鹡 (jí): (in 鹡鸰) wagtail (a small long-t…

Meanings

鹡鸰喜欢在水边摆动尾巴。

Jílíng xǐhuan zài shuǐbiān bǎidòng wěiba.

Wagtails like to bob their tails by the waterside.

一对鹡鸰落在草坪上找食。

Yì duì jílíng luò zài cǎopíng shàng zhǎo shí.

A pair of wagtails landed on the lawn looking for food.

culture

鹡 occurs only in 鹡鸰, the wagtail. In classical poetry a flock of wagtails in distress became a symbol of brothers helping one another in hardship.

radical

鸟 niǎo

bird

鸟 is the bird radical, marking 鹡 as a species of bird.

phonetic

脊 jǐ

spine; ridge

脊 supplies the sound (jǐ read as jí here) and adds no meaning in 鹡.

鹡 jí