This is a list of the English and Chinese names of different kinds of common birds, rather than the species names. There are other resources on the web that give translations for the species names.
I have included the Pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pronounciation of the Chinese words in square brackets (“[]”).
Caveat: I am no expert on this subject, nor a native Chinese speaker. I just collected the information and organized it to the best of my abilities.
Resources:
Chinese Wikipedia
Chinese-English Dictionary
List of Bird Species of China, in Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese
| English | Chinese | note | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| blackbird | 乌鸫 | |||
| red-wing | ||||
| grackle and others | ||||
| buzzard | 鵟 | [kuang2] | ||
| cardinal | 猩猩红冠鸟 | |||
| 蜡嘴雀 | grosbeak | |||
| coot | 白骨顶 | [bai2 gu3 ding3] | ||
| gallinule, moorhen | ||||
| 秧鸡 | rail | |||
| cormorant | 鸬 | [lu2] | ||
| cuckoo | 布谷鸟 | [bu4 gu1 niao3] | ||
| roadrunner | ||||
| crane | 鹤 | [he4] | (also 白鹤, 鹳) | |
| creeper | 旋木雀 | |||
| crow | 鸦 | [ya1] | ||
| dove | 鸽 | [ge1] | ||
| 鸠 | [jiu1] | for turtle-dove, etc. | ||
| duck | 鸭 | [ya1] | ||
| 小绒鸭 | eider | |||
| 潜鸭 | scaup | |||
| canvasback, ring-neck, etc. | ||||
| 斑脸海帆鸭 | scoter | |||
| 鹊鸭 | goldeneye, bufflehead | |||
| 秋沙鸭 | merganser | |||
| 翅鸭 | teal | |||
| eagle | 雕 | [diao1] | (golden eagle) | |
| falcon | 鹰 | [ying1] | (can denote eagle, falcon, hawk) | |
| finch | 雀科鸣, | |||
| 黄雀 | siskin | |||
| 交嘴雀 | crossbill | |||
| flycatcher | 鹟 | |||
| pewee | ||||
| 王鸟 | kingbird | |||
| goose | 雁 | [yan4] | ||
| 加拿大雁 | canada goose | |||
| grebe | 鸊鷉 | |||
| grouse | 松鸡 | [song1 ji1] | (wild chicken) (see quail) | |
| gull | 鸥 | [ou1] | ||
| 燕鸥,浮鸥 | tern | |||
| hawk | 鹰 | [ying1] | (see eagle) | |
| heron | 鹭 | [lu4] | see also i 鸶, 灌, 苍鹭 | |
| hummingbird | 蜂鸟 | [feng1 niao3] | (bee bird) | |
| ibis | 白鹮 | |||
| jay | 鹊 | [que4] | (see magpie) | |
| kingfisher | 翠鸟 | |||
| kite | 鸢 | [yuan1] | ||
| lark | 百灵 | [bai3 ling2] | (hundred quick) (also 云雀) | |
| loon | (see grebe) | |||
| magpie | 鹊 | [que4] | ||
| mockingbird | 模仿鸟 | |||
| nighthawk | 夜鹰 | [ye4 ying1] | ||
| nightjar (poor-will) | 夜鹰 | [ye4 ying1] | ||
| nuthatch | 鳾 | |||
| oriole | 黄鹂 | [huang2 niao3] | sulfur bird | |
| owl | 鸺 | [xiu1] | (also 鸱, 猫头鹰, 枭) | |
| partridge | 鸪 | [gu1] | (also 鹧, 鹧鸪. 斑翅山鹑) | |
| pelican | 鹕 | [hu2] | (also 淘河, 鹈) | |
| pheasant | 雉鸡 | [zhi4 ji1] | (also 雉, 锦鸡, 翟) | |
| pigeon | (see dove) | |||
| pipit | 氏鹨 | |||
| plover | 鸻 | |||
| quail | 鹌 | [an1] | (also 鹌鹑, 鹑) | |
| raven | 乌鸦 | [wu1 ya1] | (black crow) | |
| sandpiper | 滨鹬 | [bin1 yu4] | (beach snipe) | |
| 三趾鹬 | sanderling, knot | |||
| 杓鹬 | curlew | |||
| 鹬 | [yu4] | snipe, woodcock, dowitcher | ||
| 嘴鹬 | avocet | |||
| 塍鹬 | godwit | |||
| shrike | 伯劳 | [bo2 lao2] | ||
| sparrow | 麻雀 | [ma2 que4] | ||
| european house… | ||||
| longspur, bunting. | ||||
| towhee | ||||
| junco | ||||
| starling | 紫翅椋鸟 | |||
| stork | 鹳 | [guan4] | ||
| swallow | 燕子 | [yan4zi] | ||
| swan | 天鹅 | [tian1 e2] | ||
| swift | 普通楼燕 | |||
| tanager | ||||
| thrush | 画眉鸟 | [hua4 mei2 diao3] | ||
| 蓝鸲 | bluebird | |||
| tit | 山雀 | [shan1 qiao3] | (mountain bird) titmouse, bushtit, chickadee | |
| turkey | 火鸡 | [huo3 ji1] | (fire bird) | |
| vireo | 莺雀 | |||
| vulture | 秃鹫 | [tu1 jiu4] | (bald vulture) | |
| warbler | 蝗莺,树莺,苇莺 | (distinguish several asian genuses) | ||
| gnatcatcher | ||||
| waxwing | 太平鸟 | [tai4 ping2 niao3] | (most calm bird) | |
| woodpecker | 啄木鸟 | [zhuo1 mu4 niao3] | (peck wood bird) | |
| wren | 鹪鹩 | [jiao1 liao2] |