Phalacrocoracidae

Chinese: The cormorants are known as 鸬鹚 lúcí. Without qualification, this refers to the Great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). A more popular name for P. carbo is 鱼鹰 yú-yīng ' 'fish hawk' (also a name for the osprey).

Japanese: The Japanese word for cormorant is ウ u, written 鵜 in Chinese characters.

Vietnamese: The Vietnamese word for 'cormorant' is Cốc. In the south the cormorant is also known as Cồng cộc.

1. The Japanese and Chinese 'sea cormorants' refer to different species. The Japanese 'sea cormorant' (umi-u) refers to Phalacrocorax capillatus/filamentosus. The Chinese 'sea cormorant' (hǎi lúcí) refers to P. pelagicus.

2. Note that 鵜, the character used for 'cormorant' (u) in Japanese, is the first character in the Chinese word for pelican, 鹈鹕 tíhú.

1. The Orient has a long tradition of using the cormorant for fishing, a practice that is sadly dying out. Cormorant fishing is known in Japanese as 鵜飼い u-kai or u-gai ('cormorant raising') and mainly uses P. capillatus/filamentosus. In Chinese, cormorant fishing is colloquially known as 放鹰 fàng yīng ('to release the hawk'), mainly using P. carbo. Chinese fishermen refer to their birds as 鹰 yīng ('hawk'), related to the popular name 鱼鹰 yú-yīng ('fish hawk'). The expression 放鸦 fàng yā 'release the crow' is also used, based on the popular name 水老鸦 shuǐ lǎo-yā 'water crow'.

3. In Japanese, expressions referring to 'cormorants' include:

The term 鵜呑みにする u-nomi ni suru ('swallow like a cormorant'), which means 'to swallow whole' or, in a figurative meaning, 'to swallow uncritically', from the bird's habit of swallowing fish whole.

The expression 鵜の目鷹の目 u no me taka no me 'eyes of a cormorant, eyes of a hawk' refers to looking for something with sharp or keen eyes.