Pt1 Permitted and Prohibited Birds, Based on the lists of Non-kosher Birds in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 (Chullin 61b-63b)

This is the first part of a three-part series. The outline of the series is below.¹

Intro

Part 1

See Wikipedia, “Kosher animals”, section “Birds”:

With regard to birds, no general rule is given, instead Leviticus 11:13–19 and Deuteronomy 14:11–18 explicitly list prohibited birds.

In the Shulchan Aruch, 3 signs are given to kosher birds: the presence of a crop, an extra finger, and a gizzard that can be peeled. The bird must also not be a bird of prey [...]

The list in Deuteronomy has an additional bird, the dayyah, which seems to be a combination of ‘da’ah‘ and ‘ayyah‘, and may be a scribal error; the Talmud regards it as a duplication of ayyah.

This, and the other terms, are vague and difficult to translate, but there are a few further descriptions, of some of these birds, elsewhere in the Bible [...]

This sugya in Chullin develops the rabbinic system for identifying kosher and non-kosher birds. Its starting point is the Torah’s lists of forbidden birds in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. Unlike land animals and fish, where the Torah gives clear physical signs of permissibility, birds are handled mainly through a negative list: the Torah names the non-kosher birds, and all others are presumed kosher. The sugya explains how this list works, how many forbidden birds it contains, how the physical signs of birds function, and how far one may rely on signs, names, local custom, or received tradition.

The opening rule is based on a received tradition: there are 24 non-kosher birds, and there are four signs associated with kosher birds. The sugya assumes a complex distribution of these signs among the forbidden birds. Twenty of the forbidden birds have three kosher signs. The crow has two. The peres and ozniyya each have one, but the one sign found in one is absent from the other. The nesher has none. This structure creates the central legal problem: if a bird has even one kosher sign, can it be eaten, or must one fear that it is the peres or ozniyya? The Torah’s mention of the nesher becomes important because the nesher has no kosher signs at all. The sugya initially reads this to imply that a bird with even one kosher sign should be permitted unless it is otherwise known to be one of the listed forbidden birds.

This leads to the practical rule stated by Rav Naḥman. If a person is familiar with the 24 non-kosher birds and their names, then a bird with one kosher sign may be eaten, because he can exclude the peres and ozniyya. If he is not familiar with them, a bird with one sign is forbidden, because it might be one of those two. A bird with two signs is permitted only if the person can recognize the crow and its varieties, since the crow is the only forbidden bird with exactly two signs. Ameimar later gives a more permissive ruling: a bird with one kosher sign is permitted, provided that it does not claw prey. When Rav Ashi challenges him from Rav Naḥman’s stricter formulation, Ameimar rejects that concern, explaining that the peres and ozniyya are not found in settled areas.

The sugya also explains why the Torah mentions doves, even though the general logic from nesher would make birds with signs permissible. Rav Ukva bar Ḥama answers that doves are not listed to prove that they are kosher for eating; they are mentioned because they alone are valid as bird offerings. This moves the discussion from dietary law to sacrificial eligibility. Later statements continue that theme by classifying particular dove-like birds. A young tasil is invalid as a mature dove offering but valid as a young pigeon offering. Datzifi and the doves of Reḥava are valid as mature doves but invalid as young pigeons. Rav Yehuda identifies the tzutzeyanei doves as valid for the altar and equates them with Reḥava’s doves. Thus, the sugya distinguishes between dietary kashrut and the narrower categories of birds acceptable for Temple sacrifice.

Part 2

A major part of the sugya is devoted to identifying the Torah’s bird names. The Torah often writes a bird name followed by “after its kind,” and the sugya uses those phrases to include related varieties. With regard to orev, the basic meaning is the crow. R’ Eliezer uses “after its kind” to include the zarzir, while the Rabbis object that the people of Kefar Temarta ate the zarzir because it has a crop. R’ Eliezer responds that they will be judged for doing so. In another version, R’ Eliezer uses the phrase to include the white senunit, while the Rabbis object that the people of the Upper Galilee ate it because its gizzard can be peeled. Again, R’ Eliezer says that they will be judged. These exchanges show the tension with local eating practice. The Rabbis invoke observed kosher signs and actual communal practice; R’ Eliezer treats the strict halacha as decisive.

The white senunit reappears in a statement of Rav Yehuda, who says that the “scratching bird” is fit for the purification of a metzora and identifies it as the white senunit disputed by R’ Eliezer and the Rabbis. Since the metzora ritual requires “pure birds,” this statement effectively supports the view that the white senunit is kosher. This is another example of the sugya’s method: a bird’s status may be inferred also from its suitability for ritual use.

The sugya then turns to numerous bird names known in rabbinic Aramaic or local speech. Rav Yehuda distinguishes permitted and forbidden grasshoppers by habitat: those among shrubs are permitted, those among cabbages are forbidden; Ravina adds that one who eats the forbidden type is flogged for eating a winged swarming creature. Rav Yehuda also lists tzarda as permitted, barda as forbidden, and marda as uncertain. Rav Asi gives a list of eight uncertain birds: ḥuva, ḥuga, suga, harnuga, tushelemi, marda, kuḥilna, and bar nappaḥa. Abaye identifies the swamp rooster as one of these uncertain cases, namely the mardu. Rav Pappa distinguishes between the swamp rooster, which is forbidden, and the swamphen, which he permits. Mareimar later reverses the swamphen’s status, teaching that it is forbidden because it was seen clawing and eating prey; he identifies it as the giruta. This sequence shows how uncertainty, behavior, and later observation can alter classification.

Many of the rulings preserve short practical identifications with mnemonics. Rav says that shavor anderafta is permitted while piruz anderafta is forbidden, with the mnemonic “Piruz the Evil”.² Rav Huna says bunya is permitted and parva is forbidden, remembered through “Parva’a the Sorcerer.” Rav Pappa distinguishes between a mardu that reclines and eats, which is permitted, and one that bows and eats, which is forbidden, using “You shall not bow down to another god” as the mnemonic. Shmuel forbids the “wine drinker” and the “wine pourer,” but permits the “little wine pourer,” using Temple-service and father-son sayings as memory aids. Rav Yehuda classifies types of shekitena by color and leg length: long-shanked red ones are permitted, small red ones are forbidden, and long-shanked green/yellow ones are forbidden. These passages form a catalog of practical bird lore, organized by names, appearances, feeding posture, color, habitat, and memorable verbal tags.

Part 3

The sugya also includes identifications of biblical birds with explanations based on etymology or behavior. Rav Yehuda identifies shalakh as the bird that draws fish from the sea, and dukhifat as the bird whose comb appears bent. A baraita confirms this and adds that the dukhifat brought the shamir to the Temple, connecting it to the Solomonic Temple-building tradition.³ R’ Yoḥanan’s reaction to seeing a shalakh is theological: he recites “Your judgments are like the great deep,” interpreting the bird as a sign of divine judgment even in the sea. When he sees an ant, he recites the first half of the same verse, “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,” seeing divine provision even for small creatures.

The identification of tinshemet is handled through context. Since tinshemet appears both among birds and among creeping animals, the baraita applies the hermeneutical principle of “a matter derived from its context.” In the bird list, tinshemet means the ba’ut among birds; in the creeping-animal list, it means the ba’ut among creeping animals. Abaye then gives the common names: the bird-ba’ut is the kifof, and the creeping-animal-ba’ut is the kurpedai. This section shows a more formal interpretive method: the same biblical word may refer to different creatures depending on its immediate literary setting.

The sugya’s treatment of ka’at and raḥam combines identification, etymology, weather signs, and messianic symbolism. Rav Yehuda identifies ka’at as the kuk and raḥam as the sherakrak. R’ Yoḥanan explains that the raḥam is so named because when it comes, mercy comes to the world, apparently because it signals the arrival of rain. Rav Beivai bar Abaye qualifies this: it is a rain sign only when it sits on something and makes the sherakrak sound. If it sits on the ground and hisses, tradition says it signals the coming of the Messiah, supported by Zechariah 10:8, “I will hiss for them and gather them.” A story then limits this omen: when a raḥam once hissed in a plowed field and was struck by a stone, Mar bar Rav Idai explains that it was a liar. Here the sugya records omen traditions but also contains them through the category of false signaling.

A later section returns to the biblical lists and the number 24. Rav states, through a chain of transmission, that there are 24 non-kosher birds. The sugya asks how this number is derived. Leviticus lists only 20; Deuteronomy lists 21; even combining the unique names gives only 22. The answer is that the repeated “after its kind” phrases add four more cases. This also explains several earlier expansions, such as the varieties of orev and netz. Another baraita explains that the animal list is repeated in Deuteronomy because of the shesua, and the bird list because of the ra’a. R’ Abbahu identifies the ra’a with the ayya and explains its name from its exceptional sight, citing Job 28:7. A further tradition says that it can stand in Babylonia and see a carcass in Eretz Yisrael. Isi ben Yehuda expands the point further, stating that there are 100 non-kosher birds in the East, all species of ayya.

The sugya closes with a broad taxonomic principle. Avimi son of R’ Abbahu teaches that there are 700 types of non-kosher fish, 800 types of non-kosher grasshoppers, and countless birds. R’ Yehuda HaNasi explains the Torah’s method of listing: since non-kosher animals are more numerous than kosher animals, the Torah lists the kosher animals; since kosher birds are more numerous than non-kosher birds, the Torah lists the forbidden birds. This gives a rationale for the entire structure of the biblical bird laws.

The final practical rule emphasizes tradition. R’ Yitzḥak states that a kosher bird may be eaten based on a received tradition. A hunter is trusted to say that his teacher transmitted to him that a particular bird is kosher. R’ Yoḥanan qualifies this: the teacher must be familiar with the non-kosher birds and their names.

This ending brings the sugya back to its central issue: Bird kashrut depends on a combination of biblical lists, physical signs, predatory behavior, expert recognition, regional naming, local custom, and reliable transmission.

Leviticus 11:13-19 - a list of 20 non-kosher birds

Leviticus 11:13-19:

ואת אלה תשקצו מן העוף

לא יאכלו

שקץ הם:

And these are they which you shall have in abomination among the birds;

they shall not be eaten,

they are abominable:

1. את הנשר

2. ואת הפרס

3. ואת העזניה

4. ואת הדאה

5. ואת האיה למינה

6. את כל ערב למינו

7. ואת בת היענה

8. ואת התחמס

9. ואת השחף

10. ואת הנץ למינהו

11. ואת הכוס

12. ואת השלך

13. ואת הינשוף

14. ואת התנשמת

15. ואת הקאת

16. ואת הרחם

17. ואת החסידה

18. האנפה למינה

19. ואת הדוכיפת

20. ואת העטלף

1. the eagle,

2. and the bearded vulture

3. and the black vulture.

4. And the kite,

5. and the buzzard after its kind;

6. every raven after its kind;

7. and the owl,

8. and the kestrel,

9. and the gull,

10. and the sparrow hawk after its kind.

11. And the little owl,

12. and the fish fowl,

13. and the great owl,

14. and the barn owl,

15. and the jackdaw,

16. and the gier eagle.

17. And the stork,

18. the heron after her kind,

19. and the hoopoe,

20. and the bat.

Deuteronomy 14:12-18 - a list of 21 non-kosher birds

Deuteronomy 14:12-18:

וזה אשר לא תאכלו מהם:

But these are they of which you shall not eat:

1. הנשר

2. והפרס

3. והעזניה

4. והראה

5. ואת האיה

6. והדיה למינה

7. ואת כל ערב למינו

8. ואת בת היענה

9. ואת התחמס

10. ואת השחף

11. ואת הנץ למינהו

12. את הכוס

13. ואת הינשוף

14. והתנשמת

15. והקאת

16. ואת הרחמה

17. ואת השלך

18. והחסידה

19. והאנפה למינה

20. והדוכיפת

21. והעטלף

1. the griffon vulture,

2. and the bearded vulture,

3. and the black vulture,

4. and the buzzard,

5. and the kite,

6. and the hawk after its kind,

7. and every raven after its kind,

8. and the dark desert owl,

9. and the kestrel,

10. and the gull,

11. and the sparrow hawk after its kind,

12. the little owl,

13. and the long eared owl,

14. and the barn screech owl,

15. and the night prowler,

16. and the gier eagle,

17. and the fish owl,

18. and the stork,

19. and the heron after its kind,

20. and the hoopoe,

21. and the bat.

Outline

Intro

Leviticus 11:13-19 - a list of 20 non-kosher birds

Deuteronomy 14:12-18 - a list of 21 non-kosher birds

The Passage

1. Tradition - There are 24 non-kosher birds, and 4 signs of kosher birds

   1. 20 of the non-kosher birds have 3 (out of the 4) signs, the crow (ערב - list item #6 in Leviticus 11) has 2 (out of the 4) signs, and peres (פרס - list item #2 in Leviticus 11) and ozniyya (עזניה - list item #3 in Leviticus 11) each have only 1 sign

   2. With the sign of one absent from the other

   3. The Torah writes nesher (נשר - list item # 1 in Leviticus 11) to teach that only a bird with no kosher signs at all is prohibited on that basis; a bird with even one kosher sign may be eaten, unless otherwise known to be non-kosher

2. Rav Ukva bar Ḥama - The Torah mentions doves not to prove they are kosher, but to teach that they alone are fit as bird offerings

3. Rav Naḥman - If one knows the 24 non-kosher birds and their names, a bird with one kosher sign is permitted

   1. If not, one sign is treated as non-kosher

   2. Two signs are permitted only if one recognizes the crow and its kinds

Part 2

1. Baraita - “Orev” means the crow - Leviticus 11:15

   1. “after its kinds” includes the zarzir

   2. Rabbis disputing R’ Eliezer - The people of Kefar Temarta ate the zarzir because it has a crop

   3. R’ Eliezer - The people of Kefar Temarta will be judged for eating the zarzir

2. Alternative version - R’ Eliezer - “After its kinds” also includes the white senunit as non-kosher - Leviticus 11:15

   1. Rabbis disputing R’ Eliezer - The people of the Upper Galilee ate the white senunit because its gizzard can be peeled

   2. R’ Eliezer - The people of the Upper Galilee will be judged for eating the white senunit

3. Ameimar - The halakha is that a bird with one kosher sign is permitted, provided it does not claw prey

4. Rav Yehuda - The “scratching bird” is fit for the purification of a metzora

   1. it is the white senunit disputed by R’ Eliezer and the Rabbis

5. Raḥava citing R’ Yehuda - The young tasil is unfit as a mature dove offering but fit as a young pigeon offering

   1. datzifi and Reḥava’s doves are fit as mature doves but unfit as young pigeons

6. Rav Yehuda - Tzutzeyanei doves are fit for the altar; they are Reḥava’s doves

7. Rav Yehuda - Grasshoppers from shrubs are permitted; those from cabbages are forbidden

8. Ravina - One who eats the forbidden cabbage grasshoppers is flogged for eating winged swarming creatures - Deuteronomy 14:19

9. Rav Yehuda - Tzarda is permitted, barda is prohibited, and marda is uncertain

10. Rav Asi - There are 8 uncertain birds: ḥuva, ḥuga, suga, harnuga, tushelemi, marda, kuḥilna, and bar nappaḥa

11. Abaye - The swamp rooster is one of the 8 uncertain birds; it is the mardu

12. Rav Pappa - The swamp rooster is forbidden, but the swamphen is permitted - Deuteronomy 23:4

13. Mareimar - The swamphen is forbidden, because it was seen clawing and eating prey; it is the giruta

14. Rav - Shavor anderafta is permitted; piruz anderafta is forbidden

15. Rav Huna - Bunya is permitted; parva is forbidden

16. Rav Pappa - The reclining-and-eating mardu is permitted; the bowing-and-eating mardu is forbidden - Exodus 34:14

17. Shmuel - The “wine drinker” bird is forbidden

18. Shmuel - The “wine pourer” bird is forbidden, but the “little wine pourer” is permitted

19. Rav Yehuda - Among shekitena: long-shanked red ones are permitted; small red ones are forbidden; long-shanked green/yellow ones are forbidden

Part 3

1. Rav Yehuda - Shalakh (שלך - list item #17 in Leviticus 11) is the bird that scoops fish from the sea; dukhifat (דוכיפת - list item #19 in Leviticus 11) is the bird whose comb appears bent - Leviticus 11:17; Leviticus 11:19

2. Baraita - Dukhifat is the bird with a bent-looking comb, and it brought the shamir to the Temple - I Kings 6:7

3. Anecdote - R’ Yoḥanan on seeing a shalakh, would recite “Your judgments are like the great deep”; on seeing an ant, “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains” - Psalms 36:7

4. Ameimar - Laknei and batnei birds are permitted

   1. Sakna’ei and batna’ei birds depend on local custom: permitted where peres and ozniyya are absent, forbidden where they are present

5. Abaye - Kevai and kakvai are forbidden; kakvata is permitted

6. In Eretz Yisrael they flogged for eating kakvata, and called it taḥveta

7. Baraita - The tinshemet (תנשמת - list item #14 in Leviticus 11) among birds is the ba’ut among birds - Leviticus 11:18

   1. Not creeping animal, derived from the biblical context

8. Baraita - The tinshemet among creeping animals is the ba’ut among creeping animals - Leviticus 11:30

   1. derived from context

9. Abaye - The bird-ba’ut is the kifof; the creeping-animal-ba’ut is the kurpedai

10. Rav Yehuda - Ka’at (קאת - list item #15 in Leviticus 11) is the kuk; raḥam (רחם - list item #16 in Leviticus 11) is the sherakrak - Leviticus 11:18

11. R’ Yoḥanan - The raḥam is so called because when it comes, mercy comes to the world

12. Rav Beivai bar Abaye - The raḥam signals rain when it sits on something and cries “sherakrak”

    1. If it sits on the ground and hisses, it signals the Messiah’s coming

    2. Prooftext - Zechariah 10:8

13. Mar bar Rav Idai & Rav Adda bar Shimi - A raḥam falsely signaled messianic arrival, was killed was punished as a liar

14. Baraita - “Orev” means black crow; “every orev” includes the valley crow; “after its kinds” includes the crow whose head resembles a pigeon - Leviticus 11:15

15. Baraita - “Netz” (נץ - list item #10 in Leviticus 11) means the hawk; “after its kinds” includes bar ḥireya - Leviticus 11:16

16. Abaye - Bar ḥireya is the shurineka

17. Rav Yehuda - Ḥasida (חסידה - list item #17 in Leviticus 11) is the white dayya, named because it acts kindly toward its fellows; anafa (אנפה - list item #18 in Leviticus 11) is the irritable dayya, named because it quarrels with its fellows - Leviticus 11:19

18. Rav Ḥanan b, Ḥisda citing Rav Ḥisda citing Rav Ḥanan b. Rava citing Rav - There are 24 non-kosher birds

19. Rav Ḥisda citing Rav Ḥanan b. Rava citing Rav - The four “after its kinds” phrases add four species to the Torah’s bird lists - Leviticus 11; Deuteronomy 14

20. R’ Yehuda HaNasi - The Torah writes both ayya and dayya to prevent disputes caused by different regional names for the same bird - Deuteronomy 14:13

21. Baraita - The animal list is repeated in Deuteronomy because of the shesua; the bird list is repeated because of the ra’a - Deuteronomy 14:7, 13

22. R’ Abbahu - The ra’a is the ayya

    1. named for its exceptional sight

    2. Prooftext - Job 28:7

23. Baraita - The ra’a/ayya can stand in Babylonia and see a carcass in Eretz Yisrael

24. Isi ben Yehuda - There are 100 non-kosher birds in the East, all species of ayya - Leviticus 11:14

25. Avimi b. Abbahu - There are 700 non-kosher fish species, 800 non-kosher grasshopper species, and countless kosher birds

26. R’ Yehuda HaNasi - Since non-kosher animals are more numerous than kosher animals, the Torah lists the kosher animals; since kosher birds are more numerous than non-kosher birds, the Torah lists the non-kosher birds

27. R’ Yitzḥak - A kosher bird may be eaten based on tradition

    1. a hunter is trusted to say his teacher transmitted that a bird is kosher

28. R’ Yoḥanan - A hunter’s tradition is reliable only if the teacher knows the non-kosher birds and their names

The Passage

Chullin.61b.6-63b.11

Tradition - There are 24 non-kosher birds, and 4 signs of kosher birds

גמירי:

1. עשרים וארבעה עופות טמאים הוו,

2. וארבעה סימנין.

The Talmud states: It is learned as a tradition that

1. there are 24 non-kosher birds,

2. and 4 signs of a kosher bird.

20 of the non-kosher birds have 3 (out of the 4) signs, the crow (ערב - list item #6 in Leviticus 11) has 2 (out of the 4) signs, and peres (פרס - list item #2 in Leviticus 11) and ozniyya (עזניה - list item #3 in Leviticus 11) each have only 1 sign

תלתא הדרי בכולהו,

1. עשרים מהם --

   1. שלשה שלשה,

2. ותרי --

   1. בעורב,

3. חד

   1. בפרס

4. וחד

   1. בעזניה,

The same 3 signs can be found in all of them, with the exception of either the peres or the ozniyya (as will be explained)

1. 20 of them --

   1. have all 3 signs,

2. and two of those signs --

   1. can be found in a crow.

3. One sign

   1. is found in a peres

4. and one

   1. in an ozniyya,

With the sign of one absent from the other

דאיתיה בהא —

ליתיה בהא.

and the sign present in this —

is absent in that,

i.e., one of them has the 4th sign, which is absent from the other 23 non-kosher birds.

The Torah writes nesher (נשר - list item # 1 in Leviticus 11) to teach that only a bird with no kosher signs at all is prohibited on that basis; a bird with even one kosher sign may be eaten, unless otherwise known to be non-kosher

מהו דתימא

ליליף מיניה –

כתב רחמנא ״נשר״,

נשר דלית ליה כלל הוא דלא תיכול,

הא איכא דאית ליה חד –

אכול.

Lest you say:

Derive from it that any other bird with only that sign is non-kosher,

God wrote about the nesher to indicate: It is a nesher,

which has none of the signs of a kosher bird, that you shall not eat.

But if there is any bird that has even one of the signs, you may eat it.

Rav Ukva bar Ḥama - The Torah mentions doves not to prove they are kosher, but to teach that they alone are fit as bird offerings

אלא,

תורין דכתב רחמנא למה לי?

אמר רב עוקבא בר חמא:

לקרבן.

The Talmud asks: But if one learns from nesher that a bird with even one sign is kosher, why do I need the doves that God wrote are kosher, which have all 4?

Rav Ukva bar Ḥama said:

The dove was not mentioned to teach that it is kosher, but rather to teach that it is the only bird fit to be sacrificed as an offering.

Rav Naḥman - If one knows the 24 non-kosher birds and their names, a bird with one kosher sign is permitted

אמר רב נחמן:

היה בקי בהן ובשמותיהן –

עוף הבא בסימן אחד טהור,

Rav Naḥman says:

If one is familiar with the non-kosher birds and their names --

any bird that comes before him with only one sign is kosher,

since he can be sure that it is not the peres or ozniyya, which have only one sign.

If not, one sign is treated as non-kosher

לא היה בקי בהן ובשמותיהן –

בסימן אחד טמא,

If he is not familiar with them and their names,

any bird that he finds with one sign is non-kosher,

since it may be the peres or ozniyya.

Two signs are permitted only if one recognizes the crow and its kinds

בשני סימנין טהור,

והוא שיכיר עורב.

[...]

But if he finds a bird with exactly two signs,

it is kosher,

provided that he can recognize a crow,

since the crow is the only non-kosher bird with exactly two signs.

[...]

1. Note that this sugya is coming up soon in the Daf Yomi schedule.

2. Likely referencing one of the Sasanian kings of Iran with that name.

3. See my previous piece on the shamir, in tractate Gittin.