General names
Information is based on dictionaries and other sources. Comments and corrections welcome.
The character 雀 is traditionally identified with sparrows and finches, hence the name of the family: 雀科 . (Recently, however, there is a tendency on the Mainland to rename the family 燕雀科 , after the name of the Brambling.) Most members of the family have been given names that end in 雀 , to the extent that even the 金翅 ('gold wing' has been officially transformed into the 金翅雀 'gold-winged finch'.
The relationship of the common names to scientific genera is as follows:
| Taiwanese name | Literal meaning | Genus | Mainland name | Literal meaning | Note |
| 花雀 |
'swallow-finch' | Fringilla | 燕雀 |
'swallow-finch' | |
| 金翅雀 |
'gold-winged finch' | Carduelis (greenfinches, goldfinches) | 金翅 金翅雀 |
'gold-wing' or 'gold-winged finch' | |
| 黄雀 |
'yellow finch' | Carduelis (siskins) | 黄雀 |
'yellow finch' | Traditionally used for the sparrow |
| 朱頂雀 |
'vermilion-capped finch' | Carduelis (redpoll, twite, linnet) | 朱頂雀 |
'vermilion-capped finch' | |
| 朱雀 |
'vermilion finch' | Carpodacus | 朱雀 |
'vermilion finch' | |
| 鷽 |
(from Japanese) | Pyrrhula | 灰雀 |
'grey finch' | |
| 臘嘴雀 |
'cured-meat billed finch' | Coccothraustes | 錫嘴雀 |
'tin-billed finch' | |
| 桑鳲 |
'mulberry shi' | Eophona | 蠟嘴雀 |
'wax-billed finch' |
The naming of the Hawfinches/Grosbeaks is curiously confused. In Taiwan, the genus Coccothraustes is given the name 臘嘴雀 'cured-meat billed finch'. (The character 臘 has a number of meanings, including the end of the lunar year and associated sacrifices, and cured meat or sausage meat). On the other hand, the Mainland names use 錫嘴 'tin bill' for Coccothraustes and 蠟嘴 'wax bill' for Eophona. Superficially, the names appear totally unrelated, but the following table suggests otherwise.
| 1 | 2 (simple form of 1) | 3 | 4 | |
| Character | 臘 | 腊 | 蠟 | 錫 |
| Pronunciation | or (also ) | |||
| Meaning | 1. end of lunar year and associated sacrifices 2. cured meat | 1. same as at left ; 2. cured meat | wax | tin |
| Simplified form (Mainland) | 腊 | 腊 | 蜡 | 锡 |
The key is the second column, which shows a traditional simplification of 臘. The character 腊 may be read either or (standardised to in Mainland China), which is precisely the pronunciation of the Mainland names for the two genera. Without further study it would be difficult to know the origins of this tangle of names, but it appears that the three names are indeed related. (Incidentally, the characters used to write the Japanese name of Coccothraustes coccothraustes, which are borrowed from Chinese, are 蠟嘴 'waxbill', in modern Japanese simplified to 蝋嘴).
Species names
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Floating Menu by Milonic |
Tool tips by Walter Zorn |
