鸟 (niǎo) is a Chinese character meaning “bird”. It is written from ⺈ (top form of 刀 (knife); a short slash with a turning stroke tucked under it) and ㇔ (dot stroke) and ㇉ (bent hook stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke), and takes 5 strokes.
Build the character for “bird”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
⺈ + ㇔ + ㇉ + ㇐
Overlapping structure
- ⺈ claw-top form; the flattened top of 刀 seen in 争, 色, 龟 unknown
- ㇔ dot stroke unknown
- ㇉ bent hook stroke unknown
- ㇐ horizontal stroke unknown
Structure from: Unicode U+9E1F; modern glyph split (⺈ / 点 / 竖折折钩 / 横) checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 geometry
Memory aid
⺈ on top is the bird's head with its beak pointing left. The single dot (㇔) tucked inside it is the bright eye. The long turning hook (㇉) sweeps down and curls back up as the body and tail, and the last horizontal (㇐) is the branch it stands on.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
5 strokes
In real words
- 小鸟xiǎo niǎolittle bird鸟 = niǎospoken asxiáo niǎo
- 鸟类niǎo lèibirds; the bird family鸟 = niǎo
- 鸟鸣niǎo míngbirdsong; the calling of birds鸟 = niǎo
- 啄木鸟zhuó mù niǎowoodpecker鸟 = niǎo
- 鸟巢niǎo cháobird's nest鸟 = niǎo
- 鸟笼niǎolóngbirdcage鸟 = niǎo
- 鸥鸟ōu niǎogulls; gull family birds鸟 = niǎo
- 鸵鸟tuó niǎoostrich鸟 = niǎo
Go deeper
All readings
bird
bird; a general term for birds
长羽毛、有翅膀、多能飞的动物的总称。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 小鸟xiǎo niǎolittle bird鸟 = niǎospoken asxiáo niǎo
- 鸟类niǎo lèibirds; the bird family鸟 = niǎo
- 鸟鸣niǎo míngbirdsong; the calling of birds鸟 = niǎo
- 啄木鸟zhuó mù niǎowoodpecker鸟 = niǎo
- 鸟巢niǎo cháobird's nest鸟 = niǎo
- 鸟笼niǎolóngbirdcage鸟 = niǎo
- 鸥鸟ōu niǎogulls; gull family birds鸟 = niǎo
- 鸵鸟tuó niǎoostrich鸟 = niǎo
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 鸟 mean?
鸟 (niǎo) means bird; a general term for birds.
How do you pronounce 鸟?
It is pronounced niǎo.
What parts is 鸟 made of?
⺈ (top form of 刀 (knife); a short slash with a turning stroke tucked under it) and ㇔ (dot stroke) and ㇉ (bent hook stroke) and ㇐ (horizontal stroke). The recorded source is: Unicode U+9E1F; modern glyph split (⺈ / 点 / 竖折折钩 / 横) checked stroke by stroke against hanzi-writer-data 2.0.1 geometry. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 鸟 have?
5. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 鸟?
鸟. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 鸟?
Common ones are 小鸟 and 鸟类. The reading of 鸟 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.