In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Red Winged Blackbird in 7 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.
The images above represents how your finished drawing is going to look and the steps involved.
Below are the individual steps - you can click on each one for a High Resolution printable PDF version.
At the bottom you can read some interesting facts about the Red Winged Blackbird.
Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.
How to Draw a Red Winged Blackbird - Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Let's draw a red-winged blackbird! Start with a large upside-down letter U for the head, but at the top corner, trace a triangular shape for the pointy beak.
Step 2: Trace a line across the middle of the beak and a curved line to close it. Fill in a circle for the eye, without coloring it in all the way!
Step 3: Starting from the front of the head, trace a line down the front for the belly.
Step 4: For the wing, trace a line down the back of the bird and a line down the middle of the body. Trace lines all along the inside of the wing and make long V shapes toward the back of the wing. Here's a tip: don't make your V shapes perfectly aligned–your wing will look more true to life that way!
Step 5: Trace a line across the bottom of the body and finish it off with curved claws at the end. Make sure they're really pointy!
Step 6: From there, trace two long lines, now, going down for the second leg. Don't forget the pointy claws!
Step 7: Last is the tail! Draw two lines coming out from beneath the body, and trace skinny tube-like shapes along the bottom of the tail. There's your red-winged blackbird!
Interesting Facts about the Red-Winged Blackbird
The Red-Winged Blackbird can be found in many areas within North and Central America. It also migrates to such areas as Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and British Columbia. It is believed to be the most popular bird in North America, which makes it the easiest to study.
Did you know?
- The Red-Winged Blackbird’s diet mainly consists of seeds and bugs.
- You can usually find the Red-Winged Blackbird in open fields. It prefers wetland areas, and it will live in marshes that have both freshwater and saltwater, especially if there are cattails present.
- When it comes to having predators, the Red-Winged Blackbird is not so lucky. Hawks, owls, crows, ravens, and magpies are just some of the predators the Red-Winged Blackbird must watch out for. Non-bird predators of the Red-Winged Blackbird include snakes, foxes, and raccoons.
Despite having many predators, the Red-Winged Blackbird will not be bullied around. It is known to defend its territory aggressively from anyone who attempts to move in on it. It has been seen attacking birds much larger than it, and it will even go after a human who may accidentally wander too close to the nest. If the Red-Winged Blackbird is able to survive predator attacks, it has been known to live up to nearly 16 years in the wild.