It has an apparent visual magnitude of +4.78,[2] which is bright enough to allow it to be seen with the naked eye.

The distance to this star is known from parallax measurements to be around 293 light-years (90 parsecs).

[1] The spectrum of Zeta Apodis matches a stellar classification of K2 III,[3] with the luminosity class of III indicating it is an evolved giant star.

The outer atmosphere has an effective temperature of 4,486 K,[5] which gives it the orange-hued glow of a K-type star.

Consequently, ζ Apodis itself is known as 異雀一 (Yì Què yī, English: the First Star of Exotic Bird.