The Vermilion Bird is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. According to Wu Xing, the Taoist five-elemental system, it represents the fire-element, the direction south, and the season summer correspondingly. Thus it is sometimes called the Vermilion Bird of the South (南方朱雀, Nán Fāng Zhū Què). It is often mistaken for the Fenghuang due to similarities in appearance, but the two are different creatures. The Fenghuang is the king of birds, while the Vermilion Bird is a mythological spirit creature of the Chinese constellations.
The Vermilion Bird is an elegant and noble bird in both appearance and behavior, it is very selective in what it eats and where it perches, with its feathers in many different hues of reddish orange.
The Vermilion Bird is often associated with the mythical Phoenix due to their associations with fire.
