Hummingbirds are a diverse and fascinating family, with the important ecological role as pollinators, especially in the tropics where both flowering plants and hummers reach their greatest biological diversity. 
In North America, hummingbirds visit and pollinate such flowers as the trumpet honeysuckle, scarlet beebalm, lemon beebalm, wild bergamot, cardinal flower, and trumpet creeper, columbine as well as native salvias.
I’ve been lucky in my travels to see and draw such colorful hummers like the Violet Sabrewings in Honduras, Red-billed Streamertails in Jamaica, Booted Racket-tails in Peru, and Magnificent Hummingbirds in Arizona. As you can see, hummingbird names are as whimsical as their behavior. The large tropical species are often named for their brilliant iridescent coloration, for example, the jewelfront, shining sunbeam, starfrontlet and amethyst-throated sunangel. With names like that who wouldn’t be captivated and enchanted by these energetic and entertaining birds?
Hummingbird Sketching Videos
Hummingbirds are easier to learn to draw than one might think, so watch my tutorials below to learn how! You may enjoy using my downloadable handouts (listed below the video) to use as you watch and follow along.
CLICK HERE to download the hummingbird image I use in the demonstration
Hummingbird Sketching Handouts
I’ve created some handouts to get you started observing and sketching hummingbirds below.
CLICK HERE to download the Step-by-Step Guide to Drawing a Hummingbird (as seen below)
CLICK HERE To download high-resolution PDF(as seen below)
MORE HUMMINGBIRD SKETCHING RESOURCES
- Caribbean Hummingbirds Sketching Workshop Video (includes demonstrations of Streamertails and Bee Hummingbirds.)
- Rufous Hummingbirds Sketching Workshop Video
- Bird Coloring Pages
More Bird Resources on this Website
Here are some more stories, videos, and bird sketching resources I’ve written.
World Migratory Bird Day and Why Birds Migrate
My Costa Rica Birding Big (sketching) Day
Identifying Warblers in the Spring
A Black-headed Grosbeak Nest (video)
LEARN MORE ABOUT SKETCHING BIRDS
If you’d like to learn more about birds and how to sketch and paint them, check out my online courses including:
– Stick Figures to Songbirds in Sixty Minutes
– Sketching Backyard Birds for Beginners
– Sketching Neotropical Birds: my newest course which comes bundled with the previous two and so gives you the best deal!
