How to Draw a Hummingbird: Easy Step-by-Step
In this guide
Hummingbirds beat their wings so fast they hum — and then hang in midair like tiny helicopters sipping from flowers. Capturing that is easier than it sounds: learning how to draw a hummingbird comes down to a small teardrop body, a needle-thin beak, and two swept-back wings. Three shapes, one tiny miracle. 🌺
This little flier makes a gorgeous addition to any flower page you’ve already drawn. If you’re new to birds entirely, our easy bird drawing for beginners is a gentle warm-up — then come back here for the fancy hovering version. It’s also a lovely five-minute upgrade for any journal page that needs a bit of life fluttering in the corner.
What You’ll Need
- Paper
- A pencil
- An eraser
- Green, pink, and purple colors (optional)
Step 1: Draw the Tiny Body
Draw a small egg shape in the middle of your page, tilted upward like it’s leaning back in a hammock. That upward tilt matters — it’s the classic hovering pose, chest proud, tail hanging down. Keep it small; hummingbirds are barely bigger than your thumb, and a coin makes a handy size reference if you want to stay truly tiny.
Step 2: Add the Head
At the upper end of the egg, draw a small circle for the head, overlapping the body slightly, then smooth the two shapes together with a gentle neck line. No long neck needed — a hummingbird’s head sits close, like a scoop of ice cream on a tilted cone.
Step 3: Draw the Needle Beak
From the front of the head, draw the beak: two lines so close together they nearly touch, stretching out almost as long as the body and curving down just a whisper at the tip. This impossibly long beak is the hummingbird’s signature — be brave with the length. It’s what lets real hummingbirds reach nectar no other bird can, so one confident line gives you accuracy and drama at once.
Step 4: Sweep Back the Wings
From the top of the back, draw two long, pointed wings sweeping up and backward, like a pair of open scissors. Each wing is a slim curved triangle. Angling them back — rather than out to the sides — is what says “hovering” instead of “gliding.” Make the far wing peek out slightly shorter than the near one and the pose gains instant depth.
Step 5: Fan the Tail
At the bottom tip of the body, draw three or four short pointed feathers fanning downward, like the corner of a paper fan. The tail balances all that upward tilt and finishes the pose. Tuck two tiny thread-thin feet against the belly if you’d like — most people never notice hummingbirds even have them.
Step 6: Add the Face and Flower
Give the head one round eye with a white shine dot. Then, right at the tip of the beak, draw a trumpet-shaped flower leaning in from the side of the page — a small tube that flares open like a party horn. Now your bird has a reason to hover.
Step 7: Color With Shimmer
Hummingbirds shimmer, so layer your greens: emerald body, darker wings, and a ruby-pink patch on the throat like a tiny scarf. Color the flower a warm pink. For extra glow, lay down light green first and press darker green over the top of it. Finish with two or three faint curved arcs beside each wingtip — the universal sign for “wings moving too fast to see.” ✨
Tips to Make Your Hummingbird Drawing Even Cuter
- Add a sprinkle of sparkle dots around the bird — hovering deserves glitter.
- Draw a heart floating between the beak and the flower for a sweet love-at-first-sip scene.
- Make a chubby round version with a big head for maximum baby-bird energy.
- Trail a looping dotted line behind the bird to show its zigzag flight path.
- Draw two hummingbirds sharing one flower — instant friendship portrait. 🐾
FAQ
Is a hummingbird hard to draw?
It’s one of the easier birds — the body is tiny and simple, and the swept-back wings are just two curved triangles. The long beak does most of the identifying.
How do I make my hummingbird look like it’s flying?
Tilt the body upward, sweep the wings back, and add faint motion arcs near the wingtips. Skipping the branch entirely is what sells the hover.
How long does this drawing take?
About ten minutes, flower included. Adding shimmer layers with colored pencil can happily double that.
A teardrop, a needle, and two scissor wings — you’ve drawn the only bird that can fly backward, and it looks great mid-hover. For more birds and beasts drawn by hand, flit over to our YouTube channel. Ready for a bird with the opposite energy? Our easy hawk drawing trades the flutter for a soar. 🎨
