North America’s littlest falcon, the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), packs a predator’s fierce intensity into its small body. Hunting for insects and other small prey in open territory, kestrels perch on wires or poles, or hover facing into the wind, flapping and adjusting their long tails to stay in place. Kestrels hide surplus kills in grass clumps, tree roots, bushes, fence posts, tree limbs, and cavities, to save the food for lean times or to hide it from thieves. Catch them by the hundreds at coastal migration sites—such as Cape May, New Jersey, or Kiptopeke, Virginia—in September or early October. Kestrels are declining in parts of their range; you can help them by putting up nest boxes.

Drawing resource: How to Draw a Hawk by Envato Tuts+

Quote of the day: “Birds were created to record everything. They were not designed just to be beautiful jewels in the sky, but to serve as the eyes of heaven.” – Suzy Kassem

Wild card: Purple Gallinule

Lurking in the marshes of the extreme southeastern U.S. lives one of the most vividly colored birds in all of North America. Purple Gallinule combine cherry red, sky blue, moss green, aquamarine, indigo, violet, and school-bus yellow, a color palette that blends surprisingly well with tropical and subtropical wetlands. Watch for these long-legged, long-toed birds stepping gingerly across water lilies and other floating vegetation as they hunt frogs and invertebrates or pick at tubers.

The Rules

1. LOOK for your daily group text which will include the Bird of the Day (sourced from this birdwatcher’s list). The photo above will link to the Audubon Society’s corresponding info page.
2. DRAW the bird. Any form, medium and interpretation is acceptable.
3. TEXT me (not the group) a photo of your bird creation by 11:59pm PT and I’ll upload all photos here each night. More manageable than receiving multiple bird texts a day, and a fun way to see everyone’s different styles grouped together!
4. HELP? A link to a random daily drawing tutorial will be posted simply because I need drawing help and inspiration. No need to use it. Found a cool resource? Please send it my way to share it here!
5. CONSISTENCY is key! It is more important than technique, perfection, and maybe even improvement.
6. FLEX your creativity muscle and challenge yourself to find a few (or more!) minutes every day to show up for yourself and the group!

About

This challenge was inspired at a watercolor class Claire and I attended in July. The instructor, Eileen McBride, and her sister took up watercolors as a way to stay connected during the COVID lockdown. Both nature lovers, they would take turns choosing a different bird each day to draw and share, which turned out to be a great way to stay connected to each other and also to their creative selves. Further exploration led to finding the artist Neiko Ng who did a similar bird-a-day personal challenge with the motto, “A bird a day keeps depression away” and the content creator Struthless who says drawing an ibis everyday changed his life.