Call of the Birds

Birds are a favorite subject of mine.

They are beautiful, varied, and graceful, for sure, but one of the things I appreciate most is their song. They are start early in the morning announcing that the day is beginning and go quiet at night, before storms, etc., telling us it’s time to shelter. We hear many calls throughout the day as they narrate their lives - we regularly hear versions of “feed me”, “warning”, and “look at me” to name a few.

For me, though, birds do something else.

Beyond trying to identify them based on my years of observation or occasionally turning to Merlin when a call is unfamiliar—their voices prompt me to attention. Once I do, I begin to wonder about them, and that curiosity often finds its way into a painting or a drawing.

I actually have a long list of birds who regularly compete to become art subjects: song sparrows, white-throated sparrows, goldfinches, house finches, catbirds, mourning doves, white-breasted nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, robins, and all manner of corvids.

I drew this Northern Flicker after hearing them while waiting on my daughter to finish her piano lesson. I remember walking around looking up into the trees to locate the source of calls. It turned out to be three beautiful flickers actively moving from oak to oak.

I don’t know what they were doing, but I was struck by how elegant and intricately patterned they were. As I went on about my day, I kept thinking about those birds and their calls. The next afternoon, I began a drawing,.

With the birds around to redirect my attention, I don’t think I’ll run out of ideas and inspiration anytime soon.

Continue Exploring: Return of the Nuthatches journal entry, Featured Bird Gallery, Wren card set, Crow in the Rain print, Drawing at Night journal entry