Welcome to the first issue of the Birds WikiProject newsletter. We hope to produce it monthly, to keep project members up-to-date regarding current efforts and issues. This month only, the full newsletter is being delivered to your mailbox. In future months, a link will be posted instead, though you can choose to continue receiving the full newsletter—or to receive nothing at all— here.

Articles of note

New featured articles and lists – 2008:

1. Blackbird
2. Andean Condor
3. Chiffchaff
4. Northern Pintail
5. House Martin

New good articles – 2008:

1. American Robin
2. Chough
3. Osprey (a former collaboration)
4. Rock Pigeon
5. Song Thrush
6. Storm-petrel
7. White-eyed River Martin

Special kudos to jimfbleak ( talk · contribs), who was lead editor on an impressive eight of these articles—with, of course, capable assistance from others in copy-editing and article review!

Project news

• The current project collaboration is Moa. Help us to improve the article about this intriguing group of birds—now-extinct species which were once the dominant herbivores in New Zealand's forests.
• On a related note, be sure to vote for April's collaboration, which will be chosen on 21 March. Nominations are listed on the collaboration page; feel free to add a new article to the list if there's one you'd especially like to see worked on.
• Work on our first potential featured topic—New World vultures—is progressing nicely, with only two articles left to go: New World Vulture and Cathartidae. Lead editors Hey jude, don't let me down ( talk · contribs) and Rufous-crowned Sparrow ( talk · contribs) are particularly looking for help on the family (Cathartidae) article.
• We now have more than 2,400 articles awaiting assessment. If each project member assessed just a couple of articles a day (most will be stub or start class), we could quickly drive that number down. To find articles needing assessment, have a look at the Statistics table here and click on Unassessed for a listing.

New task force co-leader wanted

Tobi4242 ( talk · contribs) has volunteered to help start up a Raptors task force, to fall under the umbrella of the Birds WikiProject, but is looking for another editor willing to serve as co-coordinator. Anyone who'd like to help is encouraged to get in touch.

Got a suggestion? A correction? Something you'd like to see included in a future issue? Please contact MeegsC ( talk · contribs) with your ideas!

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