Bird watching in the city

I love watching birds in my neighborhood. I will be honest, I am not the most knowledgeable when it comes to bird types, but that does not stop me from admiring them wherever I go.

Why bird watch?

I saw a post once saying that: The older you get, the more you find yourself watching birds without realizing. And this is so incredibly true for me in particular. I must admit, I have been watching birds for very very long, my favorites are watching the pigeons and doves — fantasizing about picking them up, like scooping up snow, and holding them close to me.

In particular, pigeons have opened my eyes to casual bird watching. Pigeons have such a sad history with humans, and domestication. They truly are misunderstood and it has broken my heart when I first learned about this in school. A video talking about how beloved pigeons were to how humans have abandoned them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLQwme03OcU.

I see bird watching and drawing live birds as a great way to show appreciate and giving them some attention — even if they do not appreciate me not having food offerings.

So anyways, why bird watch?

• Requires no equipment to start, only your eyes and some time to kill.

• There are so many color combinations of birds to see. Some pigeons are more gray or white, some with metallic shiny necklace feathers, some with funny per-adolescents feather hats.

• They also come in so many different shapes and sizes. It may take some practice, but seeing how circle and round VS how long and slim birds can be, it brings me so much joy.

• They are truly just little guys doing their own thing with no care in the world. It is fascinating to me to watch how they interact and which pigeon is stepping up to punk the others away from food offerings.

• As an artist, they are great gesture practice. Depending on your flighty subject, there are birds with simple shapes you can break down into various circles, ovals, and rectangles. There are always birds around, if you keep your eyes open.

• It is fun, I think it is a great way to appreciate what is around you. You can do this alone or with a friend.

Okay I will draw birds, but what do I need?

I personally like to keep things simple and low-cost. In my opinion, you honestly do not need much.

Some suggestions:

Paper (sketchbook, notebook): I personally like drawing in a pocket-size lined notebook sold in my local stationary store. You do not need anything fancy if you do not want to. I usually keep my bird sketches loose, so I rather go for cheaper paper than more expensive paper.

Pens: I recommend pens rather than pencils. Birds are flighty and extremely unpredictable. I find that having to stop and sharpen my pencils is more distracting and frustrating than just getting pen on paper. The less equipment needed to bring around, the better is what I say.

Sun protection (hat, sunglasses, umbrella): If you live in a sunny place, I recommended protecting your skin from the deadly light lasers from up above. And you are highly likely to be looking up or somewhere physically exposed to sunbeams.

Water and snacks: Okay first of all, do not feed the birds human food. Unless you are knowledgeable on how certain human ingredients can affect or not affect their tiny stomachs — I highly do not recommend it. On the other hand, you can give them some nice clean transparent water and fingers crossed that some little birdies will come and stay still for you while they have a drink. This is also mainly for you hahahah, please stay hydrated and fed while out and about.

Some of my favorite activities birds do:

• Feeding: I love seeing the birds hanging off the fragile twigs to nibble on tiny berries. I also enjoy seeing them digging their small beaks into the dirt and pulling at a worm or bug. Dirt coating their tiny beaks, who knows if this session of hunting will satisfy them.

• Exploring: I love seeing them hopping around and moving their heads in funky angles.

• Breading, dusting, and playing: just like cats I have noticed they enjoy breading in dirt piles and small puddles of water. Some birds run for cover in the trees as soon as the rain starts, but there are a few that enjoy jumping and wiggling in the puddles.

So yeah, go out and draw some birds!!!

This has been a sample page of my illustrations used in a digital newsletter and blog. I am figuring out if I want to offer colored illustrations for blogs & newsletters or black and white illustrations… hmmmm….