parakeet; small parrot
Refers to small parrots commonly kept as pets, such as budgerigars, cockatiels, lovebirds, and similar species. In everyday use, インコ is the typical word for these birds, while larger parrots are usually called オウム.
Our parakeet can say 'good morning'.
My sister keeps two parakeets at home.
ペットショップで青いインコを買った。
I bought a blue parakeet at the pet shop.
The parakeet has been chirping cheerfully since morning.
Our parakeet says "good morning."
インコ refers to small parrots like budgerigars and lovebirds, while オウム denotes larger parrots such as cockatoos and macaws.
オウム refers to large parrots such as cockatoos, while インコ refers to smaller parrots and parakeets, so the two are easily confused despite naming different birds.
Birds are typically counted with 羽; though small birds are sometimes counted with 匹, 鸚哥 (parakeets) are most naturally counted with 羽.
budgerigar; budgie; common pet parakeet
cockatiel
galah; rose-breasted cockatoo
lovebird; Lilian's lovebird
macaw
green-winged macaw; red-and-green macaw
rainbow lorikeet; rainbow lory
Indian rose-ringed parakeet; ring-necked parakeet
Katakana spelling is standard; the word is usually written in kana.
Hiragana spelling, also common.
Rarely used kanji form; mainly encountered in older or specialized texts.
Rarely used kanji form; mainly encountered in older or specialized texts.
The word comes from 鸚哥, whose reading いんこ reflects a historical Chinese-derived pronunciation. The alternative spellings are phonetic or semantic representations of the same bird name.