Phaethontidae

General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Comments and corrections welcome. All Malaysian and Indonesian names in the process of conversion into modernised spelling only. 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.

Historically there are almost no traditional Malay names recorded for any of the pelagic seabirds, and none at all for the tropicbirds. Many of the modern sources make no attempt to give Malaysian or Indonesian-language names to the tropicbirds; however, the few that have been specially created are interesting.

Ismail 1981 uses Burung Tropik 'tropic bird' (from English) as the base for a name of an extralimital species. Unfortunately, tropik(a) (from Dutch) is used most often in the popular language in the meanings 'tropical' or 'tropics'. Therefore that name would likely be interpreted as 'tropical bird' in the sense of 'any bird found in tropical environments' rather than recognised as a special name for tropicbirds. 

Wells 1999 selected sinbad as 'tropicbird' for ornithological Malyasian, based on the English form of the name of the famous fictional character, Sinbad the Sailor.

Indonesian sate ~ satek 'bamboo or wooden skewer used to grill meat for sate (satay)' (from Tamil) has been used to provide names for tropicbirds, referring to the resemblance of their long, thin tail plumes to skewers. These include Burung Buntut-sate and Burung Buntut Satek 'skewer-tailed bird'; and Burung Satek 'skewer bird'.

Ornithological naming

Form of Name	Original Meaning	Ornithological Malaysian	Ornithological Indonesian
sinbad	'Sinbad' (fictional character, from English)	Phaethon	---
buntut sate(k)	'skewer-tail'	---	Phaethon
tropik	'tropic' (from English)	Phaethon*	---

* extralimital species only

Species names

SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN		MALAY			OTHER S. E. ASIAN		EAST ASIAN
Phaeton
Latin	English	Malaysian	Other M	Indonesian	Thai	Vietnamese	Chinese	Japanese
Phaethon rubricauda	Red-tailed tropicbird Red-tailed tropic bird Red-tailed tropic-bird	Burung Sinbad Ekor Merah 'red-tailed Sinbad's bird' (25)		Burung Buntut-sate Merah 'red-skewer-tail (bird)' Burung Buntut Satek Merah   'red-skewer-tail (bird)' (29)	นกร่อนทะเลหางแดง nók rôaan-tʰa-lee hăaŋ-daeeŋ 'red-tailed sea-hoverer-bird'		红尾鹲 (紅尾鸏) hóng-wěi méng 'red-tailed meng' (from mythical bird name) Taiwan: (红尾热带鸟) 紅尾熱帶鳥 hóng-wěi rèdài-niǎo 'red-tailed tropic-zone bird'	アカオネッタイチョウ (赤尾熱帯鳥) aka-o nettai-chō 'red-tailed tropic bird'
Phaethon lepturus	White-tailed tropicbird White-tailed tropic bird Long-tailed tropic-bird Yellow-billed tropicbird	Burung Sinbad Ekor Putih 'white-tailed Sinbad's bird' (25)		Burung Buntut-sate Putih 'white-skewer-tail (bird)' Burung Buntut Satek Putih   'white-skewer-tail (bird)' (29)	นกร่อนทะเลหางขาว nók rôaan-tʰa-lee hăaŋ-kʰăaw 'white-tailed sea-hoverer-bird'		白尾鹲 (白尾鸏) bái-wěi méng 'white-tailed meng' (from mythical bird name) or 长尾鹲 (長尾鸏) cháng-wěi méng 'long-tailed meng' (from mythical bird name) (alt in 1) Taiwan: (白尾热带鸟) 白尾熱帶鳥 bái-wěi rèdài-niǎo 'white-tailed tropic-zone bird'	シロオネッタイチョウ (白尾熱帯鳥) shiro-o nettai-chō 'white-tailed tropic bird'

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

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

Senarai Nama-nama Burung Semenanjung Malaysia dan Asia Tenggara by Ismail, Abdul Rahman, Perhilitan (Jabatam Perlindungan Hidupan Liar dan Taman Negara, Semenanjung Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur 1981
List of the Names of Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Southeast Asia by Ismail, Abdul Rahman, Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 1981

Previously online version of: Senarai Nama-nama Burung Semenanjung Malaysia dan Asia Tenggara by Ismail, Abdul Rahman, Perhilitan (Jabatam Perlindungan Hidupan Liar dan Taman Negara, Semenanjung Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur 1981
List of the Names of Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Southeast Asia by Ismail, Abdul Rahman, Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur 1981

The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula: Vol. 1 - Non-passerines by Wells, David R., Academic Press, London 1999

A Field Guide to the Birds of West Malaysia and Singapore by Jeyarajasingam, Allen and Alan Pearson, Oxford University Press, Oxford 1999

The Birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsula: Vol. 2 - Passerines by Wells, David R., Christopher Helm, A&C Black, London 2007

A Field Guide to the Birds of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore (second edition) by Jeyarajasingham, Allen, Illustrations by Alan Pearson, Oxford University Press, Oxford 2012

A Field Guide to the Birds of Java and Bali (second edition) by MacKinnon, John, Gadjah Mada University Press, Yogyakarta 1990

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