вЂњA lot of people have said to me, вЂYouвЂ™ve changed my opinions on pigeons. This ability to see birds in a different light-as funny, quirky individuals rather than ever-present beingsВ that blend into the background-has slowly started to spread to the artistsвЂ™ followers. An indignant Royal Flycatcher, for instance:ДЄ post shared by Birdstrips on at 9:27pm PDT Though each of these artistsвЂ™ work often tackle life's more serious issues, thereвЂ™s also plenty of time spent just admiring how amazing birds are and imagining different personalities for them-often playing off their names, plumage, and general expressions. Followers quickly identified the bird as a White-throated Sparrow. For instance, when she was visiting her grandparents in British Columbia and couldnвЂ™t figure out what bird she kept hearing there, she recorded the song and posted a video of it on Instagram.

But now that she publishes Birdstrips, sheвЂ™s learned more about birds from her community of followers. Thomas grew up in a small town with a bird-enthusiast mom, so she had been able to identify the common birds in her childhood neighborhood from sound or sight. вЂњI even know the scientific name for a lot of species of birds now that I draw, and that comes from just trying to find reliably good reference pictures.вЂќ вЂњI thought I was generally aware of what bird species were, and I was not,вЂќ he says. Barkman says heвЂ™s learned a lot about birds out of necessity, as he works to avoid common missteps, like drawing a raven when he really meant to draw a crow.ДЄ post shared by Janie Stapleton on at 3:22pm PDT While observingВ bird behavior and using reference photos can lead toВ realistic depictions of their subjects, thereВ has also been a learning curve for artists worried about being scientifically accurate. TheyвЂ™re my absolute favorite animals to watch.вЂќ вЂњThey have their little social cliques, and they're kind of petty. вЂњTheyвЂ™re a lot like us,вЂќ says Stapleton, who started drawing comics regularly about a year ago. Janie strip make light of lifeвЂ™s common challenges, like stress and flirting.ДЇor many of these artists, itвЂ™s the fact that birds are social and expressive-the sparrows bopping around stealing food from one another the crows with their disgruntled faces and confident swagger-that makes them such great subjects to project human behavior onto. Meanwhile,В the birds in Janie StapletonвЂ™s St.

In Birdstrips, a comic started in 2017 by Montreal-based artist Jess Thomas, birds grapple with feelings of aimlessness and uncertainty. BarkmanвЂ™s comic-which has an Instagram following of nearly 200,000-isn't as serious as MullinвЂ™s his birds ponder life questions from time to time, but they also poke fun at humans and other avians. Take False Knees, a comic strip by Joshua Barkman, whoвЂ™s been drawing birds (and other city animals) since 2011. And in the process, theyвЂ™re helping spread their appreciation of birds to the online masses. They, like other comic artists, are finding a home on Instagram, a social platform thatвЂ™s a natural fit for the square images and minimal text of the comic strip. Mullin is part of a small but passionate group of comic artists who have found birds to be excellent mediums for depicting lifeвЂ™s ups and downs. вЂњIf people could be a bit nicer to pigeons, then thatвЂ™s amazing.вЂќ But thereвЂ™s another reason why Chuck Mullin, the London-based creator of the strip, draws these comics: to spread her undying love of pigeons to the world. On its face, Chuck Draws Things is a web comic about mental health featuringВ relatable scenarios about the anxiety and depression felt by a plucky, googley-eyed pigeon. A post shared by False Knees on at 6:24pm PST

Bird bell hat comic