Laniidae

Chinese: In Chinese, the shrikes are known as 伯劳 bóláo (also written 博劳) or sometimes 伯劳鸟 bóláo-niǎo ('bolao bird'). Bóláo is a single word in Chinese. The characters indicate sound, not meaning (the literal meaning is the nonsensical 'uncle labour' or 'broad labour').

An old name is 䴗 jú. Although it has disappeared from ordinary modern usage, this word is widely used by naturalists to form the names of birds in which the word 'shrike' is a component (e.g., 'shrike babbler').

In some areas, the shrike is popularly known as 虎不拉 hù-bu-lǎ (written 'tiger not pull', possibly a tribute to its strength). An alternative writing is 胡不拉.

Japanese: The shrikes are known in Japanese as モズ mozu. This is written 百舌 ('hundred tongues') or 百舌鳥 ('hundred tongue bird'). Both 鵙 and, more rarely, 伯労, are also used, as well as 鴃. Another name for the shrike is モズタカ mozu-taka ('shrike-hawk').

Vietnamese: The Vietnamese word for 'shrike' is Bách thanh, a borrowing from Chinese meaning 'hundred sounds/voices' (百声 bǎi shēng). Alternative names are Chim chàng làng, Chàng làng, and Chim quích.

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

The Japanese take great delight in the mysteries of a writing system that renders the simple word mozu with three Chinese characters meaning 'hundred-tongue bird' (百舌鳥) . The word モズ mozu is native Japanese; the characters 百舌鳥 are obviously a Chinese name with a shared meaning borrowed to write モズ mozu.

However, Chinese scholars believe that 百舌 bǎi shé ('hundred tongues') traditionally referred not to the shrike but to the Blackbird, Turdus merula, on account of its talent at mimicking other birds. If this is correct, the Japanese use of 百舌 to write the word モズ mozu is erroneous.

Given, however, that the Vietnamese name for the shrikes, Bách thanh, means 'hundred voices', it seems likely that 百舌 bǎi shé may indeed have been applied to the shrike in China, even if erroneously. How else can we explain why Japanese and Vietnamese -- languages separated by thousands of miles and with no history of prolonged mutual contact -- both use Chinese words or characters describing the shrike as the bird of a 'hundred tongues' or 'hundred voices'?

In Japanese haiku, the shrike (百舌鳥 mozu) is a season word for autumn.