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Mourning Dove

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I am considering eventually nominating this to be a featured article. Do you have any suggestions for improvement or other input so this could be made better? Also, a user brought up issues with prose in my previous FAC, so please comment on this article's prose. Thank you. Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 21:14, 25 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Some comments from me:

  • Columbidae "includes doves & pigeons" - well, in fact, it is nothing but doves & pigeons
  • Suggest you list the 5 subspecies in the taxobox, also source the subspecies info
  • Probably a good idea to give an outline of the range in the lead
  • Can you cite a source for the origin of the name?
  • Is the stuff on pairing habits, brood numbers etc important enough to go in the lead?
  • Lots of the paragraphs are very short - personally this doesn't bother me, but its a bugbear to some. Suggest amalgamation if you can't find material for expansion
  • Range description - suggest order should be largest to smallest areas
  • "It is presumably Canadian birds which ... " - unsourced speculation
  • "Most Mourning Doves migrates" typo
  • Directions of spring & fall migration are the wrong way round
  • Can you source "Some authorities describe them as a superspecies"
  • "The ranges of subspecies overlap somewhat" - this would be unusual for a bird, is that really what you mean?
  • Clarian typo
  • "more darker" (!)
  • which term should we use - beak or bill?
  • with the comparisons of the subspecies, I'm not sure whether we're comparing to the nominate, or to the preceding?
  • Can something be notoriously flimsy, and if so what does that mean?
  • is "squab" a term only applied to Mourning Doves' young, or other doves too?
  • up to six broods / six or more mismatch
  • Best to source the statement that Mourning Doves are the only birds to have this many broods per year
  • Ecology & Behaviour 2nd para - Mourning Doves / It mismatch
  • Mourning Doves eat the largest range of seeds / are picky - kind of a mismatch
  • "of least concern" is a technical term that should be highlighted somehow or wikilinked
  • the comment about Michigan's usage shoudl be sourced (what is a "state bird of peace" btw and do other states have them?)
  • Ken (Kaufman) has two ns
  • Some of the "Fauna of" categorisation will get picked up at FA nom stage, no doubt.
  • one more suggestion - take a look at some other animal FAs and see if they have any major sections which aren't included for Mourning Dove

And can you send another one over to Britain some time please? :-)

SP-KP 22:36, 25 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Respones to SP-KP:
  • The lead has been rewritten
  • Typos and grammar issues have been fixed
  • Least concern is now linked
  • Additional sources have been added, and some paragraphs have been changed to remove unsourced statements.
  • Michigan's symbol is now sourced.
  • The number of categories has been reduced.
  • The paragraphs abut food have been changed.
  • Subspecies are noted in the taxobox as "See text"
  • Overlapping ranges has been tweaked.
  • The term squab is explained in dove.
  • Mismatched statements are fixed.
Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 16:53, 26 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Response to Joelito's second comment:
Could you please clarify your request for clarification? The source (look at note 45) says: "Mayr & Short (1970), Goodwin (1983), and Baptista et al. (1997) considered Zenaida auriculata and Z. macroura, along with Z. graysoni, to form a superspecies; these three species were formerly (e.g., Peters 1937, Hellmayr & Conover 1942) placed in a separate genus, Zenaidura, but most subsequent authors have followed Goodwin (1958) for its merger into Zenaida..." and later "...More recent genetic data (Johnson 2004), however, suggest recognition of Zenaidura may be required, because "true" Zenaida may be more closely related to some Geotrygon species."
Also, Zenaidura is still sometimes given as the genus name: see the Columbia Encyclopedia (3rd paragraph). The article says "...sometimes classified in the separate genus Zenaidura." At least one older field guide I have, the Golden Guide to Birds of North America, gives the genus as Zenaidura.
If you like I can change it to make it more clear that the name Zenaidura was used more often in earlier times. Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 21:24, 26 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
That's all wonderfully explained in the reference but not in the article. It should be explained that Zenaidura is not used and why it is not used. Furthermore the taxonomy section does not even mention that the Mourning Dove belongs to the Zenaida genus. Nor does it mention new research on Zenaida taxonomy (Johnson is the primary researcher in this area). Joelito (talk) 19:14, 27 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
The paragraph in question now says:
The Mourning Dove is closely related to the Eared Dove (Zenaida auriculata) and the Socorro Dove (Zenaida graysoni). Some authorities describe them as forming a superspecies. These three birds are sometimes classified in the separate genus Zenaidura. The current classification of those three birds, including the Mourning Dove, has them all in the genus Zenaida. While those three species do form a subgroup of Zenaida, using a seperate genus would interfere with the monophyly of Zanaida by making it paraphyletic.
I didn't add anything about research into Zenaida taxonomy because I think that would be better placed in the Zenaida rather than in one of its members. Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 23:33, 27 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Is this link of use to you Audubon Octopus-Hands 00:56, 28 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
It isn't because it is about the Zenaida Dove, not the Mourning Dove. Miss Madeline | Talk to Madeline 16:51, 30 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment - Lotta good stuff here. In general style terms, I would combine some of the many single sentences into paragraphs of related statements. As it is, it is dizzying to look at. Other than that, it is pretty impressive to my new eyes.Harborsparrow 18:57, 27 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
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