Birds are fascinating animals, from their variety of colors to their ability to defy gravity. Kids love to find a bird flying in the sky and looking for its nest in the trees. If your bird-loving kids are starting to be interested in drawing, birds can be a great place to start because they’re actually super easy to draw!
We have made a simple tutorial on how to draw a bird that even your most novice drawer can conquer. We’ve also highlighted some entertaining and educational books all about birds that you can read when you’re finished drawing!
How To Draw A Bird
Did you know there were about 18,000 different species of birds? The average person could probably only name about 15 off the top of their head! Each of those 18,000 bird species has its own look: some are small, some can’t fly, and some have surprisingly shaped beaks.
For our tutorial, we’re going for more of a stylistic bird. Depending on how you color your bird, you could call it a blue jay, red robin, or finch. For a visual guide, pull up the “How To Draw: Bird” coloring sheet on the Caribu app. Here you can follow along with the tutorial, using the blank area to practice your bird drawing. Pick the color you want, and get ready to learn how to draw a bird!
Step 1 – Body
The very first step when drawing your bird is the body. Unlike some other animal drawings, the bird’s body and head are all combined in one shape. To make this shape, think of a curved teardrop.
The point of the teardrop will be the tail, and the round part will be the head. The area between the head and tail is the body. To follow along with our drawing, have your bird facing the right side of the page.
Step 2 – Wing
Now that you have the body, it’s time to draw the wing. Starting at the point of the tail, draw a curved line. This line almost resembles a smile. It should end no higher than the point of the tail, or right under the middle part of the bird’s head.
Step 3 – Tail Feathers
Next comes the tail feathers. Tail feathers are used to steer and balance the bird when they’re flying high in the sky. They also help the birds break when landing. With these being such an important feature of the bird, we certainly can’t leave them out!
Draw your tail feathers in a fan shape. You want to draw a couple of feathers to make it look realistic. Draw one feather (coming off the tip of the bird’s tail) aiming to the left, one in the middle, and one aiming to the right. Now your bird is ready to land easily after a long flight!
Step 4 – Beak And Eye
Now it’s time to make the face of your bird. First, make an eye near the top of the head area. To draw an eye, simply make a dot. That’s it! Next, it’s time for the beak. To make the beak, all you need to do is draw a triangle. Starting at the eye, make the triangle going away from your bird. Then draw the bottom line back to the bird.
Step 5 – Legs
The last part of the bird you need to draw is the legs. At the halfway point under the bird, draw two parallel lines ( that are the same distance apart). For the feet, at the bottom of each leg, draw three small lines pointed down.
Step 6 – Color
You did it! You drew a bird. Awesome job! Now, you can color it however you want. You can pick a color that’s common for birds: red, blue, brown, black, or you can pick any color combination you want! The fun part is, you would likely find a bird in the same color you chose, because there are so many bird colors out there!
While you’re drawing a bird with your little one, don’t forget to ask them questions about what they’re drawing. This can help spark a conversation with your child, and help build an even stronger bond with them!
What Are Entertaining Books About Birds On Caribu?
Now that you’ve drawn your masterpiece, you can keep your bird activity going by reading some fascinating books about birds. Some books are nonfiction and may teach you new things you never knew about birds, and others are super cute fictional stories about birds and their friends.
Fantastic Birds
Fantastic Birds by Eve Heidi Bine-Stock is a nonfiction book about the most outrageous birds in the world. You’ll learn about the biggest bird, the bird with the biggest feet, and the bird with the smallest wingspan! Another interesting fact you may learn is that while all birds have certain, common characteristics, having wings is not one of them! For example, penguins don’t have wings, but instead, they have flippers!
Count & Find 100 Birds And 10 Bugs
Is your little one working on counting to 100? Look no further than Count & Find 100 Birds and 10 Bugs by Susan McClanahan. In this book, not only will your little one love all of the fun illustrations of birds, but they can also practice their counting. Finding the hidden bug in each picture is so fun. You can even make it a game and see who can spot the bug first!
Why, Why, Why? / ¿Por Qué, Por Qué, Por Qué?
At Caribu, we love bringing books to you in multiple languages. Besides English, you can find books on our app in Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, Chinese, German, Plains Cree, and Haitian Creole.
Why, Why, Why? and ¿Por Qué, Por Qué, Por Qué? is a fantastic example of a book that comes in multiple languages. You can read this story in both English and Spanish. Written by Graciela Castellanos, this story will ask birds and their friends why they have certain characteristics. Your little one will love the imaginative illustrations and the rhythm of the story!
Weird Birds
If your little one is interested in learning even more about birds, Weird Birds by Chris Earley may be for them! They’ll learn all about 50 of the weirdest birds and why they look the way they look or do the things they do. You may even see a few birds you’ve actually seen in real life, even if it was at the zoo!
The Best Nest
Bird nests come in all different shapes and sizes, and some birds don’t build nests at all! Have you ever wondered why some bird nests are very tidy and neat, and other birds’ nests are very simple or they don’t have a nest at all? Well, in the book The Best Nest by Doris L. Mueller, you may just find out!
In this retelling of an English folktale, you’ll learn the importance of listening carefully. While the Magpie tries to teach the birds how to build a strong nest, many of the birds flutter off at different points in her directions, missing important steps of the process. At the end of the book, you’ll learn about the actual nests of the birds in the story and how some of them are made.
Conclusion
Birds are a great starting point when helping kids learn to draw. With our simple tutorial, your little one will be drawing one in no time!
There’s a lot to learn about birds. There are so many and each is unique in their coloring, size, wings, beaks, and habitats. To learn more about these incredible animals, check out some of the nonfiction books about birds on Caribu, like Fantastic Birds and Weird Birds. You can even learn more about their nests in The Bird Nest.
At Caribu, we love to combine the joy of learning with art and spending time with family! Now, even if you can’t be in the same room, you can still spend quality time together drawing, reading, and learning something new, all over a Caribu video-call whenever you want!
Sources:
How Many Kinds of Birds Are There and Why Does It Matter? | NCBI