鳥 means “bird”

とり · tori

Also: chicken

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading): とり
On'yomi (Chinese reading): チョウ

JLPT N4 · Taught in grade 2 · 11 strokes

The story

The crane soars above rice fields, a symbol of longevity, folded thousands of times in origami.

Associated with good fortune and a long life

Where it comes from

Pictographic (象形文字): A bird with head, body, wings, and tail feathers.

The ancient pictograph was a detailed side view of a bird: beak pointing right, body in the center, tail feathers flowing behind. Even the modern form has a recognizable bird shape if you squint: the top is the head, the middle is the body, and the four bottom strokes are tail feathers.

To remember it: The four bottom strokes (灬) are the tail feathers fanning out below the bird's body.

Its parts

鳥 Bird · Entire character

A pictograph of a bird with head, wings, tail, and feet

Words with 鳥

野鳥 (やちょう, yachou): wild bird
花鳥 (かちょう, kachou): flowers and birds
水鳥 (みずどり, mizudori): waterfowl

Example sentences

鳥が歌っています。 The birds are singing.
朝、鳥の声で起きました。 In the morning, I woke up to the sound of birds.
きれいな鳥を見ました。 I saw a beautiful bird.

Kanji that look like 鳥

烏 (crow): 烏 is missing the horizontal eye-stroke: crows are so black you can't see their eyes
島 (island): 島 puts 山 inside: a bird-shaped island with a mountain

More from Nature's Poetry

Learn 鳥 and more kanji free on Fuji Learning · All kanji