Strigidae

Chinese: The ordinary popular name for owls of all sorts, especially owls with 'ears', is 猫头鹰 māo-tóu-yīng ('cat-headed hawk'). There is also a dialect term 夜猫子 yè-māozi or 'night cat'. Neither of these terms figures at all in the official names. Instead, the character 鸮 xiāo is used for almost all owls, including:

• Scops owls: 角鸮 jiǎo-xiāo ('horned owl')
• Eagle owls: 鵰鸮 diāo-xiāo ('eagle owl')
• Wood owls: 林鸮 lín-xiāo ('forest owl')
• Fish owls: 渔鸮 yú-xiāo ('fishing owl')
• The 'owlets' in glaucidium : 小鸮 xiǎo-xiāo ('small owl'). However,these are normally referred to as 鸺鹠 xiū-liú.

The word 鴞鳥 xiāo-niǎo 'owl-bird' is a general term for owl, now obsolete on the Mainland.

Japanese: In everyday speech, the broadest term for all kinds of owl is フクロウ fukurō (sometimes フクロ fukuro), written with the character 梟. As an official species name フクロウ fukurō refers to Strix uralensis, the Ural wood owl.

More strictly speaking, owls in Japanese are divided into ミミズク mimi-zuku or ズク zuku, which have 'ears', and フクロウ fukurō, which do not. Mimi-zuku most commonly refers to the Collared scops owl (ō ko-no-ha zuku). Mimi-zuku and zuku can both be written 木菟 ('tree + kind of plant'). Mimi-zuku may also be written 耳木菟 ('ear tree + kind of plant'). Other possible ways of writing mimi-zuku are: 鴟鵂 (from Chinese) and 角鴟 ('horned owl').

Vietnamese: In Vietnamese, the general word for owl is Cú. Scops owls are known as Cú mèo ('cat owls') or Chim mèo ('cat birds'). Owlets are called Vọ or Cú vọ.

In addition, ornithologists use Dù dì for owls belonging to the genus Bubo (eagle owls and fish owls) and Hù for the wood owls, but these are relatively specialised terms.

Generalist dictionaries list Chim hào as a word for 'owl'.