ὄρνις [5 verses] (noun sg masc/fem nom) "A hen" is ornis, which means "bird," including birds of prey and domestic fowls, "bird of omen," a metaphor for "omen" taken from the flight or cries of birds, "cock," "hen," and "fowl." This is the more formal word for bird, the source of our word for the study of birds, "ornithology."  - The word translated as "hen" is the general, formal word for "bird," in Greek. It includes birds of prey and domestic fowls. This is not the word Jesus more commonly uses for birds, which literally means "wing ones." Nor does it mean a female bird, being in a form that can mean either male or female.