Talk:Black-throated gray warbler/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Cwmhiraeth (talk · contribs) 09:53, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

I propose to take on this review and will go through the article in detail shortly. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 09:53, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

First reading

In general, this is a well-written, sensibly arranged article. A few points:

The synonyms are a bit mixed up and would be better arranged alphabetically.
- Thanks for doing the review! They're chronological, that's the typical approach and the most informative approach. —innotata 16:17, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Well why is Dendroica nigrescens last then? Cwmhiraeth (talk) 19:04, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

OK, I found the authority for this classification. —innotata 19:21, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Good, they are in a logical order now. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 12:57, 24 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

"The most similar birds to the black-throated gray warbler are the black-and-white and blackpoll warblers, which although black have entirely different patterns" - This is confusing because these birds are not black.
- They're marked with black, which is what I've changed it to. —innotata 16:17, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The distribution of this species is unclear. Its range extends "from southwestern British Columbia" to where?
- To Baja, added. —innotata 16:17, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
The subspecies D. n. halseii "occupies the remainder of its range." At this stage you have not dealt with its range so this statement is difficult to interpret.
- Nominate is coastal, halseii is inland, so changed it to that. —innotata 16:17, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
"It has spread into parts of Wyoming and Montana only recently, as Juniperus osteosperma has expanded its range due to a warming climate." - Are you stating here that the bird has expanded its range "because" the juniper has increased its range, and did the source specifically mention global warming?
- Yes, it mentioned global warming. The juniper species is spreading, and the warbler along with it. —innotata 16:31, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Reference 9 needs attention.
- I'll let citation bot write out all those authors when it works… —innotata 16:31, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
Looking at reference 10, the "Rabosky & Lovette" paper, I find no mention of this species or Grace's warbler.
- It's in Fig. 1 —innotata 16:28, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
" While these two species hybridize commonly, records of hybridization with the black-throated gray warbler are uncommon." - This is somewhat unclear. Which birds hybridise with which?
- Done. —innotata 16:28, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
" Incubation and fledging periods are not recorded. It has been recorded giving a distraction display," - Too much repetition of the word "recorded", and the "it" should be replaced with "this bird" or somesuch as the subject of the previous sentence is a time period.
- Done. —innotata 16:28, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]
That's all for the moment. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 10:58, 22 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Further read through

"... young are fed by both sexes in a pair." - "fed by both parents" would be better.
"... bill lengths 8.4–9.6 cm (3.3–3.8 in)" - These dimensions must be wrong, perhaps it should be millimetres rather than centimetres.
" Among these species, it is usually considered an early offshoot, but genetic studies suggest a close relation to Grace's warbler." - How about "It is usually considered to have diverged early from other species in this group, but genetic studies suggest that it is closely related to Grace's warbler."
"Of these relatives, Townsend's warbler and the hermit warbler overlap with the black-throated gray warbler, but inhabit different habitats." - How about "Of these relatives, the range of the black-throated gray warbler overlaps that of Townsend's warbler and the hermit warbler, but they occur in different habitats."
I made a couple of copyedits, otherwise it is looking pretty good. 12:57, 24 July 2014 (UTC)
- Yep, followed all of these fixes/suggestions. —innotata 19:45, 24 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Criteria

Well-written:

The article complies with MOS guidelines on prose and grammar, structure and layout.

(a) the prose is clear and concise, it respects copyright law, and the spelling and grammar are correct

(b) it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation

Verifiable with no original research:

The article uses many reliable third-party sources, and makes frequent citations to them. I do not believe it contains original research

(a) it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline

(b) reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose)

(c) it contains no original research

Broad in its coverage:

The article covers the main aspects of the subject.

(a) it addresses the main aspects of the topic

(b) it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style)

Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.

Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.

The article's history shows that it is stable.

Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio:

The images used in the article serve a relevant illustrative purpose, and are either in the public domain or properly licensed.

(a) media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content

(b) Images are mostly relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.

Final assessment - I believe this article now reaches the GA criteria. Cwmhiraeth (talk) 05:22, 25 July 2014 (UTC)[reply]