[Ki-Mono]

Doing research on drawing birds is hard simply because there are so many different types of birds that come in all shapes and sizes. Their wings, necks, body shapes, and beaks can greatly differ from bird to bird. So I recommend studying different kinds of birds and what is the same about them and what is different.

For this drawing I went with a simple canary for the standing pose. I actually don't know what type of bird I used for the top down drawing, but it seems very similar. I am not good at birds at all, so you'll have to forgive my lack of knowledge when it comes to random bird facts and tips. On the bright side, I do love to draw wings.

When it comes to drawing wings, both the anatomy and feathers can be separated into 3 sections.
Wings aren't just all feathers and actually have a skeleton that runs through it. Wings are a bird's arms and "hands". And are actually quite similar to ours. For a visual, I drew one up for you, but you can also check out the ref I used for it here. There is the upper arm (the part that attaches to the shoulder), the forearm, and then the "hand". They bend in the similar ways as our arms as well, usually just in more extremes. One thing to be aware of is that the size of each of these parts are greatly different from bird to bird. So be sure to look up references of what kind you want to draw beforehand. A general tip is that the upper arm is usually shorter then the forearm (unlike with humans where it's usually equal). It's hard to describe their "hands", but visualize yourself about to give someone a handshake; From that angle, a bird can bend their "hand" all the way down to the point it folds in on its self. You, most likely, can't bend your hand down very far in that position.

Once you have the basic shape, now it's time to put feathers on it. feathers can also be sectioned off into 3 parts. The 'top" feathers are covering over the actual skeleton part, and are usually small a layered. The "bottom" feathers are usually quite long, and don't have bones running through them. These feathers are strictly for flight, and are the parts that are clipped by those who do not want their pet bird flying away. The last part is the "connecting" section. I personally don't know how to describe this part very well, but it extends over both top and bottom parts and is generally where the shoulder is located. These feathers are usually very small, and I wouldn't bother drawing them individually.
I'm not gonna attempt to explain how feathers fold into each other, so here's a simple gif showing it.

Some other general anatomy:
The eyes of a bird are always on the sides of the head, expect for birds like owls; which on on the front (like ours).
Necks are usually not very defined simply because of all the feather fluff around them. So the body and the head usually just kinda, meld into each other. Exceptions would be birds like cranes.
On a birds feet the legs always bend backwards (the opposite of ours). On most birds, half of the leg is hidden away under feather fluff, while on others (like flamingos) have long legs that show both halves.
All birds have tail feathers, simply because without them they couldn't steer their bodies when they flew. The size and length of these tails differ from bird to bird, so look at references before drawing them. They also spread out and fold in on themselves, just like the arm feathers. However, this is usually less noticeable.

I hope I covered everything and this is helpful. I personally don't know a lot about birds, so if any information I give here is incorrect, please correct me!! Everything written here is based off observations made while looking at references for the drawing. My actual knowledge of bird anatomy is little.

Refs used: x x x

[-SilverLining-]

Doing research on drawing birds is hard simply because there are so many different types of birds that come in all shapes and sizes. Their wings, necks, body shapes, and beaks can greatly differ from bird to bird. So I recommend studying different kinds of birds and what is the same about them and what is different.

For this drawing I went with a simple canary for the standing pose. I actually don't know what type of bird I used for the top down drawing, but it seems very similar. I am not good at birds at all, so you'll have to forgive my lack of knowledge when it comes to random bird facts and tips. On the bright side, I do love to draw wings.

When it comes to drawing wings, both the anatomy and feathers can be separated into 3 sections.
Wings aren't just all feathers and actually have a skeleton that runs through it. Wings are a bird's arms and "hands". And are actually quite similar to ours. For a visual, I drew one up for you, but you can also check out the ref I used for it here. There is the upper arm (the part that attaches to the shoulder), the forearm, and then the "hand". They bend in the similar ways as our arms as well, usually just in more extremes. One thing to be aware of is that the size of each of these parts are greatly different from bird to bird. So be sure to look up references of what kind you want to draw beforehand. A general tip is that the upper arm is usually shorter then the forearm (unlike with humans where it's usually equal). It's hard to describe their "hands", but visualize yourself about to give someone a handshake; From that angle, a bird can bend their "hand" all the way down to the point it folds in on its self. You, most likely, can't bend your hand down very far in that position.

Once you have the basic shape, now it's time to put feathers on it. feathers can also be sectioned off into 3 parts. The 'top" feathers are covering over the actual skeleton part, and are usually small a layered. The "bottom" feathers are usually quite long, and don't have bones running through them. These feathers are strictly for flight, and are the parts that are clipped by those who do not want their pet bird flying away. The last part is the "connecting" section. I personally don't know how to describe this part very well, but it extends over both top and bottom parts and is generally where the shoulder is located. These feathers are usually very small, and I wouldn't bother drawing them individually.
I'm not gonna attempt to explain how feathers fold into each other, so here's a simple gif showing it.

Some other general anatomy:
The eyes of a bird are always on the sides of the head, expect for birds like owls; which on on the front (like ours).
Necks are usually not very defined simply because of all the feather fluff around them. So the body and the head usually just kinda, meld into each other. Exceptions would be birds like cranes.
On a birds feet the legs always bend backwards (the opposite of ours). On most birds, half of the leg is hidden away under feather fluff, while on others (like flamingos) have long legs that show both halves.
All birds have tail feathers, simply because without them they couldn't steer their bodies when they flew. The size and length of these tails differ from bird to bird, so look at references before drawing them. They also spread out and fold in on themselves, just like the arm feathers. However, this is usually less noticeable.

I hope I covered everything and this is helpful. I personally don't know a lot about birds, so if any information I give here is incorrect, please correct me!! Everything written here is based off observations made while looking at references for the drawing. My actual knowledge of bird anatomy is little.

Refs used: x x x

Noice. marking!!

[OriGalaxii]

I'm just marking this, it's helpful^^