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白鳥 (はくちょう, hakuchou) Japanese meaning: swan | Kotomora
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In winter, swans come to this lake.
The children fed the swans from the shore.
Usage patterns 白はく 鳥ちょう が 飛ひ 来らい する swans migrate in (to an area)
Every winter, swans migrate to this lake.
白はく 鳥ちょう の 群む れ a flock of swans
A flock of swans was floating on the lake.
白はく 鳥ちょう が 湖みずうみ に 浮う かぶ a swan floats on a lake
A swan is gracefully floating on the quiet lake.
Related words 白鳆 is the native Japanese word for swan and is used in everyday speech, while スワン is an English loanword often reserved for names, titles, or a more exotic connotation.
Don't confuse with 白鳥 (swan) and 鶴 (crane) are both large, elegant water-associated birds that learners often mix up, but they are entirely different species.
雁 are migratory geese, whereas 白鳥 (swans) are larger waterfowl with long necks and a different silhouette.
Written forms 白はく 鳥ちょう Usage 83%
Standard kanji spelling; commonly means a swan.
ハクチョウ Usage 15%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling given, often useful for the bird name in zoological or species-name contexts.
はくちょう Usage 2%
Etymology A transparent Sino-Japanese compound from 白 meaning 'white' and 鳥 meaning 'bird'; the spelling directly matches both the literal sense and the common bird name 'swan'.
