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Plectrophenacidae
雪鹀科
xǔe-wú kē

雪鵐科
xuě-wú kē

ユキホオジロ科
yuki-hō-jiro ka

흰멧새과
huin-mes-sae-gwa

Цасчхөмрөгийнхөн
tsasch-khömrögiŋkhöŋ

(Mongolian family name based on Mongolian name for Snow Bunting)
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Inter-Country
Plectrophenacidae: MN
Plectrophenacidae: JP
■ Plectrophenacidae: CN
Plectrophenacidae: TW
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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.

This family previously formed part of the Emberizidae (buntings) and therefore uses the same ornithological name, 'bunting'. This term originally entered Chinese from Japanese, where the character -- originally referring to a type of sparrow or quail in Chinese -- was used to write the old Japanese name シトド shitodo 'bunting' because no appropriate character was available in Chinese.

The seminal work Zoological Nomenclature, published in Shanghai in 1923, relied heavily on Japanese naming (written, of course, in Chinese characters) and generalised well beyond its scope in Japanese to cover every kind of bunting. Despite the recommendation in Chinese Birds of 1927 (35) to use què 'sparrow' or 'finch' for the buntings, later authorities adopted as a means of differentiating the buntings from other small birds called què.

The current name of the Snow Bunting (Plectrophenax nivalis) is the same as that recommended by Zoological Nomenclature in 1923. The name of the Lapland Longspur (Calcarius lapponicus) fuses a Chinese folk name, 铁爪子 tiě-zhuǎzi 'iron claw' with ornithological .

Besides the Plectrophenacidae, the name is used for the Emberizidae (buntings) and the Urocynchramidae (Przewalski's Rosefinch).

Species names

› ABOUT THIS TABLE‹
SCIENTIFIC & ENGLISH
CHINESE
EAST
SOUTH
NORTH
Calcarius
Latin
English
Chinese
Chinese (Taiwan)
Other Ch
Japanese
Korean
Vietnamese
Mongolian
Calcarius lapponicus
link to photo
Lapland longspur
Lapland bunting
铁爪鹀
(鐵爪鵐)
tiě-zhǎo wú
'iron-clawed bunting'
(铁爪鵐)
鐵爪鵐
tiě-zhǎo wú
'iron-clawed bunting'
铁雀
(鐵雀)
tiě-què
'iron sparrow'
铁爪子
(鐵爪子)
tiě zhuǎzi
'iron claw' (northern) (35)
雪眉子
(雪眉子)
xuě-méizi
'snow eyebrow' (northern) (35)
拉玻兰雀
(拉玻蘭雀)
lābōlán-què
'Lapland sparrow' (early ornithological) (35)
ツメナガホオジロ
(爪長頬白)
tsume-naga hō-jiro
'long-nailed white-cheek'
긴발톱멧새
gin-bal-tom-mes-sae
'long-toe-nail mountain bird'
  Лапланд буулгатхөмрөг
ᠯᠠᠫᠯᠠᠨᠳ᠋ ᠪᠣᠭᠣᠯᠣᠭᠠᠲᠣ ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠷᠭᠡ
lapland buulagt-khömrög
'Lapland yoked? bunting'
Inner M:
Хөх саварт азарга
ᠬᠦᠬᠡ ᠰᠠᠪᠠᠷᠲᠣ ᠠᠵᠠᠷᠭ᠎ᠠ
khökh savart azrag
'darkblue-sided bunting1' (31, 33)
or
Хөх болжмор
ᠬᠦᠬᠡ ᠪᠣᠯᠵᠣᠮᠣᠷ
khökh boljmor
'darkblue sparrow' (31, 33)
Plectrophenax
Latin
English
Chinese
Chinese (Taiwan)
Other Ch
Japanese
Korean
Vietnamese
Mongolian
Plectrophenax nivalis
link to photo
Snow bunting 雪鹀
(雪鵐)
xuě wú
'snow bunting'
(雪鹀)
雪鵐
xuě wú
'snow bunting'
雪雀
(雪雀)
xuě-què
'snow sparrow' (early ornithological) (35)
ユキホオジロ
(雪頬白)
yuki hō-jiro
'snow white-cheek'
흰멧새
huin-mes-sae
'white mountain bird'
  Туйлын цасчхөмрөг
ᠲᠣᠢᠢᠯ ᠦᠨ ᠴᠠᠰᠣᠴᠢ ᠬᠦᠮᠦᠷᠭᠡ
tuiliŋ tsasch-khömrög
'polar snow bunting'
Туйлын цасч азарга
ᠲᠣᠢᠢᠯ ᠦᠨ ᠴᠠᠰᠣᠴᠢ ᠠᠵᠠᠷᠭ᠎ᠠ
tuiliŋ tsasch azrag
'polar snow bunting1' (33)

The name for the sparrows is one of the great dividers between Mongolian and Inner Mongolian usage. The general term for 'sparrow' in Mongolia is Бор шувуу bor shuvuu 'dun bird'; in Inner Mongolian usage the normal terms are Болжмор boljmor and Бялзуухай byalzuukhai. This has far-reaching effects for passerine naming. In Inner Mongolia, partially under Chinese influence, the names Болжмор and Бялзуухай byalzuukhai are used not only for sparrows but also in general passerine bird names. In Mongolia, on the other hand, these two terms have gone to take on more specialised meanings. Болжмор boljmor is used for larks while Бялзуухай byalzuukhai is used generally for small passerines other than sparrows.

The word ホオジロ hō-jiro 'white cheek' is used for a number of buntings as well as snow buntings and longspurs. It can be written in Chinese characters in several ways: 1. characters literally meaning 'cheek-white' in Japanese (頬白 hō-jiro), 2. 黄道眉, literally meaning 'yellow-line eyebrow', from Chinese, and 3. 画眉鳥 gabi-chō literally 'painted eyebrow bird', also from Chinese, normally used for the hwamei.

The ji in アオジ ao-ji, クロジ kuro-ji, and ノジコ no-jiko are etymologically related, although the ultimate etymology is not clear.
ji and ジコ jiko may both be written 鵐, a character devised to write the old name シトド shitodo 'bunting'. The name アオジ ao-ji as a whole may be written 蒿雀 or 蒿鵐, where 蒿 yomogi means 'mugwort' (Artemisia) and the second character refers to 'bunting' and 'sparrow' respectively. 蒿 refers to the greenish colour of the bird.
ノジコ no-jiko may also be written 野路子 'field road child' or 野地子 'field earth child'. The last two characters in each have been arbitrarily chosen for their sound.

中国鸟类种和亚种分类名录大全(修订版) 郑作新 著 科学出版社 北京 2000年
A Complete Checklist of Species and Subspecies of the Chinese Birds (Revised Edition) by Cheng Tso-Hsin, Science Press, Beijing 2000

中国鸟类分类与分布名录 主编:郑光美 科学出版社 北京 2005年
A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of China Chief editor: Zheng Guangmei, Science Press, Beijing 2005

中国鸟类野外手册(中文版)约翰・马敬能、卡伦・菲利普斯,合作者:荷芬奇,翻译:卢和芬 湖南教育出版社 长沙 2000年
A Field Guide to the Birds of China (Chinese translation) by John MacKinnon, Karen Phillipps, in collaboration with He Fen-qi, translated by Lu Hefen, Hunan Jiaoyu Chubanshe (Hunan Educational Press) Changsha 2000

世界鸟类分类与分布名录 主编:郑光美 科学出版社 北京 2002年
A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of the World Chief editor: Zheng Guangmei, Science Press, Beijing 2002

世界鸟类名称(拉丁文、汉文、英文对照)第二版 郑作新等 科学出版社 北京 2002年
Birds of the World (Latin, Chinese and English Names) 2nd ed. by Cheng Tso-Hsin et al, Science Press, Beijing 2002

中国鸟类分布名录 第二版 郑作新 科学出版社 北京 1976年
(Checklist of the Classification of Birds of China 2nd edition by Cheng Tso-Hsin, Science Press, Beijing 1976)

香港及華南鳥類(第六版)(翻譯成中文及重新修訂) 尹璉、費嘉倫、林超英 香港性徵特區政府新聞處政府印務局 1994年
Birds of Hong Kong and South China (6th edition, translated into Chinese and newly revised) by Clive Viney, Karen Phillipps, Lin Chaoying, Hong Kong Govt. Press 1994

Danh Lục Chim Việt Nam (In lần thứ hai) (Checklist of the Birds of Vietnam) Võ Quý, Nguyễn Cử, Nhà Xuất Bản Nông Nghiệp, Hà Nội 1999

Chim Việt Nam Nguyễn Cử, Lê Trọng Trải, Karen Phillipps; Nhà Xuất Bản Lao Động - Xã Hội, 2000

汉蒙名词术语分类词典(自然科学部分) Mongolian (Cyrillic): Хятад Монгол нэр томъёоны зүйл хуваасан толь (байгалийн шинжлэх ухааны бүлэг) (Chinese-Mongolian classified terminological dictionary, natural sciences part) by 《汉蒙名词术语分类词典》编纂委员会 Mongolian (Cyrillic): "Хятад Монгол нэр томъёоны зүйл хуваасан толь" найруулах комисс (Chinese-Mongolian classified terminological dictionary editorial committee), Inner Mongolian People's Press, Hohhot 1990

Chim Việt Nam Nguyễn Cử, Lê Trọng Trải, Karen Phillipps; Nhà Xuất Bản Lao Động - Xã Hội, 2000

内蒙古动物志 (第四卷 鸟纲 雀形目) Fauna Inner Mongolia (Volume 4 Aves Passerines), 主编:旭日干 (Chief Editor: Xurigan), 内蒙古人大学版社 (Inner Mongolian University Press), Hohhot 2015

Danh Lục Các Loài Chim ở Việt Nam (Latinh, Việt, Pháp, Hán) Trần Văn Chánh 2008-2009

Chinese Birds (A Tentative List of Chinese Birds) 中國鳥類(中國鳥類目錄試編) N. Gist Gee, Lacy I. Moffett, G. D. Wilder (祁天錫, 慕維德, 萬卓志), Peiping, 1927 (reprinted 1948)