Hanzi Bird

Which Chinese character will become your next little companion?

Hanzi Birds wander across your Windows desktop with a character on each back. Pair two birds, crack an egg, and see who arrives. Follow family clues to choose who to raise next, while your collection and discoveries bring a Chinese manor to life.

Two Little Birds. A New Possibility.

Bring a male and female bird together when they are ready to breed, wait for an egg, then crack it open yourself.

子 + 女 → 好　　日 + 月 → 明

Their characters may combine through real hanzi structure, or the chick may inherit a parent's character. Every egg brings a bird; a new character is a possibility, not a guarantee.

Choose Who to Raise Next

Find families with shared written components at the Academy, explore layered character forms at the Character Steles, and discover matching Mandarin syllables with different tones at the Music Hall.

A new family member may reveal another lead. Open an available pairing clue to see which birds you own can hatch the character you want, together with the actual chance. Give your next pairing a purpose.

A Manor for Your Growing Collection

Explore a 3D Chinese manor of tiled roofs, wooden buildings, gardens and a little bridge. Pan and zoom, visit the three facilities, and browse your character families. Collect characters and confirm discoveries; when the requirements are met, confirm an expansion and watch the buildings change.

Bird rooms, games, eggs and travel all lead back to the same home. Play a round, hatch an egg, follow a clue, and return to your flock.

A Little Company for Your Desktop

Let your birds wander or stay put, and click one to hear its character pronounced in Mandarin. Drag birds between your desktop and manor rooms, with up to ten residents per room. Different shapes, colors, eyes, crests and tails give each one its own look.

Want to share a surprise? Turn an egg into an offline Bird Friend Code and give it to a friend.

Take a Break. Play with Hanzi.

• Hanzi Mahjong: draw, discard and claim character birds to make words against AI opponents.
  
• Hanzi Nonogram: follow number clues to reveal characters and everyday pictures.
  
• Hanzi Crossword: solve intersecting words with definitions and dictionary help.
  
• Hanzi Shooter: switch components to form characters, dodge or absorb barrages, and build your firepower.

For a bigger change of pace, launch Flight from a desktop bird's menu. Turn your screen into a survival battlefield and bring collected birds along as wingmates.

One Cell Closer to a New Egg

Work from 5×5 introductions to 10×10 and 15×15 challenges across 5,712 fixed picture puzzles and Daily 10. Finish a puzzle to see the picture, hear the character and check its meaning. Clear a whole Stage or all ten daily puzzles to earn a Hanzi Bird egg.

Let a Bird Bring the World Back to You

Send a desktop bird travelling across China on a real-time journey. Receive photos and notes, revisit places on the map and in your album, and welcome it home. It may return with a companion or travel egg. Travelling birds stay away from breeding and battle until they return.

Hear Your Collection Sing

Import a local multitrack MIDI file, assign parts to your birds, and hear a choir singing the Mandarin sounds of their own characters.

Or visit the Guqin Room to explore seven strings and open, stopped and harmonic tones. Follow built-in pieces or turn a local MIDI track into a guqin solo.

For Hanzi Lovers and Bird Lovers Alike

Pinyin, Mandarin audio, useful words and a learning dictionary help you get to know each character. Bird profiles also record parents, children and generations.

Play with a Simplified Chinese, English, Japanese or Korean interface with Simplified Chinese characters used in gameplay. Explore the characters, enjoy the company, or do a little of both at your own pace.