Bird Lab

Migration, song, and plumage. These are some important aspects of birds. Today we talked about birds, learned about birds, and drew them. Dr. Matt Reudink gave our class a presentation about birds. He explained that migration is a natural process, whereby different birds fly over distances of hundreds and thousands of kilometres in order to find the best ecological conditions and habitats for feeding, breeding and raising their young. When the conditions at breeding sites become unfavourable due to low temperatures, migratory birds fly to regions where conditions are better. There are many different migration patterns. The majority of birds migrate from northern breeding areas in the summer, to southern wintering grounds. Migratory birds have the perfect morphology and physiology that enables them to fly fast and across long distances. However, their journey is often an exhausting one during which they go to their limits. Matt mentioned how birds’ bulk up before their journey. For example, the ruby-throated hummingbird will begin its journey weighing six grams, then fly non-stop until it reaches its wintering grounds, and by the time it reaches its wintering grounds, it will weight three grams!

            After Matt’s guest lecture, the class watched a short video on how to sketch birds. We all opened our field journals, chose a bird to sketch and began to attempt drawing a bird onto our pages. In sketching these birds, we are telling a story about the species. Telling stories with visuals is an ancient art.  We have been drawing pictures on cave walls for centuries. It’s like the perfect picture book. The art and the text stand alone, but together, they create something even better. Those who need to can grab onto those graphic elements and find their way into the story of these field journals. There is something sensitive in sketching, the gentle strokes on paper create something that will not look like anyone else’s. Sketching is like a dance, since it is process as much as it is product, and you can turn your mind off and dissolve into the now. While in class I had trouble sketching an Eastern Meadowlark, I found that I needed to relax with each stroke of my pencil and let my hand form the curves of the head, body, and wings. The more I relaxed, the more I became less worried about perfection; as a result, my drawing was proportioned and accurate looking. Marc Chagall once said that great art picks up where nature ends. It is difficult to re-create nature through art; however, with some effort you can evoke the great outdoors.

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