WikiBird:Bird Name Standards

From WikiBird

Issues

• Common names
  • Regional differences (i.g. Red-throated Loon vs. Red-throated Diver)
    • This is somewhat alleviated by using template parameters for the bird pages.
• Scientific names
• Capitalization
  • loons vs. Loons - When should they be capitalized?

The structure of the bird lists and pages accounts for a difference in common names from different regions. When a Gavia stellatta is chosen from the Red-throated Loon link of the North American list it shows "Red-throated Loon" in the page content. When it is chosen from the Great Northern Diver link of the British list it shows "Great Northern Diver" on the bird page. Other bird names mentioned in the page content are also converted depending on what list it is selected from. Because the bird pages are dynamic it allows for a difference in common names for different region lists and thus alleviates much of the issue with different common names.