Pandioninae

The Pandioninae, along with the Accipitrinae, are one of two subfamilies of the Family Accipitridae. The osprey or fish hawk is a cosmopolitan bird found in all three countries.

The Chinese name is 鹗 è or 鱼鹰 yú-yīng 'fish hawk'.

The Japanese name is ミサゴ misago, written 鶚.

The official Vietnamese name is Ó cá 'fish eagle'.

The distribution of the Pandioninae in East Asia can be seen at Tzung-Su Ding's Distribution of Falconides in East Asia.

1. Chinese 鱼鹰 yú-yīng is also popularly applied to the cormorant, which can and does give rise to confusion. The following is an example gathered at first hand:

There is a Chinese children's TV show, 'Zhima Kaimen' ('Open Sesame') which seeks to educate children about wild animals and birds. Each program shows a short video of a different bird or animal followed by a little animated cartoon.

The osprey was featured on 16 October 2001. The video segment showed an osprey, noting its similarity to the 老鹰 lǎo-yīng (kite, or perhaps hawk) with its short hooked bill. The osprey was shown catching its prey in its claws, not its bill. According to the program: "If the osprey were to fall in the water it would be in trouble because its feathers are not waterproof".

The animated cartoon was a little story about how all the birds and animals were afraid of the osprey because it looked like a kite or hawk. Unfortunately, the bird in the animation didn't look anything like a kite or a hawk. It had black feathers all over, a longish neck, a shape somewhat reminiscent of a duck, and a bill that was long and hooked. It caught fish in its bill, not its claws, and seemed happy to plunge into the water. In fact, it looked for all the world like that other yú-yīng, the cormorant!

2. The Japanese literary expression 雎鳩 shokyū is from the Classical Chinese (modern Mandarin pronunciation: jū-jiū). Although Chinese sources indicate that the term jū-jiū referred to the osprey (hence the Japanese usage), modern Chinese dictionaries indicate only that it is 'a waterfowl mentioned in ancient texts'.