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 to see additional information.
Traditional Malay names for boobies and similar-appearing waterbirds were historically poorly attested. The early records typically assign one or more general names to the most prominent of the species in each family, which for the boobies is the Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster). Although no names for other booby species were given, it was remarked that all boobies shared the same names.
1. The name Burung Olak-olak is based on the verb olak, which describes various cyclic motions. Here it can be interpreted as describing the circling, tacking back-and-forth motion of seabirds often seen following in the wake of a boat at sea, but it is not in itself a bird name. While olak olak or olak-olak (reduplication indicating the repetitive motion) is usually cited as a popular name for the Brown Booby, other kinds of birds were also described this way. In ornithological Malaysian, Olak is used for shearwaters (Procellariidae) (see chart below).
2. Boobies are sometimes popularly classified as some sort of duck or goose:
(g)ansa laut 'sea goose': 'booby'
(g)ansa batu 'rock goose': 'booby'
itik laut 'sea (= wild) duck': 'booby; various wild ducks (e.g. mallard, Anas); other ducklike birds'
Because the only native ducks are typically freshwater species, today itik laut usually refers to seabirds such as boobies.
3. Several kinds of dark-coloured, fishing birds were collectively popularly named as aquatic crow-like birds. The group includes not only boobies, but also cormorants (Phalacrocorax) and frigatebirds (Fregata), and perhaps others. In historical common usage these names were probably interchangeable, but contemporary sources record only the following:
dendang air 'water-crow': booby; cormorant
dendang laut 'sea-crow': booby; frigatebird; cormorant
Pedendang ~ pendendang 'finfoot' is also likely relatable to the dendang-name complex.
Dendang was also used in names for a number of crow-sized landbirds, although in modern popular usage dendang in the meaning of 'crow' has largely been supplanted by its onomatopoetic synonym, gagak. Dendang 'crow' is, however, retained in modern dictionaries, as are dendang air 'cormorant' and dendang laut 'booby', now joined by dandang 'cormorant' (using a variant spelling of dendang). These popular definitions contrast with ornithological Malaysian usage where dendang has been redefined as 'booby'. Instead of describing the other booby species as varieties of dendang laut, they are treated as varieties of dendang.
However, the now superfluous aquatic descriptor has been retained in these species names:
| Original Name | Meaning & General Usage | Restricted Usage | New Name | New Meaning |
| dendang air | 'water crow' (= cormorant) | Phalacrocorax carbo (Phalacrocoracidae) | pependeng air | 'water cormorant' |
| dendang laut | 'sea crow' (= booby) | Sula leucogaster | dendang laut | 'sea booby' |
Ornithological naming
| Form of Name | Original Meaning | Ornithological Malaysian | Ornithological Indonesian |
| olak | 'back-and-forth' | Calonectris, Puffinus (Procellariidae) | --- |
| angsa laut | 'sea-goose' | Sula | --- |
| (g)angsa batu | 'rock-goose' | --- | Sula |
| dendang | 'crow' | Sula | --- |
Species names
SCIENTIFIC & WESTERN |
MALAY |
OTHER S. E. ASIAN |
EAST ASIAN |
|||||
| Sula | ||||||||
Latin |
English |
Malaysian | Other M |
Indonesian |
Thai |
Vietnamese |
Chinese |
Japanese |
Sula sula |
Red-footed booby | Burung Dendang-Laut Kaki Merah 'red-legged sea-crow (bird)' (28) Burung Dendang Kaki Merah 'red-legged crow (bird)' (24, 25, 26) |
Burung Angsa-batu Kaki-merah 'red-legged rock-goose (bird)' Burung Gangsa Batu Kaki Merah 'red-legged rock-goose (bird)' (29) |
นกบูบีตีนแดง nók buu-bii tiin-daeeŋ 'red-footed booby (bird)' (buu-bii from English 'booby') |
Chim điên chân đỏ 'red-footed crazy-bird' (12, 13, 34) |
红脚鲣鸟 (紅腳鰹鳥) 'red-legged skipjacktuna-bird' Taiwan: (红脚鲣鸟) 紅腳鰹鳥 'red-legged skipjacktuna-bird' |
アカアシカツオドリ (赤足鰹鳥) aka-ashi katsuo-dori 'red-legged skipjacktuna-bird' |
|
| Sula leucogaster |
Brown booby | Burung Dendang-Laut Coklat 'brown sea-crow (bird)' (28) Burung Dendang Laut 'sea crow (bird)' (24, 25, 26) Burung Angsa Laut 'sea goose (bird)' (26, 28) |
Burung Olak-olak 'back-and-forth bird' (old) (see shearwater) |
Burung Angsa-batu Coklat 'brown rock-goose (bird)' Burung Gangsa Batu Coklat 'brown rock-goose (bird)' (29) |
นกบูบีสีน้ำตาล nók buu-bii sĭi-nám-taan 'brown booby (bird)' (buu-bii from English 'booby') |
Chim điên bụng trắng 'white-bellied crazy-bird' (12, 13, 34) |
褐鲣鸟 (褐鰹鳥) 'brown skipjacktuna-bird' Taiwan: (白腹鲣鸟) 白腹鰹鳥 'white-bellied skipjacktuna-bird' |
カツオドリ (鰹鳥) katsuo-dori 'skipjacktuna-bird' |
| Sula dactylatra | Masked
booby Blue-faced booby |
Burung Dendang-Laut Besar 'large sea-crow (bird)' (28) Burung Dendang Besar 'large crow (bird)' (26) Burung Dendang Muka Hitam 'black-faced crow (bird)' (25) Burung Dendang Penyamar 'camouflage crow (bird)' (24) |
Burung Angsa-batu Topeng 'masked rock-goose (bird)' Burung Gangsa Batu Ekor Hitam 'black-tailed rock-goose (bird)' (29) |
นกบูบีหน้าดำ nók buu-bii nâa-dam 'black-faced booby (bird)' (buu-bii from English 'booby') |
Chim điên mặt xanh 'blue/green-faced crazy-bird' (12, 13, 34) |
蓝脸鲣鸟 (藍臉鰹鳥) 'blue-faced skipjacktuna-bird' Taiwan: (蓝脸鲣鸟) 藍臉鰹鳥 'blue-faced skipjacktuna-bird' |
アオツラカツオドリ (青面鰹鳥) ao-tsura katsuo-dori 'blue/green-faced skipjacktuna-bird' |
|
Floating Menu by Milonic |
Tool tips by Walter Zorn |
