How to draw a barn swallow
Easy
One thing is enough to recognize a swallow: the forked tail. The rest is a small body and pointed wings. It takes five steps.
The dashed line is the wing line in the DrawBird canvas: everything above it flaps, everything below it stays as the body.
Step by step
1. Body first
Under the dashed line, draw a small, slim body and color it navy. A swallow isn't plump. Think of a pencil stretching forward.
2. Head and beak
Add a small head on the right of the body. Make the beak a tiny triangle. A swallow catches insects in the air with its mouth open, so it doesn't need a big beak.
3. Pointed wing
ABOVE the dashed line, draw a long, thin wing with a pointed tip. Curve it back a little. If you draw a round wing, your bird starts to look like a sparrow.
4. Forked tail
On the left of the body, draw a tail with two pointed tips. Make the outer tips long and let the middle dip inward. This is the swallow's signature.
5. Colors
Put a brick-red patch on the throat and a cream stripe under the belly. With these two colors, the navy back shines even more.
Done!
Barn swallow is ready. Now draw it in DrawBird, give it a name and let it loose in the sky.
Common mistakes
- Ending the tail flat. Without the fork, it's not a swallow.
- Drawing a plump body. A swallow is a slim, light bird.
- Making the wing short and round. The wing should be long and pointed.
What you should know about Barn swallow
- The barn swallow is 17–19 cm with its tail streamers and weighs 16–22 g.
- It catches its food in the air. It also drinks by flying low over the water.
- It builds its nest from hundreds of mud pellets that it carries in its beak.
- It spends the winter in Africa and often comes back to the place where it was born in spring.