- Updates to cjvlang Birds and Sibagu (2009) -

(In chronogical order, starting from the bottom)

27 December 2009 (Beijing)

Rostratulidae and Jacanidae (Taiwan).

26 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Turnicidae, Haematopodidae, Recurvirostridae, and Charadriidae (Taiwan).

25 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Gruidae (Taiwan).

24 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Rallidae (Taiwan).

23 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Accipitridae (Taiwan).

20 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Fregatidae, Sulidae, Phalacrocoracidae, and Falconidae (Taiwan).

19 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Ardeidae, Phaethontidae, and Pelecanidae (Taiwan). Added note on languages used.
Fixed a few menu problems.
Modified menu access at Vietnamese, Mongolian, and Japanese birds.

18 December 2009 (Beijing)

Made some coding changes to Japanese and Vietnamese bird lists.

14 December 2009 (Beijing)

Made some changes to coding in Mongolian and Taiwanese bird name lists.

13 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Podicipedidae, Ciconiidae and Threskiornithidae (Taiwan).

12 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Hydrobatidae (Taiwan).

10 December 2009 (Beijing)

AddedProcellariidae (Taiwan).

9 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Gaviidae and Diomedeidae (Taiwan).
Made a few corrections to Anatidae (Taiwan).

7 December 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Anatidae (Taiwan).

6 December 2009 (Beijing)

Added Phasianidae (Taiwan).
Some style changes.

29 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Japan index pages for Chinese (Mainland) and Chinese (Taiwan).
Added Google Search for Japan. (Hopefully successfully. Google makes it rather hard to figure out the steps.)
Fixed the index page for Japanese birds.
Updated site index page to include Japanese birds.

28 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Estrildidae (Japan). Slight changes to Korean in Fringillidae (Japan) and Fringillidae (Mongolia).
The Japanese list is now complete (after roughly three and a half months' work).
Added index pages for English, Japanese, and Korean.

27 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Emberizidae (Japan). Slight changes to Emberizidae (Mongolia) and Emberizidae (Vietnam).

25 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Fringillidae (Japan).

23 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Motacillidae (Japan).

18 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Prunellidae (Japan).

17 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Passeridae (Japanese). A few additions to Mongolian names.

16 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Cinclidae (Japan).

15 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Muscicapidae (Japan).

11 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Turdidae (Japan).

9 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Sturnidae (Japan).

8 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Regulidae, Troglodytidae, Sittidae, and Certhiidae (Japan).
Updated Japanese indexes: English, Japanese, Chinese (Mainland), Chinese (Taiwan), Korean.

6 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Timaliidae and Zosteropidae (Japan).
Slight adjustment to Timaliidae (Mongolia).

5 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Sylviidae (Japan).

3 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Cisticolidae and Pycnonotidae (Japan).

2 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Remizidae, Aegithalidae, Hirundinidae, and Alaudidae (Japan).
Updated English and Japanese index pages.

1 November 2009 (Beijing)

Added Bombycillidae and Paridae (Japan).

29 October 2009 (Beijing)

Added Monarchidae to Japanese birds.

28 October 2009 (Beijing)

Added Corvidae to Japanese birds.

26 October 2009 (Beijing)

Added Laniidae, Oriolidae, and Dicruridae to Japanese birds.
Added "Language" pages to Vietnamese and Japanese.
Slight changes to Vietnamese Laniidae.
Added a few Inner Mongolian names and rewrote Anatidae (Mongolian birds).

24 October 2009 (Beijing)

Updated index pages for Japanese bird names to list all non-passerines. Also corrected errors in index pages.
Uploaded Pittidae, Artamidae, Campephagidae (Japanese).
Some rewriting of Languages used (Mongolian).

19 October 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Upupidae and Picidae (Japanese). The Non-Passerines are now complete.

15 October 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Coraciidae and Meropidae (Japanese).

12 October 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Apodidae and Alcedinidae (Japanese).

10 October 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Caprimulgidae (Japanese).

8 October 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Tytonidae (Japanese).
Slight modifications to Accipitridae and Falconidae (Mongolian).

2 October 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Strigidae (Japanese), with major rewriting of the explanation of the characters used.

1 October 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Columbidae and Cuculidae (Japanese).

29 September 2009 (Beijing)

UploadedPteroclidae (Japanese).

28 September 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Stercorariidae and Alcidae (Japanese).

26 September 2009 (Beijing)

Japan: Added proverb to Accipitridae, fixed slight error.
Uploaded Glareolidae and Laridae (Japanese).

7 September 2009 (Beijing)

Added Gruidae, Turnicidae, Haematopodidae, Recurvirostridae, Charadriidae, Rostratulidae, Jacanidae, and Scolopacidae to Japanese bird names.
Fixed a few places in Vietnamese list.

2 September 2009 (Beijing)

Made a few improvements/changes to Vietnamese list, small changes at Mongolian.
Added Otididae and Rallidae to the Japanese list.

27 August 2009 (Beijing)

AddedPhalacrocoracidae and Falconidae to Japanese bird names.

26 August 2009 (Beijing)

Added Phaethontidae, Fregatidae, Pelecanidae and Sulidae to Japanese bird names.

22 August 2009 (Beijing)

Fixed a few errors, etc. at Mongolian bird names.

21 August 2009 (Beijing)

Fixed a few errors, etc. at Mongolian bird names.

20 August 2009 (Beijing)

Fixed a few errors, etc. at Mongolian bird names.

15 August 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Ciconiidae, Threskiornithidae, Ardeidae (Japanese).

13 August 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Podicipedidae (Japanese).

12 August 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Hydrobatidae (Japanese).

11 August 2009 (Beijing)

Fixed search results page for root level pages.
Created a rudimentary entry page.

9 August 2009 (Beijing)

Uploaded Phasianidae, Anatidae, Gaviidae, Diomedeidae, and Procellariidae (Japanese). This section can be expected to progress very slowly.

8 August 2009 (Beijing)

Minor changes and corrections at both Vietnamese and Mongolian lists, in particular a rewriting of the Mongolian Accipitridae.

2 August 2009 (Beijing)

Added Certhiidae, Sturnidae ,Turdidae, Muscicapidae, Cinclidae ,Passeridae, Prunellidae , Motacillidae, Fringillidae, and Emberizidae to Mongolian birds. The Mongolian list is now complete (roughly one and a half months after I started on it), although it is still in what I describe as 'beta status' because of its many problems and unknowns.

22 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Regulidae, Troglodytidae ,and Sittidae to Mongolian birds.

21 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Alaudidae, Cisticolidae , Pycnonotidae , Sylviidae and Timaliidae (Paradoxornithidae) to Mongolian birds.

18 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Paridae, Remizidae, Hirundinidae, and Aegithalidae to Mongolian birds.

16 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Bombycillidae to Mongolian birds. Also added rough justification for the inclusion of languages.

14 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Oriolidae, Dicruridae, and Corvidae to Mongolian birds.

12 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Laniidae to Mongolian birds. Passerines have now begun.

11 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Cuculidae, Strigidae, Caprimulgidae, Apodidae, Alcedinidae, Meropidae, Upupidae, and Picidae to Mongolian birds. Non-passerines are now complete.

5 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Turnicidae, Recurvirostridae, Charadriidae, Rostratulidae, Scolopacidae, Glareolidae, Laridae, Stercorariidae, Pteroclidae, and Columbidae to Mongolian birds.
Added Mongolian sources.
Fixed a few errors.

3 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Gruidae to Mongolian birds.

2 July 2009 (Beijing)

Added Rallidae to Mongolian birds.

1 July 2009 (Beijing)

Decided that "Site Map" is too grand for what is really a "Table of Contents" (or "List of Families") for each language. When a site-wide map is ready, I'll call it a "Site Map".

29 June 2009 (Beijing)

Added Mongolian names for Otididae.

28 June 2009 (Beijing)

Added Mongolian names for Accipitridae.

27 June 2009 (Beijing)

Added Mongolian names for Ardeidae, Pelecanidae, Phalacrocoracidae, and Falconidae.
Fixed some errors, added link to English index page at Mongolian and Vietnamese birds, fixed incorrect formatting at some pages.

25 June 2009 (Beijing)

Added Mongolian names for Phoenicopteridae, Ciconiidae, and Threskiornithidae.

24 June 2009 (Beijing)

Added Mongolian names for Podicipedidae and Gaviidae.

22 June 2009 (Beijing)

Started Birds of Mongolia. Added Mongolian names for Phasianidae and Anatidae.

25 May 2009 (Beijing)

Fixed the header to reflect content (no longer "Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese").
Added sibagu mailbox.

24 May 2009 (Beijing)

Vietnamese: Considerable tweaking of content in the "General names" section of each page. The original content reflected the fragmentary and subordinate nature of Vietnam-related content at cjvlang. I've tried to summarise common Vietnamese usage (as far as I can ascertain it), followed by ornithological usage. A cautionary note has been added along with a welcome for corrections and suggestions.

27 April 2009 (Beijing)

Following indexing by Google, I've fixed up the search function and tracking of page usage.
In the past few days a few errors, etc., have also been fixed.

19 April 2009 (Beijing)

Birds of Vietnam is the first section to be uploaded. (Roughly two months after I started work on this section). This is a country list for Vietnam with the Chinese, Chinese (Taiwan), and Japanese names as previously, and Thai (unglossed) and French (unglossed) thrown in for good measure. The focus is on presenting a list of bird names that is useful within the Vietnamese context, not a large, diffuse multi-lingual list for East Asia. Search is now on every page, so once Google has indexed the site, it will be easier to find things. Eventually it is envisaged that the entire bird names glossary will move to the new site. Incidentally, sibagu is Mongolian for 'bird' (modern Mongolian shuvuu or shovoo, depending on your phonetics), but it will be a while before I manage to put the Mongolian names up.

[Sibagu Year 1]

PRE-SIBAGU (CJVLANG)

12 April 2009 (Beijing)

In the past couple of days I've made quite a few corrections large and small. Some are enough to make me shake my head in wonder. Elementary errors that have been there for years! Information that was deleted I know not when. Species that have disappeared or were never put in.... Now that I'm entering names from the Thai checklist, I'm being forced to look more closely at my sources, resulting in the addition of new species and various other changes. While it's all for the better, I still can't understand how it got so bad...

31 March 2009 (Beijing)

At long last, an update. Converted the site to Howard and Moore 2003. While Sibley and Monroe appears to have been accepted in many places (e.g., Japan and Thailand) as the "new standard", it possesses the disadvantage of no prospective updates (classification and species frozen in the 1990s) and no indication of subspecies. As more changes are accepted in the light of new studies, Sibley and Monroe definitely won't be the last word in avian classification. Therefore, in order to move forward on a firmer footing, I've decided to take one step back.
Each genus has now been given its own heading. This is a great boon to navigation and site management. Anchors are now placed exactly where they are supposed to be, not at the location of the preceding species. This means 1. more accurate navigation and 2. no more missing anchors!
Updated to the latest Taiwanese birdlist (late 2008). Sadly, the days of the Taiwanese naming system are clearly numbered. The unmistakable trend is towards the adoption of Mainland names, even where this disrupts the regularity of the original Taiwanese naming system (e.g. coucals).
Added a few missing Southeast Asian species and Mongolian species.
Mongolian names have been temporarily removed. It's clear that adding Mongolian will require a lot more than a few slapdash additions. Moreover, it is simply too unwieldy to add Mongolian to the current format. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can add them in a more disciplined manner.

23 February 2009 (Beijing)

Almost on the eve of the Mongolian New Year (Tsagaan Sar, 25 Feb), I've finished adding Tooltips. Despite rough edges, the job is essentially complete -- which is a good thing as I won't have access to my bird books while I move house. I'm very happy with the use of Tooltips to explain in the most convenient way possible, in situ, issues of species splits and different treatments by different authorities. I can now move information around without losing it or having to reestablish links, etc.
The subsite is now mostly converted to XHTML, all pages are pretty much valid in terms of code, and markup is largely tagged for information content, with styling expressed through cascading style sheets (CSS). This will make a lot of things in future much easier.

22 February 2009 (Beijing)

Continued adding Tooltips. Involved quite a bit of updating of information, in particular the sorting out of names for Turdus naumanni / Turdus eunomus (Turdinae).

21 February 2009 (Beijing)

Continued adding Tooltips. Continued converting pages to XHTML.
Finally deleted Apus affinis, resolving years of confused naming. Was finally able to clean this up after deciding to take Howard and Moore 2003 and Zheng Guangmei's 2005 list of Chinese birds as my two standards.

20 February 2009 (Beijing)

Amplified and rewrote parts of the page discussing 'systematisation' (not yet transferred).
Continued adding Tooltips. Continued converting pages to XHTML.

19 February 2009 (Beijing)

Changed the word 'regularisation' to 'systematisation' wherever it occurs. 'Systematisation' seems to convey the intended meaning better.
Updated the Guide to the Glossary (not yet transferred).

18 February 2009 (Beijing)

Continued the slow but steady process of converting to "Tooltips". A few pages I missed earlier are being converted to XHTML.

13 February 2009 (Beijing)

Converted a few more notes to "Tooltips". By forcing me to check each source carefully, this often brings out errors resulting from the previous piecemeal updating process.

10 February 2009 (Beijing)

Converted a few more notes to "Tooltips".
Added information on Japanese etymology to Gaviidae.

8 February 2009 (Beijing)

Started converting "notes" in the species tables to "Tooltips". More succinct, easier to access, easier to understand.

7 February 2009 (Beijing)

Finished adding names from Cheng's worldwide list of bird species. Splits at Paridae have now been better documented. (Some had previously been hastily added, without indicating the source).
Rectified major and long-standing naming error at Burhinidae. Fixed major distribution errors at Sulidae, Phaethontidae and Hydrobatinae (Mainland/Taiwan distribution, etc). Updated information on Ciconia ciconia/boyciana.
Pages are also gradually being converted from HTML to XHTML.
Added colour scheme distinguishing birds found in China, Taiwan, Japan, Vietnam, and Mongolia. More functional than aesthetic! Perhaps a little fine-tuning is in order...

6 February 2009 (Beijing)

Added names from Cheng's worldwide list of bird species to more families. There is not too much more to go.
Finally disentangled conflicting authorities enough to delete two taxa from the Chinese bird list: Pitta brachyura and Ploceus benghalensis.
Have started adding links to individual Avibase taxons -- only just beginning.

5 February 2009 (Beijing)

Continued to add names from Cheng's worldwide list of bird species.

4 February 2009 (Beijing)

Added names from Cheng's worldwide list of bird species to more families, notably the Fringillinae.
Fixed code of popups at how Japanese write bird names in Chinese characters. These popups have been a mess for years!
Added a Japanese alternative name for Tetrastes bonasia.

3 February 2009 (Beijing)

Continued to add names from Cheng's worldwide list of bird species. Quite heavy going as often this involves looking at all the sources. There are inevitably errors, which will have to be rectified later. Because of my home and work situation, it's hard to find either the time or the place to check every source as thoroughly as I would like to.
Fixed code for the section on how Japanese write bird names in Chinese characters. Made a few changes.
Added Monglian names to shrikes and starlings. English glosses yet to come.

1 February 2009 (Beijing)

Finished putting Taiwanese names into their own column.
Added Mongolian names of Phasianidae. These are divided into "old names" (previously established names for Mongolian birds) and "new names" (names from a new official bird list of 2007). The table is now too wide to be seen on an ordinary computer screen without scrolling sideways.

29 January 2009 (Beijing)

Started moving Taiwanese bird names back to their own column. This is in the interest of better handling (whole columns are easier to manipulate than split cells), although the problem of presentation (too many columns on the web page) remains. This will be resolved in due course.
Resumed the process of inserting names from Cheng's world list of birds, thus making clear the source of each individual species name. Slow, tedious, and at times still inconclusive.
Retagged a few pages that were missed.

28 January 2009 (Beijing)

Completed retagging the lists. This has beeen under way for almost three weeks. Names are now marked for category (e.g., "pinyin") rather than style ("colour brown"). The only visible difference at the moment is the conversion of all Latin names to italics, done by style sheet, not by HTML markup, and the capitalisation of English names, also achieved by style sheet. (This is less than satisfactory as not all browsers will yield the same results, and is no substitute for capitalisation of each name by hand. It is, however, a quick way to rectify the mistaken decision, made years ago, to use lower case initial letters for English-language names.)

14 January 2009 (Beijing)

Sibagu site registered (www.sibagu.com).

10 January 2009 (Beijing)

Fixed a problem wherein IE was rendering some pages completely blank. The root of the problem was the page title. Certain Vietnamese characters at the end of the title (such as ẹ) caused the entire page to turn up blank. (The title is what appears at the very top of your browser). This problem does not occur in Firefox or Safari.

8 January 2009 (Beijing)

United Accipitrinae, Tringinae, and Anatidae into a smaller number of pages. The job is now complete. Each family has now been compressed into a maximum of three web pages, with a maximum page size of 80kb, thus removing the last legacy of the early site, in which the CJV names were in the form of small graphics, creating a lot of code. However, I expect to have to deal with some residual issues from this exercise, including bad coding.

7 January 2009 (Beijing)

United Muscicapinae, Fringillinae, and Emberizinae, Larinae, and Corvinae into smaller number of pages.

5 January 2009 (Beijing)

United Columbidae, Rallidae, Ardeidae, and Turdinae into one page each.

2 January 2009 (Beijing)

United Phasianidae into two pages. United Strigidae, Nectariniidae, and Sturninae into one page each.

1 January 2009 (Beijing)

United Sylviinae and Motacillinae into smaller number of pages.

Updates 2009 (including pre-Sibagu updates)