anyone know any Maori etymology?
On that logic then you feel that other animal names--mammals, insects, protozoans etc--should be capitalized as well? Plant names too, maybe? For me, I'm for bird names being capitalized because doing so is a more or less settled convention among people who write a lot about birds and I'm used to it.
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Yes. It's the established convention among as far as I know all of the official recording bodies in Britain, including e.g. plants, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, and most field guides too (and those that don't, use caps for the whole name).
Another transatlantic difference then since that's certainly not the case here. See this for example: http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_1/silvics_vol1.pdf.
In any case, what I thought was being discussed here was the use of capitalization in ordinary text not in field guides, checklists, captions etc. There I think you'd find that bird names are often capitalized and those of other taxa almost never, at least on this side of the Atlantic. As already said, capitalized bird names look right to many people's eyes, capitalized mammal, insects, plant etc. names, not so much. And, surely, that's what counts in these matters, what looks right to people?
Acrocephalus
Well-known member
desert sparrows vs Desert Sparrows
Today, I received this article in my alerts, clicked on it assuming desert sparrows are our Desert Sparrows (Passer simplex). To my surprise, when I read the abstract I found out that they were not this species but "sparrows who live in the desert" (Zonotrichia capensis) in Argentina.
Who wouldn't be confused by this title? That's why I personally still like capitalisation of common names.
Milesi, F. A., & Marone, L. (2015). Exploration and exploitation of foraging patches by desert sparrows: environmental indicators and local evaluation of spatially correlated costs and benefits. Journal of Avian Biology doi:10.1111/jav.00388
Today, I received this article in my alerts, clicked on it assuming desert sparrows are our Desert Sparrows (Passer simplex). To my surprise, when I read the abstract I found out that they were not this species but "sparrows who live in the desert" (Zonotrichia capensis) in Argentina.
Who wouldn't be confused by this title? That's why I personally still like capitalisation of common names.
Milesi, F. A., & Marone, L. (2015). Exploration and exploitation of foraging patches by desert sparrows: environmental indicators and local evaluation of spatially correlated costs and benefits. Journal of Avian Biology doi:10.1111/jav.00388
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Personally I capitalize all taxa: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OGxXhQ7K7zrcFe8NYLyz-N21KVCry2f8YWBbQQcRjKY/edit#gid=0
Really, even in ordinary text? "I was roaring drunk last night and smashed my car into the Sugar Maple on the corner". Well, okay, I guess. . ..
dantheman
Bah humbug
Really, even in ordinary text? "I was roaring drunk last night and smashed my car into the Sugar Maple on the corner". Well, okay, I guess. . ..
Surely that should read -
"I Was Roaring Drunk Last Nigt and Smashed my Car into The Sugar Maple on The Corner"
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