calling bird (esp. a cuckoo)
Archaic poetic term for a bird that calls out, especially the cuckoo (most often the lesser cuckoo, Cuculus poliocephalus). Found in classical Japanese literature and waka poetry.
There is a poem in the Kokinshū that mentions the calling bird's cry.
Standard kanji spelling for this archaic bird name.
Variant kanji spelling using 喚 instead of 呼; less common.
Explicitly written out form; rare and mostly found in older texts.
From 呼ぶ (yobu, 'to call') + 子 (ko, 'child') + 鳥 (tori, 'bird'), literally 'bird that calls out'. The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the name reflects the bird's distinctive vocalizations.