How to Draw a Parrot

Imagine this pretty parrot mimicking your every word as it sits on its perch. It may look challenging to draw, but these instructions make it easy.

Learn how to draw this parrot.
Learn how to draw this parrot.

In this section, we’ll show you how to draw the above parrot. Either draw it freehand while looking at your computer monitor or print out this page to get a closer look at each step.

Follow the red lines in each illustration to learn exactly what to draw in that step. The lines drawn in previous steps are shown in gray. We’ll show you an illustration of each step and then give you a description of how to draw it.

Draw the basic shapes for the parrot's body, head, tail, and wing.

Step 1: Draw a kidney-bean shape for the body and a circle for the head. Add long teardrop shapes for the tail and wing.

Sketch the parrot's eyes, beak, legs, and perch.

Step 2: Draw ovals for the eyes and pupils. Add two shapes for the top and bottom of the beak. Put in two circles for the upper legs as well as two rectangles for the lower legs. Add a branch shape with a leaf at one end.

Next, draw the parrot's claws and feather detail.

Step 3: Draw four crescent-moon shapes for the claws grabbing the branch. Add some curved lines around the body to give the shapes some feather details. Put in some feathers on top of the head.

Detail your parrot drawing as shown here.

Step 4: Draw more feathers on the inside of the wing and tail. Add a nostril and eyelashes. Put a center line on the leaf and a swirl on the branch end.

Trace over the lines you want to keep with a felt-tip pen.

Step 5: Use a felt-tip pen to trace the lines you want to keep, and erase the extra pencil lines.

You've reached the finish line! Now you're ready to color your parrot drawing. Next, we'll teach you how to draw a completely different kind of animal: a moose. Go to the next section for detailed directions.

Want to expand your drawing skills? See: