How to draw a hummingbird — easy step by step drawing ideas

Hummingbird drawing ideas have a special sparkle in the studio. A hummingbird is the tiniest, fastest, most jewel-like bird there is, and it comes with its own scenery — a flower to drink from. Children love the idea of a bird small enough to sit in a spoon, and learning how to draw a hummingbird is really learning how to draw a little green teardrop with a needle for a beak, hovering beside a flower.

I like this tutorial because the bird itself is quick and simple, which leaves plenty of time and energy for the flower. Children who worry about getting an animal “right” relax when the whole bird is done in three steps, and then they pour all their care into the petals. The finished picture always looks like a little garden moment, and it is one of the prettiest drawings on the site.

In this tutorial we will build a cheerful emerald hummingbird hovering beside a pink flower in six easy steps, following the practice sheet below. I will share the pro tips I use when teaching it, the mistakes that trip up nearly every beginner, and quick fixes for when your hummingbird starts looking like a sparrow. Grab a pencil and a green crayon, and let us draw.

The 6 steps to easy hummingbird drawing ideas

Step 1 — Draw the body and head

Start with the body, in the middle-right of the paper, leaving room on the left for the beak and the flower. Draw a small teardrop shape tilted so the round end is up and to the left where the head is, and the pointed end trails down and to the right where the tail will go. Head and body are one shape — a hummingbird is a tiny, compact bird with no real neck.

Keep the whole shape small. A hummingbird should look tiny even on the page, and that leaves plenty of room for the wings and the flower. Keep the pencil light; you will darken the keeper lines at the end.

Step 2 — Add the beak and eye

Here is the step that makes a hummingbird a hummingbird. From the front of the head, draw the beak: a long, very thin line reaching forward and slightly down, with a second line just beneath it, meeting at a fine point. It should be about as long as the head is wide, and as thin as a needle. Do not be tempted to make it short or chunky.

Then draw one big round eye on the side of the head, just above the base of the beak, with a smaller dark circle inside and a white shine dot in the corner. Add a soft blush circle on the cheek below the eye. Only one eye shows from the side, so make it big and bright.

Step 3 — Add the wings

From the top of the back, draw the wings: two narrow, pointed shapes sweeping up and back, one slightly in front of the other, like two little leaves or blades raised above the body. They should be about as long as the body, thin, and pointing up and away from the head. Hummingbirds hover with their wings raised, so the wings go up, not down.

Inside each wing, add two or three long curved lines from the base toward the tip for feathers. If you like, draw a couple of faint curved lines beside the wings for a hint of motion blur. Keep the wings light and airy.

Step 4 — Add the tail

At the pointed back end of the body, draw the tail: two or three short pointed feathers fanning out downward, like a small fork or a little open fan. The tail is short — not much longer than the head is wide — and it points down and back, away from the beak.

Keep it small and neat. A long tail makes the hummingbird look like a swallow; a short forked tail keeps it looking tiny and quick. That is the bird finished; everything from here on is decoration.

Step 5 — Add the flower and throat patch

In front of the beak, draw a flower: a small circle for the center, then five or six rounded petals around it like a daisy, with the tip of the beak just touching the edge of the petals. Below the flower, draw a stem curving down, with a leaf or two on it. Keep the flower about the same size as the bird's body so the two balance each other.

Then draw the throat patch: a small rounded shape on the front of the bird just under the beak, like a little bib, which will be colored bright red. That splash of red at the throat is the hummingbird's famous flash of color, and it is the last detail the drawing needs.

Step 6 — Finish and color

Darken the lines you want to keep and erase any guide lines. Then color: fill the head, back, wings and tail a bright emerald green, color the belly cream, and fill the throat patch a bright red. The beak is dark grey or black. Color the flower petals pink with a yellow center, and the stem and leaves green.

Add pink to the blush cheek and leave the shine dot in the eye uncolored so it sparkles. Then give your hummingbird somewhere to be — a few more flowers, a garden fence, a bright sun, a second hummingbird. Sign your name in the corner; every finished drawing deserves a signature.

Common mistakes to avoid

A short, thick beak

This is the mistake that turns more hummingbirds into sparrows than any other. A normal bird beak on a small green bird is just a small green bird.

Make the beak as long as the head is wide and as thin as a needle, drawn in one confident stroke. It should look almost too long — that is correct.

Wings folded flat

Wings drawn flat against the body make the hummingbird look like it is sitting on a branch, and it loses the magic of hovering.

Raise the wings up above the back, sweeping up and away from the head, and add a couple of faint curves beside them for motion.

A body that is too big

A large body makes the hummingbird look like a parrot. The whole charm of a hummingbird is how tiny it is.

Keep the body small — about the size of the flower — and let the wings and beak be the largest parts of the bird.

Troubleshooting

“My hummingbird looks like a sparrow”

Lengthen and thin the beak, raise the wings above the back, shrink the tail to a short fork, and add the red throat patch. The beak alone usually fixes it.

“It looks like it is falling”

The body is probably tilted the wrong way or the wings are pointing down. Tilt the body so the head leans toward the flower, raise the wings, and make sure the beak touches the flower so the bird has somewhere to be.

“The flower looks bigger than the bird”

That is fine if it is only a little bigger — hummingbirds are tiny. But if the flower is dwarfing the bird, redraw the petals a bit smaller so the two are roughly the same size.

Key takeaways

FAQ

What age is this hummingbird drawing tutorial for? The six-step version works from about age 5 with a grown-up nearby, and most kids around 7 and up can follow the sheet on their own. The bird is tiny and simple; the flower is the part children spend the longest on.

How long should the beak be? Long: about as long as the head is wide, and very thin, like a needle or a sewing pin. A short thick beak turns the hummingbird into a sparrow. The long thin beak is the single most important hummingbird feature.

What materials do we need? A pencil, an eraser, paper, and crayons or markers in emerald green for the body, red for the throat patch, cream for the belly, and pink and green for the flower. Any bright colors work for the bird, though.

How do I make the wings look like they are moving? Draw them raised up above the back rather than folded flat, and add a couple of light curved lines beside each wing for motion. Real hummingbird wings move so fast they blur, so a hint of movement looks right.

That is your hummingbird! Whether it came out tiny and precise or a little bit wobbly, you built the smallest bird in the world and its flower out of a teardrop and a needle — and that belongs on the fridge. Keep the sheet handy, draw a whole garden of flowers with a hummingbird at each one, and come back tomorrow for a new tutorial.

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