Bird names certainly can be confusing to say at times, especially when different geographic pronunciations come into play. Such is the case with three interesting corvids (well, one “Australian mudnester” but so named because of its striking similarity to two actual corvids) – the choughs.

The red-billed chough is the most widespread with an extensive range in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, while the yellow-billed or Alpine chough has a more limited mountain range in western Asia. The white-winged chough – the aforementioned Australian mudnester, is widespread in eastern Australia.

But wherever these birds are found, how do you say their name?

How to Pronounce Chough

First, it is universally agreed that “chough” is one syllable. You would think this would make the pronunciation easier, but nope. That’s about the only thing different pronunciations agree on.

The classic European pronunciation for these birds is “CHUFF” with the “uh” sound – rhymes with stuff, cuff, rough, tough, and bluff. Easy, eh?

Of course, it couldn’t be easy. Another variation of the “ough” letters has the “aw” sound and rhymes instead with cough, broth, scoff, doff, and off. Hence, the name would be pronounced “CHOFF.”

Finally, the Americanized version of the name as heard by similar spellings might be pronounced with the long “oh” sounds – “CHOH” – as in rhyming with though, tow, grow, stow, and mow.

Still more variations can be made whether or not one pronounces the “ch” with a soft sound – as in church, change, chip, or chill – or a hard “k” sound, as in cringe, crisp, keep, or kettle. When using the softer “ch” the sound might even be slightly elongated to “sh” as in sharp, shingle, shirt, or shilling.

So, a bird name with just six letters leads us to nine pronunciation variations:

• CHUFF
• SHUFF
• KUFF
• CHOFF
• SHOFF
• KOFF
• CHOH
• SHOH
• KOH

By far, the most common pronunciation is the “CHUFF” option with the mid-range softness of the “ch” and the “uh” sound to finish the word. Personally, as I read the name more than say or hear it, my brain goes to the “CHOH” option, even though that isn’t necessarily correct, per se. Fortunately, the birds don’t care what we call them or how we pronounce their names!