Last updated: September 11, 2024 by the Homemade Gifts Coloring Team
Color these free, printable bird coloring pages with your friends, your kids, your students, or anyone else you’d like to share them with. Birds come in so many shapes and colors, making them the perfect animal for endless coloring fun. We have a wide variety of bird species to choose from, so get your bird watching spirit on, and find the most brilliant bird for you.
Birds are one of the most diverse creatures on the planet. Some birds have vibrant, colorful feathers, while other birds serenade you with beautiful songs. Some birds are majestic, like the American Eagle, while other birds are tiny – you’ll find hummingbird coloring pages here. There are even birds that cannot fly, like emus and penguins! Each continent has unique birds of their own. I adore each and every one (except magpies in swooping season!). My own backyard, in Western Australia, can be filled with pretty parrots, cockatoos, doves and kookaburras. There are SO many different birds around the world, and we’ve packed plenty into our fun bird coloring pages.
You can grab as many of these free bird coloring pages as you wish. Print a bunch of bird coloring pages for a birthday party or for a rainy day activity at home. Let your imagination loose – there’s no wrong way to use these printable bird PDFs, whether you like the cute images or the more realistic, detailed pages.
Cute Bird Coloring Pages
What’s your favorite bird? We have flamingo, parrot, owl, eagle, and cardinal coloring pages – just to name a few! Color in your own special bird. Some of these cute bird coloring pages are in a cartoon style, while others are realistic and more detailed.
Easy Bird Coloring Pages for Kids
Check out these free, printable bird coloring pages that pay homage to our feathered friends. It will be hard to choose just one, so why not color a few!
Realistic Bird Coloring Pages for Adults
Do you have teenagers or want a challenge for yourself? Try one of these detailed printable bird coloring pages that feature complex designs. Our tip? Sharpen up your colored pencils!
Coloring Tips for Your Free Bird Coloring Pages
The color scheme for birds is only limited by your own imagination! This makes coloring birds a whole lot of fun for kids. For teens and adults coloring a bird coloring sheet, you can include a lot of complexity, with highlights and shading to give the birds a realistic look. Here are our 5 top coloring tips:
Choose a Color Palette
When coloring a bird, selecting the right color palette is crucial for bringing the bird to life. You can either observe real birds or do a little online research and google pictures of the bird you are choosing to color. They don’t even need to be realistic! For children, it’s great to encourage them to experiment with bright, imaginative colors to make their artwork playful. Birds are a perfect subject to unleash your creativity, so feel free to mix nature with fantasy!
Use Different Shades
Adding depth and dimension to your bird coloring page can teach kids and adults alike how to layer colors. For instance, if you’re coloring a bluebird, use a light blue pencil or crayon for the base layer, then darker blues to shade areas like under the wings or around its belly. It will give your feathered friend plenty of character!
Add Feather Textures
Feathers give birds their unique appearance, and capturing that texture in coloring is a must. Adults may enjoy using fine strokes to create the illusion of individual feathers, especially around the bird’s wings and tail. For younger artists, it’s best to simplify this by showing them how to use short, consistent lines to mimic the look of feathers. This technique not only adds texture but also makes the bird look more lifelike.
Focus on the Background
Adding a nature-filled background can really enhance your bird coloring page. Kids will enjoy filling in a sky with fluffy clouds, trees, or even a colorful rainbow. Adults can add more complex environments, like a forest canopy. A simple grassy or leafy background can ground the bird and make it appear as though it’s in its natural habitat. Plus, backgrounds provide a great opportunity to practice blending colors for sky, water, or foliage.
Add Highlights and Shadows
To make your bird look realistic, focus on where the light hits and where shadows fall. Use lighter colors or a white pencil to add highlights to areas like the top of the bird’s head, beak, and wings, where the sun might naturally hit. Use darker shades under the bird’s wings or belly to create shadows. Children can grasp the idea that adding a little darkness under the wings or feet will make the bird seem three-dimensional, like it could fly right off the page!
10 Fun Bird Facts for Kids
Want to learn more about beautiful birds? Besides all birds beginning life in an egg, having wings, not having teeth (wouldn’t that be weird?!) and sporting fabulous feathers, there’s plenty more to know about these cool creatures. Here’s some more fun bird facts:
- There are estimated to be around 10,000 different species of birds around the world.
- Owls can move their heads almost 360 degrees – that is because they cannot move their eyes at all.
- The world’s population of birds is thought to be somewhere between 50 billion and 430 billion! We are definitely outnumbered.
- There is one bird that can fly backward – the Hummingbird. They also can beat their wings up to 80 times per second – that’s fast!
- The most common bird in the world is the domestic chicken, with a population of about 30 billion chickens.
- American Flamingos have pink feathers because they eat lots of shrimp!
- The ostrich is the largest bird in the world. They can’t fly, but they can run really fast! Plus, its brain is smaller than its eyeballs – lol.
- Want to know the fastest bird? That’s the peregrine falcon! Its diving speed during flight can reach more than 300 km (186 miles) per hour.
- The northern cardinal is the most popular “state bird” of not one, but seven US states. These include Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, North Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia.
- Some birds sing in notes too high for the human ear to hear.
Fish Coloring Pages
Hpw about some fin and feather? I always love coloring birds because they allow me to use any color scheme I want. If you’re looking for more colorful creatures to practice your different palettes on, check out our Fish Coloring Pages. These coloring sheets offer plenty of opportunities to try out every color in your pencil box!
Looking for More Coloring Pages?
The coloring fun doesn’t need to stop with birds. Maybe you’re more of a cat person? Or how about dogs? Be sure to check out our many free and fun printable coloring themes in our full collection of coloring pages.
Animal Coloring Pages
Shark Coloring Pages
Horse Coloring Pages
Puppy Coloring Pages
Dog Coloring Pages
Kitten Coloring Pages
Cat Coloring Pages
Bunny Coloring Pages
Fox Coloring Pages
Wolf Coloring Pages
Lion Coloring Pages
Giraffe Coloring Pages
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Frog Coloring Pages
Bird Coloring Pages
