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Reviewer: Sasata (talk) 14:15, 30 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Hi Jim, I have comments up in a day or two. Looks like this is headed to FAC? Sasata (talk) 14:15, 30 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. Yes, it's intended for the bear pit Jimfbleak - talk to me? 15:55, 31 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • The caption for the nest is "Nest" and to me it does not fully explain the image. The article says that the nest has three layers in its wall, but I can not see this in the photograph, and I do not see any hair of feathers lining the nest. The nest is not in a tree. Snowman (talk) 22:10, 30 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I've removed the image and put the singing bird in the breeding section. I had my doubts about this even being a Firecrest nest, but that's what it was described as Jimfbleak - talk to me? 15:55, 31 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Before hearing that I had guessed that it was a nest that was not completed by the birds before it was abandoned or removed from a tree. Snowman (talk) 16:00, 31 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I'll have another look before FAC Jimfbleak - talk to me? 06:58, 4 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Comments Sasata (talk) 16:28, 3 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

  • lead: I'd suggest unlinking Europe and Africa, but linking the less common word temperate
  • link subspecies, race, displayed (as in display (zoology)), song->Bird vocalization, fledging, birds of prey
  • if linking coniferous, why not broadleaved as well?
  • "9 cm (3.5 in) length and a wingspan of 13–16 cm" fix missing word
  • "brownish grey" hyphen
  • link plumage
  • "other head marking" ->markings
  • link contact call
  • "zirt.zirt.zirt The song" needs a period
  • link harmonics
  • "frequently given family status." link family
  • "a diminutive of rex, a king" put a king in quotes to match etymology format given later
  • "(von Jordans, 1923)." make this a regular inline citation
  • According to the protolog, it was originally named Sylvia ignicapilla, with the German naturalist M. Brehm as the authority. Did von Jordans transfer it to Regulus in 1823? Perhaps these synonyms should be in the taxobox as well. There's a few more words about this in Yarrell 1843, pp. 323-4. Sasata (talk)
  • But Temminck (1820) cites Brehm as the authority, so I assume he was referring to something already published, not to something that would be published six years later? Am I missing something here? Sasata (talk) 20:23, 4 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • I don't know. Baker gives the full cite as: Sylvia ignicapilla Temminck (ex C. L. Brehm MS partim) 1820 Man. Ornith., ec 2, 1, p. 231 — France, Belgium, Germany etc. Temminck is definitely the authority, but I'm not sure now why it isn't Brehm Jimfbleak - talk to me? 06:25, 5 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • non-breaking spaces in bi- and trinomials
  • "based on the cytochrome b gene" reword to avoid consecutive links
  • "The island form also differed in morphology and vocalizations." still differ presumably, so present tense
  • "although some authorities, like Clements" Clements who? link or add first name
  • suggest parenthetically adding date ranges for the geological eras Pleistocene and Pliocene
  • "In drier Mediterranean habitats it is found conifers" missing word
  • link vagrant->vagrancy (biology)
  • "Egypt and the Lebanon."
  • might want to relink display in the Breeding section
  • "each others songs." ->other's
  • "this is lined with feathers (up to 3,000) and hair." what kind of hair?
  • link clutch
  • "This species can breed aged one year," sounds slightly odd to me, how about "This species becomes sexually mature after one year" or something similar
  • link hybridisation, morphological
  • "Young Common Firecrests are fed almost exclusively with springtails and larger food items are not accepted, and occasionally spiders are regurgitated." linking with "ands" somewhat inelegant
  • "In some areas, wintering birds have developed the habit in some of coming to feeding stations" repetitive "in some"
  • "A study comparing Sylvia warblers, which include fruit in their autumn diet, with the insectivorous Firecrest and Phylloscopus warblers showed that" too much stuff between "A study" and "showed that"
  • consider adding a picture of a predator
  • Scary Sparrowhawk pic added
  • link host, feather mite, heavy metal
  • I'll be back later to check reference formatting, and do a lit review

Thanks for comments so far, Jimfbleak - talk to me? 10:31, 4 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

  • Lit search: only 13 hits for a search of "Regulus ignicapilla" in the ISI Web of Knowledge. I've included the English-language ones here, if you want to pursue any further for FAC:
Title: Apparent nesting association of Northern Goshawks and Firecrests
Author(s): Mawson, Geoff
Source: British Birds Volume: 103 Issue: 4 Pages: 243-244 Published: APR 2010
Title: Does Argentine ant invasion affect prey availability for foliage-gleaning birds?
Author(s): Estany-Tigerstroem, David; Bas, Josep Maria; Pons, Pere
Source: Biological Invasions Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Pages: 827-839 Published: APR 2010
Title: Effects of forest landscape change and management on the range expansion of forest bird species in the Mediterranean region
Author(s): Gil-Tena, Assu; Brotons, Lluis; Saura, Santiago
Source: Forest Ecology and Management Volume: 259 Issue: 7, Sp. Iss. SI Pages: 1338-1346 Published: MAR 20 2010
Title: A comparative study of the population trends of tits Parus and further selected species in the north-eastern Harz mountains (Saxony-Anhalt) since 1993.
Author(s): George, Klaus
Source: Vogelkundliche Berichte aus Niedersachsen Volume: 40 Issue: 1-2 Pages: 201-211 Published: Dezember 2008
Title: Effects of forest composition and structure on bird species richness in a Mediterranean context: Implications for forest ecosystem management
Author(s): Gil-Tena, A; Saura, S; Brotons, L
Source: FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT Volume: 242 Issue: 2-3 Pages: 470-476 Published: APR 30 2007
Title: Juvenile firecrests Regulus ignicapilla as a confusion risk with yellow-browed Phylloscopus inornatus and Pallas's warblers P. proregulus.
Author(s): Barthel, Peter H.
Source: Limicola Volume: 17 Issue: 3 Pages: 139-151 Published: 2003
  • This one's in German, but I've included the English abstract:
"Due to their hidden life style, the juvenile plumage of Firecrests Regulus ignicapilla is not well known to birdwatchers and rarely illustrated in the literature. As it lacks the characteristic crown pattern of adults, but already shows supercilium, eye stripe and two wing bars, it is very similar to Yellow-browed Phvlloscopus inornatus and Pallas's Warbler P. proregulus. The German rarities commission received several documentations of juvenile Firecrests misidentified, mainly in the hand, as one of these Phylloscopus species. Due to extensive overlap, mesurements do not allow the separation of the three taxa. Pallas's Warbler usually can be ruled out by pale median crown-stripe and rump alone. Yellow-browed Warbler can be identified by e.g. contrastingly pale (instead of washed) tertial fringes, whitish (instead of usually dark) tips to remiges, less extensive black bases to secondaries, whitish (instead of greenish-greyish) belly and darker (instead of paler) brown legs. In live birds, but not in skins, the completely different facial expression is always striking. As the adults, juveniles already show a dark eyebrow and a whitish half moon below the eye. For those who have ever looked into the eye of an adult Firecrest, this is by far the best character to identify juveniles. This method works also with many other difficult taxa because nearly every bird species has a characteristic facial expression, allowing the experienced observer to identify it only by a deep look into the eye. This additional new approach is introduced here as the "Humphrey-Bogart-method" or "Casablanca-way" of bird identification ("Here's looking at you, kid"; or perhaps better in the re-translation of the classical German synchronisation, "I look into your eyes, babe"). Two German reports of Yellow-browed and Pallas's Warblers, both caught in August and repeatedly cited in the literature, are revised and assigned to juvenile Firecrests. Future Central European reports of the two Asiatic warblers between June and September should be documented carefully, because it is exactly during this time that Firecrests wear their confusing juvenile plumage."
  • I'll expand the similar species a bit
Title: Firecrests at Spurn in October 2002.
Author(s): Roadhouse, Andy
Source: Spurn Wildlife Volume: 12 Pages: 84 Published: 2003

Thanks for search, I'll add some bits later today. Jimfbleak - talk to me? 06:25, 5 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

All done I think. I found the ID paper interesting, since it couldn't really happen here. By the time the Asian warblers arrive in September/October, Firecrests are in adult plumage, and the warblers are much more common than in Germany, so better-known. I can't understand how Pallas's can be confused with anything - its bright yellow rump is a bit of a give-away Jimfbleak - talk to me? 12:58, 5 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • I can't find mention of this species on page 417 of Macgillivray's 1837 book (current reference #39)

Alright, I think the article ticks all the GA boxes and is well on its way to FA. The references will need a bit of fine-tuning, in particular, deciding whether initials should be followed by fullstops or not (I probably messed with the consistency during my fiddling). See you at the bear pit! Sasata (talk) 16:16, 6 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

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