Russian Names for Kinds of North American Birds
Русские Названия Северных Американских Птиц
Caveat: I am no expert on this subject, nor a native Russian speaker. I just collected the information and organized it to the best of my abilities.
I used a page called “redstart’s Multilingual Checklist of North American Birds” (which I haven’t been able to find again.)
See BIRDS OF UKRAINE
The Yaroslavl State University department of biology used to keep a species list, that was very helpful in compiling this information. But YSU has since been Wiki-ified, with the usual resultant loss of useful information. Unfortunately, the archive.org Wayback machine captured only its top level, and lost the encoding, which should be Windows-1251 (cpcp1251).
| English | Russian | note |
|---|---|---|
| blackbird | чёрный дрозд | see thrush |
| grackle | ||
| buzzard | сарыч | |
| cardinal | североамериканский кардинал | |
| grosbeak | ||
| coot | лысука | |
| for gallinule, moorhen | ||
| пастушок | rail, also means “shepard” | |
| cormorant | баклан | |
| cuckoo | кукушка | |
| crane | журавль | |
| creeper | ||
| crow | ворона | also means “thief” |
| dove | also for “pigeon”, also used to mean “simpleton” | голубь |
| for turtle-dove, etc. | ||
| duck | утка | |
| кряква | mallard | |
| чернеть | scaup, ferruginous, etc. | |
| широконоска | shoveller | |
| крохаль | merganser | |
| чирок | teal | |
| eagle | орёл | connection to oriole? |
| falcon | сокол | |
| finch | зяблик | |
| чиж | siskin | |
| клест | crossbill | |
| flycatcher | мухоловка | (мух “fly”, ловка “trap”) |
| оливковый тиранн | pewee | |
| пчелоед | kingbird (пчела “bee” едок “eater”?) | |
| goose | гусь | |
| казарка | brant, canada goose | |
| grebe | поганка | also means “toadstool”? |
| grouse | рябчик | |
| gull | чайка | |
| крачка | tern | |
| hawk | ястреб | |
| heron | цапля | also for egret |
| hummingbird | колибри | compare with Spanish |
| ibis | ибис | |
| jay | сойка | |
| kingfisher | зимородок | (зим “winter”, род “birth”?) |
| kite | коршун | |
| lark | жаворонок | |
| loon | гагара | |
| magpie | сорока | note: сорок is “forty”?? |
| mockingbird | пересмешник | (“mocker”) |
| owl | сова | |
| сыч | horned | |
| nighthawk | ||
| nuthatch | поползень | |
| oriole | иволга | |
| partridge | куропатка | |
| pelican | пеликан | |
| pheasant | фазан | |
| pigeon | see dove | |
| pipit | конек | |
| plover | ржанка | |
| quail | триперстки | |
| raven | ворон | see crow |
| sandpiper | перевозчик | also means “ferryman”. several names for other species |
| бекас | snipe | |
| веретенник | godwit | |
| shrike | сорокопут | also see magpie |
| sparrow | воробей | |
| овсянка | emberezids including bunting | |
| towhee | ||
| овсянка юнко | junco | |
| starling | скворец | |
| stork | аист | |
| swallow | ласточка | |
| swan | лебедь | |
| swift | стриж | |
| tanager | танагра | |
| thrush | дрозд | |
| синяя птица | bluebird…have also seen лазурная птица “azure bird” | |
| странствующий дрозд | american robin (“wandering thrush”) | |
| tit | синица | |
| vireo | ||
| vulture | стервятник | |
| warbler | пеночка | (many other types) |
| gnatcatcher | ||
| waxwing | свиристель | (свир “fierce” стель “shelf”?) |
| woodpecker | дятел | |
| wren | крапивник | (крапив “nettle”) |