This glossary primarily draws on these lists of birds:
| A Complete Checklist of Species and Subspecies of the Chinese Birds 中国鸟类种和亚种分类名录大全 (1) |
By Cheng Tso-Hsin (郑作新) | Science Press 科学出版社 |
Beijing 2000 |  |
| The "gold standard" of Chinese bird names at the turn of the century, although dated due to subsequent splits and featuring some idiosyncratic species assignments. Includes subspecies. | ||||
| A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of China 中国鸟类分类与分布名录 (2) |
Chief Editor Zheng Guangmei (郑光美) | Science Press 科学出版社 |
Beijing 2005 |  |
| Effectively the successor to (1), this up-to-date list includes most of the latest species splits. Eliminates a couple of doubtful Anatidae sightings. Includes subspecies. | ||||
| A Field Guide to the Birds of China (Chinese translation) 中国鸟类野外手册（中文版） (3) |
By John MacKinnon (约翰・马敬能), Karen Phillipps (卡伦・菲利普斯), in collaboration with He Fen-qi (荷芬奇) | 湖南教育出版社 (Hunan Jiaoyu Chuban-she) |
Changsha 2000 |  |
| As a translation from English, lacks the authority of native Chinese bird lists, but highly influential due to its widespread availability and break from the conservatism of (1). Names are based on (1), but often differ from (2) in case of species splits. | ||||
| A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of the World 世界鸟类分类与分布名录 (4) |
Chief Editor Zheng Guangmei (郑光美) | Science Press 科学出版社 |
Beijing 2002 |  |
| One of two Chinese lists of world birds. Flawed by a slapdash approach to naming which does not appear to have fully taken into account either domestic bird names or Cheng's list of birds of the world (5). | ||||
| Birds of the World (Latin, Chinese and English Names) 2nd ed. 世界鸟类名称（拉丁文、汉文、英文对照）第二版 (5) |
Cheng Tso-Hsin et al 郑作新等 | Science Press 科学出版社 |
Beijing 2002 |  |
| The second edition of Cheng's list of birds of the world; appeared posthumously. I have not seen the first edition, but this list is rather dated in comparison with (4), despite appearing in the same year. | ||||
| 中国鸟类分布名录 第二版 (Distribution List of Chinese Birds, 2nd edition) (6) |
郑作新 (Cheng Tso Hsin) | 科学出版社 (Science Press) | 1976 | |
| Authoritative list as of the end of the Cultural Revolution. Useful for checking some earlier official names (which are still used in sources such as the following one). | ||||
| Birds of Hong Kong and South China (Chinese translation) 香港及華南鳥類 (7) |
Clive Viney (尹璉), Karen Phillipps (費嘉倫), Lin Chaoying (林超英). | Hong Kong Govt. Press. | Hongkong 1994 (Actually revised since 1994 but not shown in the publication details). |
 |
| Covers only South China. Useful as it corroborates certain naming variants. | ||||
| A Field Guide to the Birds of China 中國野鳥圖鑑 (8) |
Zheng Guang-mei (鄭光美), Zhao Zheng-jie (趙正階), Yan Zhong-wei (顏重威), Xu Wei-shu (許維樞), Tan Yao-kuang (譚耀匡) | 翠鳥文化事業有限公司 (Cuiniao Wenhua Shiye Youxian Gongsi) |
Taipei 1996 |  |
| Useful as it includes both Mainland and Taiwanese names. | ||||
| Taiwan Bird Checklist 2008 2008年版台灣鳥類名錄 |
2008 | |||
| The most up-to-date Taiwanese checklist available. | ||||
| Bird Names of Taiwan (part of the Checklist of the Birds of Taiwan) (9) |
Tzung-Su Ding | |||
| Absolutely essential in the original creation of this site. Now superseded by the Taiwan Bird Checklist 2008. | ||||
| Pocket Checklist of the Birds of the Republic of Singapore Senai Jenis-Jenis Burung di Singapura 新加坡野鸟目录 (10) |
Lim Kim Seng | Nature Society (Singapore) | 1999 | |
| Singapore is a Chinese-speaking community that seems to get left out when it comes to bird naming. Lim follows Cheng, but has a number of variant namings, which I've noted. | ||||
| A Field Guide to Birds of Japan フィールドガイド 日本の野鳥 (11) |
By Shinji Takano (高野伸二) and the Wild Bird Society of Japan | 日本野鳥の会 Wild Bird Society of Japan |
Tokyo 1994 |
 |
| The standard guide for Japan, but dated. For more recent names (splits, etc.), it is essential to refer to the Internet. | ||||
| Checklist of the Birds of Vietnam Danh Lục Chim Việt Nam (12) |
By Professors Võ Quý and Nguyễn Cử | Nhà Xuất Bản Nông Nghiệp | Hanoi 1999 |
 |
| The standard list for Vietnam. Flawed on occasion by the use of the same common name for different species. | ||||
| Chim Việt Nam (Birds of Vietnam) (13) |
Nguyễn Cử, Lê Trọng Trải, Karen Phillipps | Nhà Xuất Bản Lao Động - Xã Hội Published under auspices of the World Conservation Union, the World Bank, and Birdlife International. |
2000 |  |
| A rather poor effort, with errors, omissions, and whimsical changes to common names. Useful for birds not mentioned in (12), but sometimes fails to rectify 12's problems and actually adds problems of its own. | ||||
| МОНГОЛ ОРНЫ ШУВУУНЫ ЗҮЙЛИЙН НЭРИЙН АРВАН ХЭЛНИЙ ТОЛЬ (Dictionary of Mongolian Bird Names in Ten Languages) (13) |
Compiled by A. Bold, N Tseveernmyadag, Sch. Boldbaatar, G. Mainjargal Edited by J. Bayansan, N. Purevjav |
Published by: State Nomenclature Council of Mongolia, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Language and Literature Applied Linguistic Sector, Institute of Biology Ornithological Laboratory. Copyright vested in Institute of Biology Ornithological Laboratory | Ulaanbaatar 2007 | |
| A recent listing with extreme regularisation of names (one name per genus). Authoritative in its field, with the official imprimatur of government and academic authorities. Carries both old and new names. | ||||
| Birds of Kazakhstan - Kazakh Names | Э.И.Гаврилов. "Фауна и распространение птиц Казахстана". | Almaty 1999 | ||
| This list was downloaded from Birds of Kazakhstan | ||||
| Birds Korea Checklist |
2007 | |||
| This checklist was downloaded from Birds Korea. It is a modern, authoritative checklist with notes. | ||||
| Thailand Bird Listing 2008 | Bird Conservation Society of Thailand | 2008 | ||
| Downloaded from the site of the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand. | ||||
| Avibase | Denis Lepage's Avibase | |||
| The world's most comprehensive database of bird species, including names from major languages. An amazing database that includes Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Korean, Russian, French, Kazakh names, along with many others, and has not only been an excellent source for the naming of birds, but an invaluable guide to the increasing complexities of avian classification. | ||||
Mainland Chinese names: Zheng Guangmei (ZGM)'s A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of the World has been followed.
Names from other major Chinese sources (those in the above list) are shown under the ZGM names. MacKinnon and Phillipps has been used for more information on the Monroe-Sibley classification in a Chinese context. 香港及華南鳥類 (Birds of Hong Kong and South China) by Viney et al (1994) has been used to supply some additional names and for further information on species and splits. Note that all names by Viney have been changed into Simplified Characters in this site.
Lim has been used to add bird names from Singapore. Lim uses Cheng Tso-Hsin's Birds of the World (in Chinese), published by Science Publishing Bureau in 1999 and occasionally differs not only from ZGM but from other sources as well.
Taiwanese names: Both the' Field Guide to the Birds of China' (Taipei 1996) and the 'Bird Names of Taiwan' web site have been used, although some minor differences can be found between them.
Japanese: 'A Field Guide to Birds of Japan' has been used, supplemented by Internet sources. Internet sources are remarkably reliable for Japanese because of the remarkable discipline and order in naming. Very seldom do you encounter people trying to push their own names without consulting with other people.
Vietnamese: Professor Vo Quy's authoritative checklist has been followed, supplemented by Chim Việt Nam (Names from Chim Việt Nam are shown below Professor Vo's standard name, separated by a bar).
Mongolian: The authoritative Dictionary of Mongolian Bird Names in Ten Languages has been used. Avibase has been used to check previously current names.
Korean: The Birds Korea checklist has been followed. Romanisation is from thelapan, an excellent online site that will immediately transliterate Korean letters into the recently adopted rr romanisation. Meanings have been checked from the Daum.net, with invaluable help from Wiktionary.
Thai: The Thai names follow the Thai checklist of 2008. For transliteration and glosses, I have used thai2english, which uses its own special romanisation -- a romanisation invaluable for indicating the accurate pronunciation (including tones) rather than just an approximation. However, there are some gaps in the dictionary which have made it difficult to give transliterations or glosses for all bird names.
Kazakh: The Kazakh names follow the list found at the Kazakh Birds site. As yet I have been unable to find online or offline sources that would allow me to present a transliteration or meaning.
In addition to the main sources, the following have been referred to, especially in order to provide popular names:
| Japanese | |||
| 大辞泉 Daijisen, edited by Matsumura Akira et al. | 小学館 Shogakkan 1995 |
Strong on animal and bird names, good for Chinese characters and common alternative names. I have used this as the standard source of variant names. | |
| Hiraizumi's Japanese bird dictionary | Comprehensive, good for Chinese characters and local names throughout Japan (which, however, are too detailed and numerous to be included in this site). | ||
| Search Birds | List of Japanese names for species around the world. I have used it as the standard for non-native birds. This list also has an English version. | ||
| Birding | List of Japanese names for species around the world, but can only be looked up if you already know the Japanese name. Useful at times for finding Chinese characters. | ||
Wikipedia lists of birds in: |
I have used these in places for newer species where Wikipedia is virtually the only source for Japanese names. I do so with some trepidation as Wikipedia in general can be a mixed bag. Articles on other subjects range from excellent to mediocre to just plain wrong. | ||
| Chinese (Mainland) | |||
| 辞海 Cihai | 上海辞书出版社 Shanghai Cishu Chubanshe 1999 |
A Chinese encyclopaedia. Gives a greater variety of popular names than the following (Xiandai Han'yu Cidian). I have used it as a standard source of popular names. | |
| 现代汉语词典 Xiandai Han'yu Cidian |
商务印书馆 Shangwuyin Shuguan |
Standard, strong on birds and animals, gives officially accepted popular names. The Revised edition of 1999 is much weaker on birds than the 1993 edition. | |
| 中日分類辞典 (Zhong-Ri Fenlei Cidian), Edited by Zhang Hui-Fu, Jin Mu-Zhen, and Guo Ya-Kun |
外文出版社 Waiwen Chubanshe 1990 |
Contains an excellent list of bird name equivalents in C-J, although with a couple of mistakes. | |
| People's Education Press - Scientific Knowledge Column | Also good selection, somewhat shorter | ||
| Rare and endangered species of China - birds | |||
| Government cites site | Gives a lot of popular or variant names, although the list is rather disordered and some character usage is cavalier or suspect | ||
| Chinese (Taiwan) | |||
| Taiwan bird page | |||
| Vietnamese | |||
| Tư Điển Việt-Anh (Bùi Phụng) in two volumes |
Nhà Xuất Bản Thế Giới 2000 | Vietnamese-English dictionary. Generally up to date with the usage of the Checklist of the Birds of Vietnam, but also carries some other names (no clear species identification). | |
| Mongolian | |||
| Шинэ Монгол - Хятад толь 新蒙汉词典 |
商务印书馆 Shangwuyin Shuguan 2007 |
Indispensible. Carries lots of words not found anywhere else, although the Chinese translations are sometimes impossibly literary or imprecise. | |
| Mongolian-English Dictionary Enlarged 2nd edition by Ch. Ganhuyag (Chief Editor) |
2005 | Despite being fairly comprehensive, generally inferior to the Mongolian-Chinese dictionary above. | |
| Монгол хэлний дэлгэрэнгүй тайлбар толь Монгол улсын шинжлэх ухааны акадэми Chief Editor: L. Bold |
2008 | Although billed as the largest, most comprehensive dictionary of the Mongolian language, this 5-volume set is marked by many curious lacunae and definitions that lurch from the detailed to the vague, but never truly scientific (i.e., using scientific names). | |
| Монгол Англи Япон толь 現代蒙英日辞典 A Modern Mongolian-English-Japanese Dictionary |
開明書院 From about 1977; my copy appears to be an unauthorised Mongolian reproduction |
Useful at times for checking names and meanings, although not very comprehensive and uses idiosyncratic Mongolian spelling. | |
| English | |||
| The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World 3rd Edition | Princeton University Press 2003 | Essential for checking English common names, most recent accepted information on splits, etc. | |
| A Guide to the Birds of Southeast Asia by Craig Robson |
Princeton 2000 | Good for checking South Chinese and Southeast Asian species using Sibley-Monroe names and species. English only. |  |
| Search Birdy | Source of English bird names around the world, German names are a plus. | ||
| The Graham Pizzey & Frank Knight Field Guide to the Birds of Australia | Angus & Robertson 1999 | Useful background. | |
| Japanese | |||
| Unofficial checklist of the birds of Japan | Gives bird names in Japanese | ||
| Checklist of the birds of Japan | Another checklist of birds in Japan with Japanese names |
Other sources and reference books used are as follows:
| Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary | Merriam-Webster 1983 | Because I haven't got anything newer. | |
| Kenkyusha's English-Japanese Dictionary for the General Reader Edited by T. Matsuda |
Kenkyusha 1984 | Slightly dated but good. | |
| 日语汉和词典（旺文社漢和中辞典） Obunsha's Kan'wa Jiten, reprinted for the Chinese market. |
世界图书出版社 Shijie Tushu Chubanshe 1997 |
Japanese dictionary of Chinese characters. Useful for looking at the Classical Chinese roots of Japanese character usage. | |
| 最新實用漢英辭典 （梁實秋主編） A New Practical Chinese-English Dictionary edited by Liang Shi-Qiu |
遠東圖書公司 Far Eastern Publishing |
Good for Taiwanese and pre-1949 usages. | |
| 汉英词典（修订版） Chinese-English Dictionary, revised edition. |
外语教学与研究出版社 Waiyu Jiaoyu yu Yanjiu Chubanshe 1995 |
Reliable, comprehensive accurate. A must-have dictionary. | |
| 岩波日中辞典 Iwanami's Japanese-Chinese Dictionary Edited by Kuraishi Takeshiro 倉石武四郎, reprinted for the Chinese market. |
商务印书馆 Shangwuyin Shuguan 1997 |
Tries to steer clear of literal renderings, unlike some other J-C dictionaries, but vocabulary is rather limited. | |
| 日中辞典 Ri-Zhong Cidian (J-C) |
小学館 Shogakkan 1987 |
Japanese-Chinese dictionary. Sometimes useful, but a tendency to literally translate from the Japanese means that it is often off course. | |
| 中日辞典 Zhong-Ri Cidian (C-J) |
小学館 Shogakkan 1992 |
Chinese-Japanese dictionary. Closely follows the 现代汉语词典 Xiandai Han'yu Cidian. | |
| 中日大辞典（増訂第二版） Chunichi Dai Jiten (C-J), 2nd expanded edition |
大修館 Taishukan 1987 |
Chinese-Japanese dictionary. Accurate scientifically and extremely good for popular Chinese variants. Leaves the others for dead in the size of its vocabulary. | |
| 汉越词典 Han-Yue Cidian (C-V) Từ Điển Hán-Việt |
商务印书馆 Shangwuyin Shuguan 1997 |
Chinese-Vietnamese dictionary. Although modern, it is only marginally useful for birds. | |
| Từ Điển Việt Hán (V-C) Edited by Giáo sư Đinh Gia Khánh |
Nhà Xuất Bản Giáo Dục 1996 | Vietnamese-Chinese dictionary. Dated and unreliable but useful for checking the existence of other bird names (even if the translation is incorrect). | |
| Đại từ điển Tiếng Việt Edited by Nguyễn Như Ý |
Nhà Xuất Bản Văn Hóa-Thông Tin 1999 | General monolingual dictionary of Vietnamese. Marginally useful. Bird explanations very general. Entry for 'penguin' notes that they occur at the north pole! | |
| Từ Điển Tiểng Việt Edited by Hoàng Phê et al. |
Nhà Xuất Bản Đà Nẵng Trung Tâm Từ Điển Học 2000 |
General monolingual dictionary of Vietnamese. Marginally useful. Bird explanations are too general to be of great use. | |
Nuôi Chim Những Điều Cần Biết by Hồng Anh |
Nhà Xuất Bản Mũi Cà Mau 2002 | Small book about keeping birds as pets. The names (mainly parrots and similar birds) do not follow the official scientific names at all. Since there is some question that the scientific names represent normal usage in Vietnam, I have included several names from this book. |  |
| Từ Điển Đối Chiếu Từ Địa Phương Edited by Nguyễn Như Ý |
Nhà Xuất Bản Giáo Dục 2001 | Dictionary of Vietnamese dialect terms. Very useful for checking dialect words. |
