How to Write 鹃 (juān) — Meaning “Cuckoo”

Picture a cuckoo bird (鸟) with a round pattern (想(肙)) on its chest. The round shape reminds you of the sound "cuckoo" that the bird makes. This visual link helps you recall the left side of the character.

Keep the left part 肙 slightly narrower than the right part 鸟. Make sure the top of the bird radical aligns with the top of 肙. A common mistake is making the left part too tall or placing the right part too low.

鹃 has the left component 肙, while 袅 has the clothing radical 衣 on top of 鸟, making it look completely different. 鸪 uses the phonetic 古 on the left. Also, 鹃 means cuckoo, 袅 describes something slender or curling, and 鸪 is part of the word for partridge.

鹃 appears mainly in the compound word 杜鹃 (dù juān), which can mean either the cuckoo bird or the azalea flower. In Chinese poetry, the cuckoo's cry is often associated with sadness and homesickness. You will most often see 鹃 in the names of the bird or the flower.

Common words containing 鹃 include: 杜鹃 (dù juān) — cuckoo; azalea; 杜鹃鸟 (dù juān niǎo) — cuckoo bird; 鹃啼 (juān tí) — The cuckoo's cry.