Talk:Common gull

IOC english name Mew Gull discussion

• One observation, it appears to be oddly inconsistent between North American and European usages. Gray Gull (NA spelling) yet Common Gull (British usage). In the light of the likely move to the IOC list why not use their common names? (Grey, Mew) Sabine's Sunbird talk 23:39, 3 August 2009 (UTC)
• FYI, I just took the names as used in the Gull article for the navbox... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 23:44, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Fair enough. Well, once we close off the discussion above we can sort out the gulls. Sabine's Sunbird talk 23:48, 3 August 2009 (UTC) I can't see there being much of a problem with Grey/Gray - but I've got a horrible feeling that any attempt to rename Common Gull is going to cause at least one person, somewhere to get very (and vocally) upset. In answer to Snowman - yeah, I'd be happy to start adding it to gull articles as it stands. If it's transcluded (as it will be - and as it is on this page), it can easily be edited later anyway... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 23:51, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

• Good point on common names, I had not noticed that, because I do not know much about the nomenclature of these birds. Does it need fixing? Use IOC World Bird List name? Use IOC World Bird List followed by regional names in round brackets? Any other ideas? The discussion above on IOC Wold Bird List names does not include navboxes, so is another amendment needed? Snowman (talk) 23:49, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

For gulls Mew/Common is the only contentious one as it represents that US/British division. Grey/gray is less of a problem as the IOC prefers Grey but states that Gray is acceptable in NA. I don't think there is a need for an amendment, I think the navboxes should simply reflect what the IOC list and possibly have alternate common names in instances where the alternate is very widely used. Sabine's Sunbird talk 23:56, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

• Hang on. The Common Gull article would suggest that the Mew Gull is only one subspecies of Common Gull. I don't know if that's correct or not - they're not one of the regular gulls that I've interacted with (it's all Herring and the two Black-backs around here). --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 23:57, 3 August 2009 (UTC)
• That is correct. Mew Gull only refers to the NA ssp., brachyrhynchus. Natureguy1980 (talk) 15:42, 12 August 2009 (UTC)
• Eh, it is more that the Mew is the US name which I guess some people treat as the name for the US subspecies. The IOC mostly split the difference using some US names and some UK, and in this instance went with the US. Sabine's Sunbird talk 00:39, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
• Oh, I dunno then. Expect the usual accusations of US cultural imperialism and all that if you ever attempt to rename the article though. It's not something I'd touch with a ten foot pole... ;) So, anyhoo - my navbox has now been moved to Template:Gulls. Does anyone have any objections to me going through and adding it to all the gull species articles? --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 10:49, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
• Looks fine to me. I have added the local name of the Common Gull in round bracket, which is an experimental edit which can be discussed or amended before or after the new Gull template is rolled out. It is in line with what is said on the "Common Gull" article, and perhaps any modifications of this template should follow and be consistent with updates to the "Common Gull" article. Snowman (talk) 11:23, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
• How's about Common, or Mew Gull? Might look better and save space in the navbox... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 11:58, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

<outdent> Fine in principle, two minor points

• For Common Gull, KSB's version would be tighter and more accurate. Sibley, for example describes the ssp as "Short-billed Mew Gull" for the majority NAM population, and Common Mew Gull for the nominate ssp which occurs on the Atlantic coast. The Siberian form also occurs in Alaska Jimfbleak - talk to me? 12:02, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
• Thank you for details information about names of Gulls, which is extra to that given on the wiki article. I small point, but I think that "Common Gull" should be written in full to make it easier to read and reduce confusion. So I think "Common Gull (or Mew Gull) is better, but I would like to know if the "resident" Gull experts would check that this is correct and that they would be happy with this. Snowman (talk) 12:56, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
• Kim has now edited it to read "Common Gull (including Mew Gull)". Perhaps we should wikilink the whole lot - or go with your idea... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 15:46, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
• I made the change suggested by Snowman earlier (adding the headings Genera and Species of the genera at the top of the list); have a look and see what you think. Also, should it be Species belonging to the genera instead of Species of the genera? MeegsC | Talk 13:52, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

Oh, so *that's* how you do headings. :) I didn't think that it was that simple (I'd been looking for a specific heading field to use)... --Kurt Shaped Box (talk) 15:43, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

• "Common Gull (including Mew Gull)" is clear to me, and I hope that is is technically correct with Mew Gull appearing to be a subset of Common Gull. I have made "Genus" singular and simplified the right heading with just "Species", and added wikilinks. Does that look OK? Snowman (talk) 16:09, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
• I have just checked Mew Gull on the IOC World Bird List shorebird page and found it is another name for the genus Larus canus, so it would be incorrect to say "Common Gull (including Mew Gull)", so I have changed it to "Common Gull (or Mew Gull)", which also has the advantage of being shorter. Snowman (talk) 16:15, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
• I have just piped the link so it now appears as Common Gull (or Mew Gull). The two names look more equal that way. Awaiting comments. Snowman (talk) 16:22, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
• Fine with me, even Common Gull or Mew Gull would be OK Jimfbleak - talk to me? 17:04, 4 August 2009 (UTC)

The two are probably different species anyway...why not have two pages? Natureguy1980 (talk) 15:46, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

I am neither from the US nor from the UK, and I found it confusing to find a name that is not the official IOC name. I have no inclination to either the US or UK form, as long as it is an official term and should be used in all places. The world is larger than either the UK or the US, and we should consider that standardizing on an official English term will be beneficial to the most number of people.

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: no consensus. -- BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 16:22, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

---

Common Gull → Mew Gull – Wikiproject Birds has adopted the IOC nomenclature as its naming convention. It appears that a lot of informal conversation has already occurred regarding this species (at least since August 2009). Now formalizing the process here.....Pvmoutside (talk) 20:32, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Support: For the record, I currently support the name being changed to Mew Gull. The IOC recognizes this species common name as Mew Gull currently, with no mention of a split using the common name of Common Gull. Other cases of IOC compromises have been created (see Great Northern Loon). In this case, Mew Gull is widely used in North America, and Common Gull is widely used in Eurasia, and the IOC has no compromise name. Wikipedia uses the IOC name for Common Starling for what North Americans refer widely to as European Starling. In the case of the gull, the IOC has chosen to use the North American english name, so until the species splits, I believe the species should be referred to as Mew Gull. In most or if not all cases, Wikipedia has sided with IOC names when species exist on more than one continent (see Hen Harrier, Black-necked Grebe, Horned Grebe, Great Cormorant, Common Merganser, Rough-legged Buzzard, Grey Plover, Red Phalarope, etc....Pvmoutside (talk) 21:10, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

• Oppose, but redirect Mew Gull to Common Gull, with a hatnote to point to the Percival Mew Gull. A lot of airplanes are named after birds, but the bird is always the first meaning thought of unless the name of the airplane manufacturer or series designation is included. - WPGA2345 - ☛ 03:43, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
• Oppose per WP:ENGVAR. -- Necrothesp (talk) 14:45, 5 February 2014 (UTC)
• Support, albeit with some reluctance as a Brit. If the Americans can live with Black-necked Grebe and Rough-legged Buzzard, I can cope with this. Incidentally, although the earlier discussion said Mew Gull was used only for the NAm species, Sibley actually uses it for both forms. If there is a split at some stage, that's another matter Jimfbleak - talk to me? 17:30, 6 February 2014 (UTC)
• Support move as proposed. What's the point of having a naming convention if it is not applied? Maias (talk) 05:18, 10 February 2014 (UTC)
  • The naming convention is WP:COMMONNAME, as modified by WP:ENGVAR! This overrules all others. -- Necrothesp (talk) 13:50, 10 February 2014 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Species split

The AOS has accepted the proposal to split Larus branchyrhynchus from Larus canus. I propose a new article be made and the descriptions to correspond to the two distinct species. JoeMomma21 (talk) 19:01, 1 July 2021 (UTC)

The IOC has tentatively accepted the change as well. The bird wikiproject uses the IOC as their reference. I usually make changes when the updates are fully accepted and are not drafts. The full acceptance should happen very soon along with a number of other changes. I usually let the drafts pass if anyone works on them early...It looks like the article for short-billed gull has already been created.Pvmoutside (talk) 22:47, 1 July 2021 (UTC)