Alcedinidae / カワセミ科 (Kawa-semi ka)

General names

Information is based on dictionaries and other sources. Species list may not be current. Comments and corrections welcome.

The general Japanese word for a kingfisher is カワセミ kawa-semi. Kawa means 'river'. Semi means 'kingfisher', although semi never occurs by itself as an independent word. This name is used by naturalists to refer to Alcedo atthis.

There is no single Chinese character that can be used to write kawa-semi. Among the ways used to write it are:

(1) 翡翠 (normally read hisui) from the Chinese word fěicùi 'kingfisher'. As in Chinese, 翡翠 hisui also means 'jadeite' in Japanese.
(2) 川蝉 kawa-semi which literally means 'river cicada'. Although semi 'cicada' and semi 'kingfisher' are different words, the character 蝉 'cicada' is used for the kingfishers due to the shared pronunciation.
(3) 魚狗 'fish dog' (Chinese yú-gǒu) is sometimes also used.

Naturalists call the halcyon kingfishers ショウビン shōbin. This is written with the characters 翡翠, which we have seen are also read kawa-semi or hisui. Originally, ショウビン shōbin was just an alternative name for the カワセミ kawa-semi, the general word for 'kingfisher' and is a much less familiar name for the layman than kawa-semi.

The cerylid kingfishers are known as ヤマセミ yama-semi 'mountain kingfisher'. In Chinese characters, ヤマセミ yama-semi is written either:

Note that the characters 山翡翠 can also be read yama shōbin, which is the name of Halcyon pileata.

Species names

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HALCYONINAE SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN JAPANESE CHINESE KOREAN Latin Eng, Fr, Ger, Ru Japanese Other J Chinese Chinese (Taiwan) Other Ch Korean Halcyon               Halcyon coromanda Ruddy kingfisher Martin-chasseur violet Feuerliest Рыжий зимородок アカショウビン (赤翡翠) aka shōbin 'red shobin' ミズコイドリ (水恋鳥) mizu-koi-dori 'water love bird' ミヤマショウビン (深山翡翠) miyama shōbin 'deep mountain shobin' 赤翡翠 chì fěicuì 'red feicui' 赤翡翠 chì fěicuì 'red feicui'   호반새 hoban-sae 'lakeside (?) bird' Halcyon pileata Black-capped kingfisher Martin-chasseur à coiffe noire Kappenliest Зимородок ошейниковый ヤマショウビン (山翡翠) yama shōbin 'mountain shobin'   蓝翡翠 (藍翡翠) lán fěicuì 'blue feicui' 黑頭翡翠 hēi-tóu fěicuì 'black-headed feicui' 蓝翠鸟 lán cuì-niǎo 'blue kingfisher' (see Aledinid kingfishers) 蓝翠毛 lán cuì-máo 'blue kingfisher feather' 喜鹊翠 xǐquè-cuì 'magpie kingfisher' 黑帽鱼狗 hēi-mào yú-gǒu 'black-capped fish dog' 秦椒鸟 qín-jiāo-niǎo 'Qin pepper bird' 山鴗 shān-lì 'mountain kingfisher' 청호반새 cheong-hoban-sae 'blue lakeside-bird' Todiramphus               Todiramphus chloris Todirhamphus chloris Halcyon chloris Collared kingfisher White-collared kingfisher Martin-chasseur à collier blanc Halsbandliest ナンヨウショウビン (南洋翡翠) Nan'yō shōbin 'south seas shobin'   白领翡翠 (白領翡翠) bái-lǐng fěicuì 'white-collared feicui' 白領翡翠 bái-lǐng fěicuì 'white-collared feicui' 白领翠鸟 bái-lǐng cuì-niǎo 'white-collared cui bird'

ALCEDININAE SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN JAPANESE CHINESE KOREAN Latin Eng, Fr, Ger, Ru Japanese Other J Chinese Chinese (Taiwan) Other Ch Korean Alcedo               Alcedo atthis Common kingfisher River kingfisher Martin-pêcheur d'Europe Eisvogel Обыкновенный зимородок カワセミ (翡翠 or 川蝉) kawa-semi 'river kingfisher' (written with either the characters for hisui or for 'river cicada') ヒスイ (翡翠) hisui from Chinese fěicùi; also means 'jadeite' ショウビン (翡翠) shōbin 'shobin', written with the characters for hisui ソニドリ (鴗) soni-dori 'soni bird' (old name, used as a poetic qualifier for 'blue') ソニ (鴗) soni 'soni' (old name) 普通翠鸟 (普通翠鳥) pǔtōng cuì-niǎo 'common cui bird' 翠鳥 cuì-niǎo 'cui bird' 翡翠 fěicuì 'feicui' 小翠鱼狗 (小翠魚狗) xiǎo cuì yú-gǒu 'small cui fish dog' 小翠鸟 (小翠鳥) xiǎo cuì-niǎo 'small cui bird' 鱼狗 (魚狗) yú-gǒu 'fish dog' 小鱼狗 (小魚狗) xiǎo yú-gǒu 'small fish dog' 天狗 tiān-gǒu 'heaven dog' 水狗 shuǐ-gǒu 'water dog' 水雀 shuǐ-qiǎo 'water finch/sparrow' 翠雀儿 (翠雀兒) cuì-qiǎor 'cui finch/sparrow' (Northern) 钓鱼郎 (釣魚郎) diào-yú-láng 'fisherman' 打鱼郎 (打魚郎) dǎ-yú-láng 'fisherman' 金鸟仔 (金鳥仔) jīn niǎo zǎi 'golden bird' (Southern) 鱼虎 (魚虎) yú-hǔ 'fish tiger' (Materia Medica) 翊 yì 'yi' (literary) 鴗 lì 'li' (old) 翠碧鸟 (翠碧鳥) cuìbì-niǎo 'cui blue bird' 鱼师 (魚師) yú-shī 'fisher' 翠奴 (翠奴) cuì-nǔ 'cui fellow' 信天缘 (信天緣) xìn-tiān-yuán 'believe heaven fate ?' 青翰 qīng-hàn 'blue feathers' 青庄 qīng-zhuāng 'blue fields' 青羽雀 qīng yǔ què 'blue-feathered finch' 衔鱼翠鸟 (銜魚翠鳥) xián-yú cuì-niǎo 'hold fish cui bird' 물총새 mul-chong-sae 'water chong bird'

CERYLINAE SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN JAPANESE CHINESE KOREAN Latin Eng, Fr, Ger, Ru Japanese Other J Chinese Chinese (Taiwan) Other Ch Korean Megaceryle               Megaceryle lugubris Ceryle lugubris Crested kingfisher Greater pied kingfisher Crested pied kingfisher Pied kingfisher Martin-pêcheur tacheté Trauerfischer Большой пегий зимородок ヤマセミ (山翡翠 or 山魚狗) yama-semi 'mountain kingfisher' カノコショウビン (鹿の子翡翠) kanoko-shōbin 'deer-(striped) kingfisher' 冠鱼狗 (冠魚狗) guàn yú-gǒu 'crested fish dog'   水葱花 shuǐ cōng-huā 'water shallot-flower' 大啄鱼 (大啄魚) dà zhuó-yú 'large catch-fish' 斑鴗 bān lì 'spotted/striped li' 花鱼狗 huā yú-gǒu 'flowery fish dog' 花钓鱼郎 (花釣魚郎) huā diào-yú-láng 'flowery fisherman' 뿔호반새 ppul-hoban-sae 'horned lakeside bird'

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