Sulidae

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.

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) hóng-jiǎo jiān-niǎo 'red-legged skipjacktuna-bird' Taiwan: (红脚鲣鸟) 紅腳鰹鳥 hóng-jiǎo jiān-niǎo '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) hè jiān-niǎo 'brown skipjacktuna-bird' Taiwan: (白腹鲣鸟) 白腹鰹鳥 bái-fù jiān-niǎo '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) lán-liǎn jiān-niǎo 'blue-faced skipjacktuna-bird' Taiwan: (蓝脸鲣鸟) 藍臉鰹鳥 lán-liǎn jiān-niǎo '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'

Mostly from Robinson (& Chasen) 1927-1939 v1-4; additions from Madoc 1947 (et.seq.), and Glenister 1951 (both mostly names copied from Robinson)

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

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

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