Pittidae
ヤイロチョウ科
ya-iro-chō ka

General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Species list may not be current. 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.

The Japanese name for the pittas is ヤイロチョウ ya-iro-chō, meaning 'eight-coloured bird' and written 八色鳥. This name combines native Japanese elements (ya, an old Japanese word for 'eight', and iro, 'colour', which are kun readings of the characters 八 and 色 respectively) with a Chinese-based element (chō 'bird', which is an on reading of the character 鳥).

Unmodified, this name refers to the Fairy Pitta (Pitta nympha), a bird noted for its multicoloured plumage. The choice of the number eight reflects a traditional linguistic preference and does not necessarily imply that the bird's plumage literally has eight colours. In ornithological usage, the name has been extended to all members of the Pittidae in Japan and abroad. However, while the pittas are generally colourful birds, some extralimital species are less colourful.

The pittas are also known as the ヤイロツグミ ya-iro tsugumi ('eight-coloured thrush') written 八色鶇.

The Japanese name appears to be the source of the Korean and Chinese names.

Species names

SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN		JAPANESE		CHINESE			KOREAN
Pitta
Latin	Eng, Fr, Ger, Ru	Japanese	Other J	Chinese	Chinese (Taiwan)	Other Ch	Korean
Pitta nympha	Fairy pitta Chinese pitta Lesser blue-winged pitta Brève migratrice Nymphenpitta Питта-нимфа	ヤイロチョウ (八色鳥) ya-iro-chō 'eight-coloured bird'	ヤイロツグミ (八色鶇) ya-iro tsugumi 'eight-coloured thrush'	仙八色鸫 (仙八色鶇) xiān bā-sè-dōng 'fairy eight-coloured thrush'	(八色鸟) 八色鳥 bā-sè-niǎo 'eight-coloured bird'	蓝翅八色鸫 (藍翅八色鶇) lán-chì bā-sè-dōng 'blue-winged eight-coloured thrush' (6, 7) (Now applied to P. moluccensis) 八色轰鸟 (八色轟鳥) bā-sè hōng niǎo 'eight-coloured booming? bird'	팔색조 pal-ssaek-jjo 'eight-coloured bird'
Pitta sordida	Hooded pitta Green-breasted pitta Brève à capuchon Kappenpitta Черноголовая питта	ズグロヤイロチョウ (頭黒八色鳥) zu-guro ya-iro-chō 'black-headed eight-coloured bird'		绿胸八色鸫 (綠胸八色鶇) lǜ-xiōng bā-sè-dōng 'green-breasted eight-coloured thrush' (1, 2, 3, 4) 黑头八色鸫 (黑頭八色鶇) hēi-tóu bā-sè-dōng 'black-headed eight-coloured thrush' (5)

The name 'eight-coloured bird' (ヤイロチョウ ya-iro-chō 八色鳥) was originally given to Pitta nympha. It has since been extended to all members of the Pittidae, although some are much less colourful than others.

The name 'eight-coloured thrush' (八色鸫 bā-sè-dōng) was probably originally borrowed from Japanese ヤイロツグミ ya-iro-tsugumi 八色鶇 'eight-coloured-thrush', an alternative name for Pitta nympha. It has since been extended to all members of the Pittidae, although some are much less colourful than others.

中国鸟类种和亚种分类名录大全（修订版） 郑作新 著 科学出版社 北京 2000年
A Complete Checklist of Species and Subspecies of the Chinese Birds (Revised Edition) by Cheng Tso-Hsin, Science Press, Beijing 2000

中国鸟类分类与分布名录 主编：郑光美 科学出版社 北京 2005年
A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of China Chief editor: Zheng Guangmei, Science Press, Beijing 2005

中国鸟类野外手册（中文版）约翰・马敬能、卡伦・菲利普斯，合作者：荷芬奇，翻译：卢和芬 湖南教育出版社 长沙 2000年
A Field Guide to the Birds of China (Chinese translation) by John MacKinnon, Karen Phillipps, in collaboration with He Fen-qi, translated by Lu Hefen, Hunan Jiaoyu Chubanshe (Hunan Educational Press) Changsha 2000

世界鸟类分类与分布名录 主编：郑光美 科学出版社 北京 2002年
A Checklist on the Classification and Distribution of the Birds of the World Chief editor: Zheng Guangmei, Science Press, Beijing 2002

世界鸟类名称（拉丁文、汉文、英文对照）第二版 郑作新等 科学出版社 北京 2002年
Birds of the World (Latin, Chinese and English Names) 2nd ed. by Cheng Tso-Hsin et al, Science Press, Beijing 2002

中国鸟类分布名录 第二版 郑作新 科学出版社 北京 1976年
(Checklist of the Classification of Birds of China 2nd edition by Cheng Tso-Hsin, Science Press, Beijing 1976)

香港及華南鳥類（第六版）（翻譯成中文及重新修訂） 尹璉、費嘉倫、林超英 香港性徵特區政府新聞處政府印務局 1994年
Birds of Hong Kong and South China (6th edition, translated into Chinese and newly revised) by Clive Viney, Karen Phillipps, Lin Chaoying, Hong Kong Govt. Press 1994