This is a collection of thoughts as I compile this glossary. There may be continual changes!

 

Other sections:
The development of bird names in CJV
The state of standardisation of bird names in CJV
How the common names have been 'systematised'
The influence of orthography
Why I got involved in this glossary
The writing of Japanese bird names in Chinese characters

This list of bird names was compiled from publicly available sources, including published books and internet sources. The following is a guide to the main features of the list.

Classification of birds: At the moment, the list follows the Sibley-Monroe classification.

The family names follow Sibley-Monroe. For the most part existing CJV family names are used without change or with minimal changes (e.g., adapting a name from family to subfamily). In some cases, however, where an existing family name has been rendered inappropriate by changes in the classification, a new name has been tentatively given. Such new names do not have the sanction of authority or established practice and could turn out to be inaccurate.

1. General Names: Each list is headed by a brief section describing the general names used for birds in the family or subfamily. As far as possible this section gives the names used in ordinary speech rather than academic usage. In compiling this section I have relied on dictionaries, intuition, and to some extent, experience. Unfortunately this is not enough in many cases and I have had to be content to give information that is relatively 'safe'. The weakest section is that on Vietnam, where dictionaries (and my intuitions) are weakest.

2. Specific species: Each list contains the following (for sources, see Sources):

Latin names: These currently follow Sibley-Monroe, but I am moving back to using Howard-Moore. (In any case, the difference between the two is becoming less and less).

English common names: I give the Howard-Moore names first in red lettering, followed by Sibley-Monroe in purple lettering. The spelling of Sibley-Monroe names has been modified to conform with the conventions of this site -- i.e., Australian spelling ('Northern shoveler' becomes 'Northern shoveller') -- but Sibley-Monroe word division has been preserved.

Some other names are also shown, including the rather idiosyncratic names used by Cheng Tso-Hsin.

Mainland Chinese common names: The Chinese names follow Zheng Guangmei's A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of China (2). The other major sources are Cheng Tso-Hsin's A complete checklist of species and subspecies of the Chinese birds (published in 2000), which is marked (1), and Mackinnon and Phillipp's A Field Guide to the Birds of China (Chinese translation), which is marked (3). In addition, two worldwide checklists have been referred to: Zhang Guangmei's A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of the World, marked (4) and Cheng Tso-Hsin's Birds of the World (Latin, Chinese and English Names) 2nd ed., marked (5).

Taiwanese common names: These follow the names at Tzung-Su Ding's web site, with some help from A Field Guide to the Birds of China.

Alternative Chinese names:

Sources include: (1) Cihai, (2) Xiandai Han'yu Cidian, (3) Chunichi Dai Jiten, and (4) Chinese language web sites and books about birds.

It seems to be a popular Chinese tradition to throw in alternative names, to the extent that one sometimes suspects how authentic or current they actually are. They tend to be a motley collection of popular names, dialect names (often from north China), older scientific names, and literary names.

Japanese common names: These follow A Field Guide to Birds of Japan in the case of native birds and the Search Birds site for others. On occasion I have searched the Web for other names, in particular Wikipedia's bird lists for China, Tibet, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Japan.

Alternative Japanese names: These are derived principally from the Daijisen and tend to be either popular names or literary or poetic names. There is also some input from Hiraizumi's web site, although Hiraizumi lists far too many dialect or popular names than could be accommodated by this site.

Vietnamese common names: These follow the Checklist of the Birds of Vietnam (Vo Quy and Nguyen Cu), with some additional names from Nguyen, Le & Phillipps. Where a different name is used by Nguyen, Le & Phillipps, it is listed in this column, placed under the bar.

Vietnamese alternative names: Since Vietnamese dictionaries (including bilingual dictionaries) are poor or unreliable, it has been difficult to find alternative names that could reliably be listed. Where a name is given by dictionaries but its authenticity or accuracy cannot be verified, I've sometimes noted it in the General Names or Notes with a comment. Some names have also been taken from a Vietnamese dialect dictionary and a book on cage birds that I found in Vietnam.

3. Notes: Notes about the specific names are shown here. Notes may cover taxonomic difficulties, general naming trends, comments on equivalencies among Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, and Vietnamese names, or notes on common non-ornithological usages.

4. Cultural Notes: This section, where it occurs, contains miscellaneous information relating to the place of birds in the family in question to the cultures of the three countries. It includes brief notes on their role in traditional culture and linguistic idioms or expressions in which the birds' names are found.