Talk:Eurasian tree sparrow/GA1

GA Review

Article (edit | visual edit | history) · Article talk (edit | history) · Watch
Hi, I'll be reviewing this article. Will need a few days to give it a thorough going-over. Sasata (talk) 02:54, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Great, be as nit-picking as you can, I want to take this to FA, so the more that's fixed now, the better thanks jimfbleak (talk) 06:43, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Ok, looks pretty good so far. Did some minor copyediting, but left the more substantive or possibly contentious changes for the editor. The coverage and references look fine. I'll give the nominator a while to deal with all the nits I picked, and come back later for the review proper. Sasata (talk) 04:29, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Lead

• The first sentence of the lede is about breeding locations, whereas I would expect a basic introductory sentence about perhaps what type of bird it is, or what family its in (like the other featured bird articles I glanced at)

Tweaked as suggested.

• "The Tree Sparrow, Passer montanus, breeds over most of temperate Eurasia and Southeast Asia..." This seems to contradict the distribution map, which indicates that breeding occurs in more northern areas.

I don't agree - the map shows that it is absent only from the Arctic and areas like the Middle East and India, which are tropical or subtropical. I've changed legend to Resident breeder in case that's not obvious

• wikilink crown, nape, clutch, plumage, magpie, stork

Done

• "The untidy nest is built in a natural cavity," Suggest "Tree Sparrow's nest untidy nest..."

done

• "As with other small birds, predation by birds of prey, parasites and diseases takes its toll" I think the sentence should be tweaked so it doesn't sound like parasites and disease are also predatory.

done, reordered to clarify

• "...but in Europe it is a bird of open countryside with patches of woodland..." Awkward

it is a bird of lightly-wooded open countryside

• "...but there have been large declines in western Europe due to intensive farming, particularly the increased use of herbicides and loss of winter stubble fields" The word combo "intensive farming" doesn't sound right to me; how about something like "...in western European populations, in part due to changes in farming practices involving increased use of herbicides and loss of winter stubble fields."

done

• I wasn't sure if Oriental should be capitalized, so I did a search, and found one site which says it should be. I also found out during this search that the use of this word is discouraged in many English-speaking countries (politically incorrect), but not so in Britain! (Oriental also appears in final paragraph)

My British English dictionary allows either caps or lower case. Since it's not referring to people, I prefer lower case. The dictionary gives no hint that it's use is derogatory in any context, and although I can see that it might be (in the US) if applied to people (which is the UMN context), the use to describe a geographical region is standard. See also the lead section of Orient.

Thought about it again, and you're right. No need to change it. Sasata (talk) 17:13, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

Description

"... and a weight of 24 g (0.86 oz);[3] making it roughly 10% smaller than the House Sparrow." Clauses after a semicolon must be independent, so need to reword or change the semicolon to a comma. Also, most of the sentences in the first two paragraphs have the same structure (i.e., compound sentences separated by a semicolon), so you might want to change that up a bit.

rejigged

• wikilink wingspan, chestnut, vocalisation

done

• "...although it tends to be duller." "...although the colour tends to be duller."

done

• "...the introduced Missouri population with the those of birds from Germany..."

done

• "...the US birds had less shared syllable types..." Replace less with fewer.

done

• "...a consequent loss of genetic diversity." Replace the link to genetic with a link to genetic diversity.

done

Taxonomy

• "Its members are typically found in open habitats" Clarify what is meant by an open habitat.

open, lightly wooded, habitats

• "It diverged from the other Eurasian members..." What "it" refers to is slightly vague, since several things were discussed the previous sentence. Also, diverged in what sense? Genetically?

done

• Linnaeus' full name should be given, to be consistent with the full-naming in sections below.

done

• "...it was soon moved from the finches into the new genus" After finches, I would put parenthetically (family Fringillidae).

done

• "...French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson..." I think multiple links words in a row are discouraged, and there there's three. Probably French could be unlinked.

done

• wikilink speciation

done

• "...is derived from two Latin words; passer, "sparrow"..." Semicolon use improper. Colon would work.

done

• Those one-sentence paragraphs should be expanded or combined. Also suggest moving the last sentence next to or within the current 2nd paragraph, where Eurasian species are also mentioned.

done

Subspecies

• "This species varies little across its large range," Varies little in what way? Appearance?

added appearance

• Clement -> Clements (if it's the same guy in the references)

Actually it was the ref that was wrongly spelt

• "At least 15 other subspecies have been proposed, but are considered to be intermediates of the listed races." Are subspecies equivalent to races? Also, seven subspecies are alluded to, eight are listed.

fixed, linked race - same as subspecies

• The wikilinking to locales in the subspecies section is inconsistently selective. Eg., why link Causcasus but not Kazahkstan? Same thing in the next section

linked all countries

• "P. m. tibetanus, the largest race, ..." By size or population? Also, I suggest pick a different word than "occur", which should be reserved for events, actions or ideas. Or not. I'm pedantic sometimes.

done

Habitat and range

"(the July 12–13oC isotherm)" What does this mean? Also, that degree sign is different than the one used in the breeding section below. Replace that "occurred" in the next sentence.

fixed degree and occurred, expanded isotherm

• wikilink temperate, wetland

done

• "...northernmost breeding populations move south for the winter..." Why link move to migrate instead of just saying migrate?

done

• Somewhere, around here, introduced should be linked to introduced species

done

• "It self-colonised Borneo and Brunei from ship-carried birds," Awkward

rephrased

• "It has occurred as a natural vagrant" What is a "natural vagrant"?

linked vagrant

• There's another "occur" to consider changing.

I would have though vagrancy was an event?

Behaviour and ecology

• wikilink fledge, hybridisation

done

• "...which feeds on the grounds in flocks," grounds -> ground?

done

• "it takes insects, woodlice..." -> "it takes insects, such as woodlice..."

woodlouse isn't an insect, it's a crustacean

• "...no longer provide these invertebrate resources due to the effects of intensification," Clarify what intensification means here.

linkedintensive farming

• 1 km (1,200 yd) -> Wouldn't a mile be a more comparable unit than yards?

Can't put 1 mile, since not same as km, 0.8 miles is less readily intelligible than the 1200 yds. Not a big deal, change if you really think the mile conversion is better

• "...does not influence nest-site choice, or affect productivity." What is meant by productivity here?

changed to affect the number of young raised

• The verb tense in the last paragraph under Feeding is wonky (..."meant that birds visited a feeder...); either fix tense or put something like "One study showed..." at the beginning.

A study showed...

• Remove the scientific name for the Horseshoe Whip snake, not really relevant here.

done

• wikilink Salmonella, avian malaria

done

• "The immune response of Tree Sparrows is less than that of the House Sparrow..." -> less robust or something similar.

robust added

• "The maximum recorded age is 13.1 years, but a lifespan of two years is more typical.

but two years is a typical lifespan

• "The total population is also unknown..." insert world or global

added world

• "For these reasons, the species is evaluated..." -> insert "conservation status" (and wikilink it)

the species' conservation status

• "...and many urban Filipinos believe it is the national bird." believe->consider (sounds better to me)

done

thanks for copyedit and comments, all done. jimfbleak (talk) 08:03, 19 March 2009 (UTC)

GA review (see here for criteria)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose): b (MoS):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

The article meets all GA criteria, so I am promoting it. Good luck at FAC! Sasata (talk) 17:13, 19 March 2009 (UTC)