Journal Entry #12—Drawing Bird Feet and Rescuing a Starling -

This week we finally got a much needed, long-soaking rain. Today, I’ve been watching a woodpecker feeding her baby from the feeder. The baby was squeaking and hopping around on the branch above while the momma pecked away at the suet block and then flew up to him to feed him.

European Starling Image by TheOtherKev from Pixabay

Earlier this week, we rescued a baby Starling that had fallen out of the nest from the vent of the house. We left it alone for the first day, as it was in a safe area of the yard and it was squawking and stumbling around chasing bugs. The parents were nearby, but, by evening, we noticed he was getting more tired and not really flying much. He also seemed to have something wrong with his legs. Again, we left him alone, thinking that he just needed time to strengthen his wings and would be able to fly soon.

The next day, however, he was not doing well. So we caught him and looked him over and sure enough, his back toes were completely curled under the front ones and he could not use them to perch with at all. We called a nearby wildlife rehabilitator and dropped him off with them to be cared for. He was put in with a bunch of other baby Starlings and is learning how to perch and feed himself before they release him.

I have been doing a little nature journaling this week using John Muir Laws’ videos and one that was really interesting was drawing bird feet. He showed how bird feet are shaped and how they use them. He also went through a few books on birds and showed how different illustrators drew (or did not draw), bird feet in the guides.

So this was a fun drawing lesson and when I held the Starling, I got a close up look at the feet and how they worked. I put my finger under the back toe to see if it would grab. The toe would press back into my finger just a bit, but was weak. I kept moving my finger between the toes to see how they would try to ‘perch’ by flexing and grabbing. I could tell his were underdeveloped and he needed more time before he could be on his own. So we called the wildlife rehabilitation center.

Now when I’m out birdwatching, I use my binoculars to observe bird feet everywhere I see a bird. They are really interesting how they function differently on each species and I can’t wait to get back to drawing bird feet again. You can watch the video below, and even if you don’t draw, it’s interesting learning from John Muir Laws on all aspects of nature.

How to Draw Bird Legs and Feet