A bird is not exactly my favorite thing to look at up close.  There; I’ve said it.  It’s not that I don’t like birds.  I really love them.  Hitchcock’s portrayal notwithstanding; they are really quite lovely.  It’s just that if I have to look at the their little beaks with those little frowns for any length of time, well; it’s a bit disconcerting.  I mean, other animals have smiles.  Cats, dogs, dolphins… but not birds.  All that cheery chirping is not reflected in their countenance.

Of course, I can change that.  I like giving them smiles when  I can…

my happy bird

my cute birds

my fashionable bird

… and dressing them up.

But for more serious drawings of particular birds I often end up looking at actual photos,   and there they are, practically scowling.

Give me your lunch money.

OOPS! That’s right; I stand corrected!

yeah, we're all smiles!

One of my recent assignments was this four pager for Ranger Rick magazine,  some of my favorite people to work with, on bird flocking behavior.  I suggested  a few other titles:  “The Birdy Bunch”, and “Hangin’ with my Peeps”,  but they passed on both.  I could see a bird saying “Marcia, Marcia , Marcia!” or some home-birds perched on a stoop.  O.K., perhaps some other time.

Here’s the spread in two sections.  Pastels, colored pencil and digital media.

Birds of a feather flock together, but so do birds of several varieties. When a flock of birds is feeding; usually one bird  acts as a sentinel and will be the first to sense danger. When that one takes off;  the rest take their cue almost instantaneously.

Acorn woodpeckers have lots of Moms and Dads (and sisters and brothers, too) who help feed the kids. It’s like a bird commune. (oh… I could have  put some Birkies on those bird feet… missed my chance.) They store acorns in the bark of trees that they have drilled holes into, like a pantry.

A hawk gets disoriented in the middle of a large flock of starlings.  Flash mob.

You have to be a “high” school grad    to be a leader in a flock of Canada geese.

Gulls, terns and cormorants are found together in feeding frenzies. Some snatch fish from the others, kind of like some families at dinner time.

I found the coolest video while looking for reference. The most amazing thing I’ve ever seen birds do: a  massive flock behavior called murmuration. The shapes morph into one another like a 3-D mobius strip. Displaying strength in numbers, they are trying to distract a predator. They are also making art. Similar to those rotating shoals of fish, it’s some kind of instinctual choreography.

OK, now let's make the shape of a giant bird.

The starlings’ displays are so complicated that they are being researched by physicists, aeronautical engineers, mathematicians and computer scientists, as well as biologists. Starling numbers are a fraction of what they used to be.  In recent years, the UK population , where most of the studies have been done, has crashed by up to 70%. The decline is believed to be due to the loss of permanent pastures, the use of pesticides and a shortage of food and nesting sites.