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Alcedinidae
Шогширынхон
shogshiriŋkhoŋ

翠鸟科
cuì-niǎo kē

翠鳥科
cuì-niǎo kē

カワセミ科
kawa-semi ka

물총새과
mul-chong-sae-gwa

Yalıçapkınıgiller
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■ Alcedinidae: MN
Alcedinidae: JP
Alcedinidae: CN
Alcedinidae: TW
Alcedinidae: VN
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Alcedinidae: MY-SG
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General

This list is 'in beta'. Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Kazakh, Turkish, and 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.

Modern ornithological Mongolian calls the halcyon kingfishers Халуу khaluu and the alcedinid kingfishers Шогшор shogshor or Шогшир shogshir. For the kingfishers, Inner Mongolian uses Хөхөц khöxöts meaning 'indigo, dark blue', an obvious reference to the colour of Alcedo atthis.

However, there is some confusion in the Mongolian kingfisher names:

There are other, more traditional names for the kingfishers, possibly regional. Inner Mongolian dictionaries list Солонгон шувуу soloŋgoŋ shuvuu 'rainbow bird', Нохой Хөхөц nokhoi khöxöts 'dog indigo', and Хөхөц бялзуухай khöxöts byalzuukhai 'indigo sparrow' for alcedinid kingfishers. Халиун Хөхөц khaliuŋ khöxöts 'dun (with black fringes) indigo' is given for the halcyon kingfishers. Нохой галуу nokhoi galuu 'dog goose' is listed for cerylid kingfishers. However, because of indeterminacy surrounding Chinese names, it's not totally clear which type of kingfisher these names refer to.

Species names

› ABOUT THIS TABLE‹
ALCEDININAE
SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN
MONGOLIAN
EAST ASIAN
TURKIC
Alcedo
Latin
English/Russian
Mongolian
Inner M
Other M
Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Kazakh
Turkish
Alcedo atthis
link to photolink to photolink to photo		 Common kingfisher
River kingfisher

Обыкновенный зимородок		 Номин шогшир
ᠨᠣᠮᠢᠠ ᠱᠣᠭᠰᠢᠷ
nomiŋ shogshir
'lapis lazuli shogshir'		 Хөхөц
ᠬᠦᠭᠡᠴᠦ
khöxöts
'indigo (pigment)' (31, 32)		 Mongolia formerly:
Нохой шогшор
ᠨᠣᠬᠠᠢ ᠱᠣᠭᠰᠢᠷ
nokhoi shogshor
'dog shogshor'
 普通翠鸟
(普通翠鳥)
pǔtōng cuì-niǎo
'common kingfisher-bird'
Taiwan:
(翠鸟)
翠鳥
cuì-niǎo
'kingfisher-bird'
 カワセミ
(翡翠 ~ 川蝉 ~ 魚狗)
kawa-semi
'river kingfisher1'		 물총새
mul-chong-sae
'water chong bird'		 Зымыран
zımıran
'zımıran'		 Yalıçapkını
'kingfisher'
 
HALCYONINAE
SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN
MONGOLIAN
EAST ASIAN
TURKIC
Halcyon
Latin
English/Russian
Mongolian
Inner M
Other M
Chinese
Japanese
Korean
Kazakh
Turkish
Halcyon pileata
link to photo		 Black-capped kingfisher

Ошейниковая альциона		 Хармагнай халуу
ᠬᠠᠷ᠎ᠠ ᠮᠠᠩᠨᠠᠢ ᠬᠠᠯᠣ
khar-magnai khaluu
'black-foreheaded kingfisher'		 Хөх Хөхөц
ᠬᠦᠬᠡ ᠬᠦᠭᠡᠴᠦ
khökh khöxöts
'darkblue indigo' (32)		 IM also:
Хөхөц шувуу
ᠬᠦᠭᠡᠴᠦ ᠰᠢᠪᠠᠭᠣ
khöxöts shuvuu
'indigo bird' (31)
 蓝翡翠
(藍翡翠)
lán fěicuì
'blue kingfisher'
Taiwan:
(黑头翡翠)
黑頭翡翠
hēi-tóu fěicuì
'black-headed kingfisher'		 ヤマショウビン
(山翡翠)
yama shōbin
'mountain kingfisher2'		 청호반새
cheong-hoban-sae
'blue lakeside-bird'		    

翡翠 fěicuì is an ancient name signifying 'red feathers' (翡) + 'blue feathers' (翠), for which certain kingfishers were prized. In modern times Chinese ornithologists have for mostly restricted the name 翡翠 fěicuì to the halcyonid kingfishers, although Taiwan still uses it for a cerylid kingfisher.

翠鸟 cuì-niǎo, literally 'bluefeather-bird', using the second character in 翡翠 fěicuì, is a long-standing general kingfisher name most closely associated with the widespread Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis. As a modern ornithological name it is also extended to other members of the genus Alcedo.

ショウビン shōbin is used ornithologically for the halcyonid kingfishers. All Japanese kingfisher names can be written 翡翠, a Chinese name for the kingfishers. In addition to ショウビン shōbin, 翡翠 can be read as カワセミ kawa-semi, ヒスイ hisui, and セミ semi (in the name ヤマセミ yama-semi only), all meaning 'kingfisher'. (To distinguish the names here, ショウビン shōbin is called 'kingfisher2'. セミ semi is 'kingfisher1'.)

カワセミ kawa-semi, literally 'river kingfisher', is used ornithologically for the alcedinid kingfishers. Traditionally written in at least three ways:
1. 翡翠, a Chinese name for the kingfishers, which may also be read as ショウビン shōbin, ヒスイ hisui, or (in ヤマセミ yama-semi 'mountain kingfisher') as セミ semi, all meaning 'kingfisher'. 2. 川蝉, literally 'river cicada', using the character for the homonymous word meaning 'cicada' (セミ semi). 3. 魚狗 'fish-dog', another Chinese name for the kingfishers. 1. and 3. both use a Chinese name as a whole to write カワセミ kawasemi. Neither thus contains an individual character representing 'river' (カワ kawa).
(To distinguish the names here, セミ semi is called 'kingfisher1' and ショウビン shōbin is 'kingfisher2')

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

内蒙古动物志 (第三卷 鸟纲 非雀形目) Fauna Inner Mongolia (Volume 3 Aves Non-Passerines) 主编：旭日干 (Chief Editor: Xurigan), 内蒙古人大学版社 (Inner Mongolian University Press), Hohhot 2013