In this quick tutorial you'll learn how to draw a Barn Swallow in 7 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 Barn Swallow.
Make sure you also check out any of the hundreds of drawing tutorials grouped by category.
How to Draw a Barn Swallow - Step-by-Step Tutorial
Step 1: Draw the head and face. The barn swallow’s head can be drawn as a dome with a sharp, triangular beak pointing straight out. A large fluffy tuft of feathers, or plumage, shows where the head meets the body. A simple round shape above the beak shows the swallow’s eye.
Step 2: Draw the wing as a long, round horizontal shape that ends in more tufts of feathers like on the neck.
Step 3: Add another layer of wings, diagonal and below the back of the first wing. These will also end in fluffs of plumage.
Step 4: Draw the tail. Use a long sloping line from the end of the large wing that comes to a point and meets back with the smaller diagonal wings.
Step 5: Draw the body. Connect the back of the head with the larger top wing, and then draw a soft L-shaped line from the bottom of the neck to the bottom of the tail and smaller wings.
Step 6: Draw the wing and tail on the other side of the swallow’s body. These will be tiny lines that show only bits of the edges of the wing and tail, like the ones you already drew on the front.
Step 7: Lastly, draw the two feet. Two slanted, narrow lines from the bottom of the body make the legs, while a small crescent shape becomes the swallow’s feet.
Interesting Facts about the Barn swallow
The barn swallow is a type of bird which is the most commonly found type of swallow all across the world. It is a very easy bird to spot because it is a vibrant and beautiful blue body with a reddish orange face and throat with a long forked tail that has pointed wings. These birds are around
Did you know?
- The barn swallow will fly in a zig-zag pattern while going 11 meters per second, and most often fly only slightly above the surface of the ground or water, to scoop up water to drink during flight breaks
- You may often hear these little birds making different calls if it is happy, scared, excited or trying to attract birds of the opposite gender
- These birds will make nests in caves or cliffs and in more populated areas will make nests barns, bridges, and other types of buildings
- These nests are made of mud and the saliva of the birds which are made by both the male and female together between the May and June months
- When the female lays her eggs she normally lays between 3 to 7 eggs at one time which only need to be incubated for 12 to 17 days
How to Draw a Barn Swallow – Step-by-Step Tutorial