Pnoepygidae
鷦眉科
jiāo-méi kē

General

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The Pnoepygidae are a small family resulting from the split-up of the Timaliidae assemblage. (Others include the Timaliidae, Pellorneidae, Leiothrichidae, and Vireonidae, and parts of the Zosteropidae and Sylviidae.)

Since they were regarded as 'wrens' (Troglodytidae) at the time, the earliest suggested Chinese name for the genus Pnoepyga (from 35 from 1927) used 鷦鷯 jiāoliáo 'wren'. Indeed, the Taiwanese name of Pnoepyga pusilla (later reclassified as Pnoepyga albiventer and then Pnoepyga formosana) was until quite recently 鱗胸鷦鷯 lín-xiōng jiāoliáo 'scale-breasted wren'.

However, Pnoepyga was later assigned to the Timaliidae (babblers) and the English ornithological name changed to 'wren-babbler', providing the model for a new Chinese name in Mainland China: 鷦鶥 jiāo-méi 'wren-babbler'. This consists of 鷦 jiāo, the first character in 鷦鷯 jiāoliáo 'wren', and 鶥 méi, a new ornithological term equivalent to English 'babbler'. Méi as a general name for the babblers has its origins in 畫眉 huà-méi 'painted eyebrow', the Chinese name of the popular cage bird Garrulax canorus (the Hwamei or Melodious Laughing-Thrush, now in the Leiothrichidae). 眉 méi 'eyebrow' in this new meaning was written with a new character, 鶥, which combines 眉 méi 'eyebrow' and the bird radical 鳥. However, while Taiwanese ornithologists have partly adopted méi for the babblers, they appear reluctant to accept the new character and continue to use the original character 眉 méi 'eyebrow'.

Species names

SCIENTIFIC & ENGLISH		CHINESE			JAPANESE		OTHER
Pnoepyga
Latin	English	Chinese (Taiwan)	Chinese (Mainland)	Other Ch	Japanese	Other J	Korean	Vietnamese
Pnoepyga formosana	Taiwan Wren Babbler Taiwan Cupwing	台灣鷦眉 (台湾鹪眉) táiwān jiāo-méi 'Taiwanese wren-babbler' (méi written 'eyebrow', see hwamei)	(台灣鷦鶥) 台湾鹪鹛 táiwān jiāo-méi 'Taiwanese wren-babbler' (36)	Pnoepyga pusilla: 鱗胸鷦鷯 (鳞胸鹪鹩) lín-xiōng jiāoliáo 'scale-breasted wren' Taxonomy	-

Originally classified as Pnoepyga pusilla, later reassigned to Pnoepyga albiventer and now Pnoepyga formosana.

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

Danh Lục Chim Việt Nam (In lần thứ hai) (Checklist of the Birds of Vietnam) Võ Quý, Nguyễn Cử, Nhà Xuất Bản Nông Nghiệp, Hà Nội 1999

Chim Việt Nam Nguyễn Cử, Lê Trọng Trải, Karen Phillipps; Nhà Xuất Bản Lao Động - Xã Hội, 2000

Danh Lục Các Loài Chim ở Việt Nam (Latinh, Việt, Pháp, Hán) Trần Văn Chánh 2008-2009

Chinese Birds (A Tentative List of Chinese Birds) 中國鳥類（中國鳥類目錄試編） N. Gist Gee, Lacy I. Moffett, G. D. Wilder (祁天錫, 慕維德, 萬卓志), Peiping, 1927 (reprinted 1948)

中国观鸟年报-中国鸟类名录 1.1 (The CBR Checklist of Birds of China v1.1) 中国观鸟年报 (China Bird Review), 2010