This is the first in a series of posts about NOT drawing a bird, but instead, drawing lots of things ABOUT birds. (Notice how this is different from videos about how “not to” draw a bird, which implies there are “wrong” ways to draw a bird… when really, the only wrong way is to not try at all!)

Bird calls and songs are important both for identifying birds and also enjoying them. But how do you make a visual image of something that you hear?

Here is a more in-depth explanation of this process from John Muir Laws. I used an image from his book in my video as an example of drawing birdsong: The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling.

This video gives a brief overview of spectrograms, which are the scientific way of plotting, measuring, and comparing bird songs.

Lesson Plans

If you’d like to teach about bird sounds, here are some a free lesson plans for you to use.

Drawing Birdsong: https://www.wildwonder.org/activity-forest-karaoke

For online learning, play the birdsong hero game: https://academy.allaboutbirds.org/features/birdsong/bird-song-hero-challenge

Learning more about spectrograms and the science of sound: https://celebrateurbanbirds.org/learn/science/exploring-sound-activity/

A comprehensive education on birding by ear: https://www.audubon.org/section/birding-ear

Other Fun Ways to Transcribe Birdsong

Birdsong as musical notes: https://alexanderliebermann.com/birdsong-a-musical-field-guide

Birdsong with embroidery: https://egausa.org/community-spotlight-ana-luiza-catalano-needle-painting-birds-and-their-songs/