In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Yellow Headed Blackbird in 6 easy steps - great for kids and novice artists.
The images above represent 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 Yellow Headed Blackbird.
Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.
How to Draw a Yellow Headed Blackbird - Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Let's draw the head of our yellow-headed blackbird first. Make the head rounded and the beak close to the top of the head. Draw the neck.
Step 2: Give your bird an eye, and then draw a sideways T inside the beak to separate it and give it detail. This bird's song sounds like a rusty gate being opened!
Step 3: Draw a straight line down the back and then a curved line from the chin down. Leave a space open for the tail.
Step 4: Then add the tail. The feathers on the end are long and finger-like.
Step 5: Now add legs to your bird. They are thin lines that are mostly straight.
Step 6: Lastly, draw the feather markings. Draw a wiggly line from the bottom of the beak around the chin, to the neck and around the top half of the belly. If you color your bird, make that part yellow. Add a few more lines to add feathery details. The rest of your bird is black. That's it, your yellow-headed blackbird is complete!
Interesting Facts about the Yellow-Headed Blackbird
The yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) lives near in cattail marshes in North America. During the winter, these birds migrate to the southwest United States and Mexico.
Did you know?
- They are named for the black body and yellow head and breast of the males, while the females have brown bodies and yellow breasts.
- The yellow-headed blackbird nests in colonies, which they sometimes share with the red-winged blackbird.
- Although they may share their nesting grounds, the males are very territorial and spend much of their time guarding their nests from unwanted visitors.
- The yellow-headed blackbird has a distinct song, similar to the sound of a rusted hinge opening.
- During the summer, these birds prefer freshwater marshes surrounded by cattail and other high grasses. During the winter and outside of nesting season you will often find them in huge flocks across farmlands, feeding with species of birds that are related to them.
- These birds eat mostly seeds and insects.
Lesson plan note: Often, birds will spread seeds that help plants grow in the next season. Talk about how the yellow-headed blackbirds feeding in farmland with other birds might be both useful and detrimental to these areas.
How to Draw a Yellow-Headed Blackbird – Step-by-Step Tutorial