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.

The Twenty Head-Terms

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.

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.

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.

This 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.

• Rashi on Chullin 59a–65a — sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Chullin
• Tosafot on Chullin 61a (Rabbeinu Tam's dores position) — sefaria.org/Tosafot_on_Chullin.61a
• Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Ma'achalot Asurot 1:14–15 (the codified halakha on bird kashrut) — sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah,_Forbidden_Foods.1.14-15
• Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De'ah 82 (the authoritative halakhic decisor) — sefaria.org/Shulchan_Arukh,_Yoreh_De'ah.82