Painting Birds, One at a Time

Why Watercolor Birds?

Birds have captivated artists for centuries — from Audubon's meticulous field studies to the loose, luminous brushstrokes of contemporary watercolorists. There's something uniquely satisfying about capturing a living creature in paint: the iridescent shimmer of a hummingbird's throat, the subtle variations in a sparrow's brown plumage, the bold graphic contrast of a woodpecker.

This tool was built to make it easier for artists to practice regularly. The hardest part of a daily practice isn't picking up the brush — it's deciding what to paint. By connecting your location to real bird observation data, Watercolor Birds gives you a meaningful, regionally appropriate subject every time.

How the Bird Finder Works

When you click "Find Birds Near Me," we use your browser's geolocation to determine your approximate location. We then query the eBird API — maintained by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology — for recently observed birds within 50km of your location. From that list, we randomly select a species and pull reference information and an image from Wikipedia.

You can also choose from over 40 curated birding hotspots around the world, from the Everglades to Hokkaido, or hit "Surprise Me!" to be transported to a random location and discover an unexpected species.

The Color Advisor

One of the trickiest parts of painting birds is color mixing. A Robin's breast isn't simply "orange-red" — it's a complex warm tone that shifts from brick to amber depending on light. And finding the right paint in your specific brand's lineup requires experience that takes years to build.

The Color Advisor uses Claude AI to analyze a bird's plumage and suggest specific paints from your brand — whether you're using Daniel Smith's expansive range, the reliable Winsor & Newton Professional line, or student-grade Cotman colors. It provides hex approximations, usage guidance (which color goes where), and mixing tips to help you achieve the right tones.

How to Use This Site

• Daily gesture practice: Use the 2-minute timer to do a quick gesture study — just the overall shape and value pattern.
• Form studies: The 5-minute mode is great for capturing the basic structure and major color areas.
• Detailed study: The 10 or 20-minute timers invite closer observation — feather texture, eye highlights, foot structure.
• Color mixing practice: Before painting, use the Color Advisor to set up your palette, then try to mix the suggested colors by eye.
• Journal practice: Use the drawing prompt as a focus word — write it at the top of your page before you begin.

Data Sources & Attributions

Bird observation data is provided by eBird, a project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, used under their API terms. Bird images and descriptions are retrieved from Wikipedia via the Wikimedia REST API. AI color recommendations are generated by Anthropic's Claude.

This site is a personal project and is not affiliated with eBird, Cornell Lab, Wikipedia, or Anthropic.

Privacy

Your location is only used to query for local birds and is never stored on our servers. We don't track individual users or sell data. Read our full Privacy Policy for details.