Birding “my way”

So, I came up with an idea, Nanny is taking drawing lessons, not that she is good at it…  So, her challenge this year will be to draw as many birds as she can this year. The purpose of this crazy challenge, well to learn more about birds, and to draw me by the end of this year.

Male Eastern Bluebird

Size: 7 inches (18 cm)

Female Eastern Bluebird

Size: 7 inches (18 cm)

The description is from “All about bird.org”:

The Eastern Bluebird is a small thrush with a big, rounded head, large eye, plump body, and alert posture. The wings are long, but the tail and legs are fairly short. The bill is short and straight.

Male Eastern Bluebirds are vivid, deep blue above and rusty or brick-red on the throat and breast. Blue in birds always depends on the light, and males often look plain gray-brown from a distance. Females are grayish above with bluish wings and tail, and a subdued orange-brown breast. Read more…

Female Northern Cardinal

Size: 8.75 inches (22 cm)

Male Northern Cardinal

Size: 8.75 inches (22 cm)

The description is from “All about bird.org”:

The Northern Cardinal is a fairly large, long-tailed songbird with a short, very thick bill and a prominent crest. Cardinals often sit with a hunched-over posture and with the tail pointed straight down.

Male cardinals are brilliant red all over, with a reddish bill and black face immediately around the bill. Females are pale brown overall with warm reddish tinges in the wings, tail, and crest. They have the same black face and red-orange bill. Read more…

Female Black-Capped Chickadee

Size: 5 inches (13 cm)

Male Black-Capped Chickadee

Size: 5 inches (13 cm)

The description is from “All about bird.org”:

This tiny bird has a short neck and large head, giving it a distinctive, rather spherical body shape. It also has a long, narrow tail and a short bill a bit thicker than a warbler’s but thinner than a finch’s.

The cap and bib are black, the cheeks white, the back soft gray, the wing feathers gray edged with white, and the underparts soft buffy on the sides grading to white beneath. The cap extends down just beyond the black eyes, making the small eyes tricky to see. Read more…

Male Wood Duck

Size: 18.5 inches (47 cm)

The description is from “All about bird.org”:

Wood Ducks have a unique shape among ducks—a boxy, crested head, a thin neck, and a long, broad tail. In flight, they hold their head up high, sometimes bobbing it. Overall, their silhouette shows a skinny neck, long body, thick tail, and short wings.

In good light, males have a glossy green head cut with white stripes, a chestnut breast and buffy sides. In low or harsh light, they’ll look dark overall with paler sides. Females are gray-brown with white-speckled breast. In eclipse plumage (late summer), males lose their pale sides and bold stripes, but retain their bright eye and bill. Juveniles are very similar to females. Read more…