The Torah's forbidden birds, the Sages' four signs, and the role of mesorah — the conceptual scaffolding beneath the specimen-by-specimen analysis in Part B.
Every primary-source quote in this guide is reproduced verbatim with a direct Sefaria link. No views are attributed to Rishonim unless the exact text is present. Where a gloss could not be verbatim-located, the section says so plainly.
The list appears twice — in Leviticus 11:13–19 and Deuteronomy 14:12–18.
Unlike mammals and fish, the Torah does not give signs for kosher birds. Instead, it names the birds that are forbidden; the Sages then formulate signs for identifying permitted birds.
The list follows. Each name links to its specimen row in Part B, where verse text, verified commentary, and modern candidates are laid out in detail. Identifications vary in confidence — that variation, documented in Part B, is the reason the Sages introduced signs and mesorah.
| 1 | נֶשֶׁר | nesher | griffon vulture / eagle | View in B |
| 2 | פֶּרֶס | peres | bearded vulture / lammergeier | View in B |
| 3 | עׇזְנִיָּה | ozniyah | sea eagle / black vulture | View in B |
| 4 | דָּאָה / רָאָה | da'ah / ra'ah | one species per Chullin 63b | View in B |
| 5 | אַיָּה / דַּיָּה | ayah / dayah | one species per Chullin 63b | View in B |
| 6 | עֹרֵב | orev | raven (base term) | View in B |
| 7 | בַּת הַיַּעֲנָה | bat ha-ya'anah | ostrich (trad.) | View in B |
| 8 | תַּחְמָס | tachmas | unresolved | View in B |
| 9 | שָׁחָף | shachaf | unresolved | View in B |
| 10 | נֵץ | netz | hawk / sparrowhawk | View in B |
| 11 | כּוֹס | kos | owl (Rashi owl-pair) | View in B |
| 12 | שָׁלָךְ | shalach | fish-catching bird (unresolved) | View in B |
| 13 | יַנְשׁוּף | yanshuf | owl (Rashi owl-pair) | View in B |
| 14 | תִּנְשֶׁמֶת | tinshemet | Rashi's לעז: bat (unresolved) | View in B |
| 15 | קָאָת | ka'at | Gemara: קוק (unidentified) | View in B |
| 16 | רָחָם | racham | Gemara: שרקרק (unidentified) | View in B |
| 17 | חֲסִידָה | chasidah | stork (via Rashi's לעז) | View in B |
| 18 | אֲנָפָה | anafah | heron (via Rashi's לעז) | View in B |
| 19 | דּוּכִיפַת | duchifat | hoopoe | View in B |
| 20 | עֲטַלֵּף | atalef | bat | View in B |
The Torah also uses four למינה / למינו / למינהו family-expansion clauses on da'ah/ra'ah, orev, netz, and anafah. This guide renders those clauses as family-expansion rows so the presentation matches the Talmudic count of 24. See Part B's family-expansion rows.
↑ TopThe Sages' working rules for identifying kosher birds, derived from the forbidden list itself.
Since the Torah gave no positive signs for kosher birds, the Sages in Mishnah Chullin 3:6 stated four working rules — one negative (dores, "seizes prey") and three positive (etzba yeseira, zefek, kurkevan niklaf). The Mishnah is reproduced below verbatim.
Of the four, dores is the one whose definition is most debated. Rashi on Chullin 59a and Tosafot on Chullin 61a take different positions, both reproduced below verbatim from Sefaria. The other three signs are named in the Mishnah itself; no verbatim Rashi definitions were located for reproduction here.
Later halakhic practice treats signs as necessary but not sufficient.
The four signs provide the Mishnah's framework for identifying permitted birds, but this guide does not present them as a standalone practical ruling system.
Later halakhic practice treats mesorah as decisive in many bird-identification cases. This guide does not reproduce the decisor texts here; see Further Study.
This is why the identification debates in Part B are presented as source-critical and zoological, not as practical kashrut rulings.
New bird species encountered in new regions are outside the scope of this guide's practical conclusions. For applied halakhah, consult the decisor texts listed below.
↑ TopThis guide's sources policy is strict: every popup reproduces verbatim text with a Sefaria link, and paraphrases are not attributed to the Gemara or to specific Rishonim. That discipline means some views that appear in traditional Jewish educational materials are not reproduced here.
Readers who want the full picture should consult the following primary materials directly on Sefaria.