Accipitrinae

The Accipitrinae are the major subfamily of the Accipitridae. The other subfamily, the Pandioninae, consists of only one species, the Osprey.

Chinese: The broad general term for hawks and eagles is 鹰 yīng. In a sense, this can be used in an even broader sense than English 'hawk' -- for instance, the eagle as a national symbol (such as that of the U.S., Germany, and Russia) is called the 鹰 yīng.

In a narrow sense, 鹰 yīng is used for the 'true hawks' (Accipiters), most commonly the goshawk. The goshawk is specifically known as the 苍鹰 cāng-yīng ('blue hawk'). The sparrow hawk Accipiter nisus is known as 雀鹰 què-yīng ('sparrow/finch hawk') or (traditionally) 鹞 yào.

The large eagles are called 鵰 diāo ( is the simplified character used by ornithologists, although it is an unauthorised simplification. The simplified form, which is not found in Unicode, is brought up by placing your mouse on top of 鵰). The large eagles are known colloquially as 老鵰 lǎo diāo. They are also known as 鹫 jiù, although ornithologists are attempting to enforce a distinction between 鵰 as 'eagle' and 鹫 jiù, which is used strictly for vultures. (鹫 is written with the phonetic 就 jiù on top and 鸟 'bird' underneath.)

Other birds in the Accipitrinae include:

Black kite or 鸢 yuān, popularly called 老鹰 lǎo-yīng ('old hawk').
Vultures, known as 秃鹫 tū-jiù or 兀鹫 wù-jiù, both meaning 'bald eagle'.
Buzzards, known as 鵟 kuáng ( in simplified characters, is written with the phonetic 狂 kuáng on top and 鸟 'bird' underneath. Unicode does not contain the simplified character.) In ancient times this referred to an owl or a nightjar; its application to the buzzard appears to be of Japanese origin.

There is a wealth of popular and dialect names for the Accipitrinae, often with very confusing results. Most urban Chinese are completely unaware of many distinctions (see notes).

Japanese: In Japanese, the distinction between eagles, hawks, and other birds in the Accipitrinae seems to be better established. The largest birds are called ワシ washi (written 鷲) and small and medium-sized members are called タカ taka (written 鷹). In a narrow sense, タカ taka refers specifically to the Accipiters or 'true hawks'.

Some of the other main names are:

Vietnamese: The main names used for the Accipitrinae are as follows. Several are derived from Chinese names.