Coraciidae
佛法僧科
fó-fǎ-sēng kē

General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Pinyin reflects Mandarin pronunciation; for some dialect names, it is no more than a polite fiction. Korean glosses are tentative. Comments and corrections welcome. Hover over Green Lettering Green lettering at this site hides a tool tip with glosses, further explanations, etc. Hover cursor to reveal. to see additional information.

China has three species of coraciid belonging to two genera. The most widespread is the Dollarbird Eurystomus orientalis, known as 三宝鸟 sān-bǎo-niǎo 'three jewels bird'. In addition, two Coracias species are found in peripheral areas in Yunnan, Sichuan, and Xinjiang, and are known as 佛法僧 fó-fǎ-sēng 'Buddha-law-monk'.

Both 佛法僧 fó-fǎ-sēng 'Buddha-law-monk' and 三宝鸟 sān-bǎo-niǎo 'three jewels bird' were listed in the seminal Japanese-influenced work Zoological Nomenclature, published in Shanghai in 1923. The name 佛法僧 fó-fǎ-sēng 'Buddha-law-monk' was bestowed on the Dollarbird in Japan, where it was mistakenly believed that its call resembled buppōsō, meaning 'Buddha-law-monk' in Japanese. Only in 1935 was it discovered that the call was actually that of the Scops Owl Otus scops. The alternative name 三宝鸟 sān-bǎo-niǎo, or 'three jewels bird' is simply a twist on the old one, since 三宝 sān-bǎo refers to the 'three jewels' of Buddhism -- namely the Buddha, the law, and the monks.

佛法僧 fó-fǎ-sēng 'Buddha-law-monk' was ornithologically adopted for the Dollarbird and for other coraciid species in China and was used in the name of the family. At some time, however, it was apparently decided to differentiate between genera by using 三宝鸟 sān-bǎo-niǎo'three jewels bird' for the Dollarbird (Eurystomus) and retaining 佛法僧 fó-fǎ-sēng 'Buddha-law-monk' for Coracias.

The earliest proposed ornithological names given in Chinese Birds of 1927 (35) were direct translations of their English names at the time, 东方宽嘴转鸟 dōngfāng kuān-zuǐ zhuǎn-niǎo 'eastern wide-billed rolling bird' for the Eastern Broad-billed Roller (Eurystomus orientalis) and 缅甸转鸟 miǎndiàn zhuǎn-niǎo 'Burmese rolling bird' for the Burmese Roller (Coracias affinis, now Coracias benghalensis affinis).

The northern folk name, 老鸹翠 lǎo-guā cuì 'crow-kingfisher', identifies the Dollarbird with its close relatives, the kingfishers (Alcedinidae).

Species names

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SCIENTIFIC & ENGLISH		CHINESE			EAST		SOUTH	NORTH
Coracias
Latin	English	Chinese	Chinese (Taiwan)	Other Ch	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	Mongolian
Coracias benghalensis	Indian roller	棕胸佛法僧 (棕胸佛法僧) zōng-xiōng fó-fǎ-sēng 'reddishbrown-breasted buddha-law-monk'		缅甸转鸟 (緬甸轉鳥) miǎndiàn zhuǎn-niǎo 'Burmese rolling bird' (early ornithological) (35)	インドブッポウソウ (インド仏法僧) indo buppōsō 'Indian buddha-law-monk'		Chim Sả rừng 'forest kingfisher (bird)' (12, 34)
Coracias garrulus	European roller	蓝胸佛法僧 (藍胸佛法僧) lán-xiōng fó-fǎ-sēng 'blue-breasted buddha-law-monk'			ニシブッポウソウ (西仏法僧) nishi buppōsō 'western buddha-law-monk'			Inner M: Хөх энгэрт мөргөлч ᠬᠦᠬᠡ ᠡᠩᠭᠡᠷᠲᠦ ᠮᠦᠷᠭᠦᠯᠴᠢ khökh eŋgert mörgölch 'darkblue-collared worshipper' (31)
Eurystomus
Latin	English	Chinese	Chinese (Taiwan)	Other Ch	Japanese	Korean	Vietnamese	Mongolian
Eurystomus orientalis	Dollarbird Eastern broad-billed roller Broad-billed roller	三宝鸟 (三寶鳥) sān-bǎo-niǎo 'three jewels bird'	(佛法僧) 佛法僧 fó-fǎ-sēng 'buddha-law-monk'	东方宽嘴转鸟 (東方寬嘴轉鳥) dōngfāng kuān-zuǐ zhuǎn-niǎo 'eastern wide-billed rolling bird' (early ornithological) (31, 35) 老鸹翠 (老鴰翠) lǎo-guā cuì 'crow-kingfisher' (northern) (35) 阔嘴鸟 (闊嘴鳥) kuò-zuǐ-niǎo 'broad-billed bird' 海南了 hāinán liǎo 'Hainan liao' (grackle?)	ブッポウソウ (仏法僧) buppōsō 'buddha-law-monk'	파랑새 parang-sae 'blue bird'	Chim Yểng quạ 'raven myna (bird)' (12, 13, 34)	Дорнын эрдэнийншувуу dorniŋ erdniŋ-shuvuu 'eastern precious bird' Inner M: Сүсэгт шувуу ᠰᠦᠰᠦᠭᠲᠦ ᠰᠢᠪᠠᠭᠣ süsegt shuvuu 'pious bird' (31, 32)

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