A little more detail · about 15 minutes

How to Draw a Simple Bird

Two ovals do most of the work: a larger one for the body, a smaller one for the head, overlapping at the neck. The beak, wing, eye, and legs are added only after those two shapes overlap in a way that looks attached.

Materials Pencil, paper, eraser. A black pen is optional for the final outline and the eye.

Step 1

Draw a horizontal oval for the body. Leave space on the left for the head and above for nothing much. The bird faces left in this version.

Step 2

Add a smaller circle for the head, overlapping the left end of the body. The head sits a little higher than the center of the body. If the circles only touch at a point, move the head closer so they overlap.

Step 3

Add a small triangle on the left of the head for the beak, pointing the same way the bird faces. Add one curve on the body for the wing. The wing starts near the neck and ends on the lower body.

Step 4

Add the eye on the head, in front of the center and above the beak line. Add a small tail at the right of the body, and two thin legs dropping from the underside. The legs are sticks, not a second body.

Step 5

Trace one outer outline so the head and body share a neck instead of two floating circles. Erase the overlap you no longer need. Keep the beak attached to the head, on the same side as the eye.

Finished

The finished bird still shows the two original masses: head and body. The beak points left, with the eye.

A common miss

A beak on the right while the eye and head sit on the left. The beak belongs on the face side. If the bird faces left, both the eye and the beak are on the left.

One variation

Add a short horizontal branch under the feet, a single line thicker than the legs. The bird does not change. It just has somewhere to stand.

Related: Cat face, Easy cloud.