how can you tell if a bird is kosher or not

Adam, woodmere,N.Y

Dear Adam,

The Torah names twenty-four types of birds that are not kosher; all the rest are kosher. However, we do not know the exact identifications of all the twenty-four types in the Torah. Furthermore, we don't know the exact definition of the Torah's type, i.e. how many species it includes.

Therefore, our practice is to only eat birds for which we have a continuous tradition of their being kosher. There are signs that play a role in identifying kosher birds - the nature of their stomach, of their crop, the shape of their beak, the structure of their feet, whether they are predatory - but it is not universally agreed as to how to apply these, and therefore we only eat a bird which has a tradition.

I see that you are from NY - if you are interested, I am giving a Torah tour of the Bronx Zoo on May 4. Details are on my website, www.zootorah.com.

Best wishes, Rabbi Nosson Slifkin zoorabbi@zootorah.com

Zoo Torah is a non-profit educational enterprise that offers a series of books, programs for both adults and children, zoo tours, and South African safaris, all on the theme of Judaism and the animal kingdom. For more details and a taste of the experience, see www.zootorah.com. If you would like to subscribe to a regular ZooTorah essay, please e-mail nature-subscribe@ohr.edu.

would this be an opportunity to discuss why some poskim say "yes" to turkey and others "no?" what kind of mesorah do we have for this bird?

You can find a discussion of that at the following webpage: http://www.kashrut.com/articles/turkey/

Best wishes, Rabbi Nosson Slifkin zoorabbi@zootorah.com

Zoo Torah is a non-profit educational enterprise that offers a series of books, programs for both adults and children, zoo tours, and South African safaris, all on the theme of Judaism and the animal kingdom. For more details and a taste of the experience, see www.zootorah.com. If you would like to subscribe to a regular ZooTorah essay, please e-mail nature-subscribe@ohr.edu.