Birbfest 2026

Feb 17

This January, I participated in the Birbfest challenge, in which participants draw one bird (or birb) a day for the entire month. The challenge is the brainchild of illustrator monkeymintaka, who provides the prompt list and hosts the @birbfest.challenge instagram account.

I started researching and sketching the first couple of birds, but I wasn’t super excited about them until I came up with the idea of putting each bird in a frame that couldn’t quite hold them. I thought it would be cool to have them interact with or come out of their frames in interesting ways, and when I added that little extra rule, I started really having fun! I drew them using Procreate (and a little bit of Photoshop in some cases), and each one took me 1-3 hours. We had an unusually cold January, and I wasn’t super busy, so it was really nice to curl up with my iPad every evening after putting my kiddos to bed and draw all these silly looking birdies!

*The prompt list, and all my little birbs together (but out of order)!*

You can scroll through the gallery below if you want to take a closer look.
I think my personal favorites are:
10) American Purple Gallinule - such pretty colors, and those huge feet make me laugh!
13) White-eared Pheasant - I had so much fun with his tail feathers
15) Short-eared Owl - love the patterns on this guy
16) Eurasian Wigeon - I wanted the water he’s swimming in to look like it’s dripping out of the frame, and I love how it turned out
17) Spangled Cotinga - how fun is that to say? And I think he looks totally 80’s and his frame especially suits him
18) Tufted Jay - just a handsome guy, love his hair
19) Red-legged Seriema - I didn’t even draw his red legs because his face was just so cool looking
21) Ornate Fruit Dove - he needed an ornate frame, obviously
27) Red-bearded Bee-eater - this guy was just really fun to paint
28) Little Penguin - I love penguins, and this one is especially cute
31) Indian Peafowl - definitely spent the longest on him - I got really into those tail feathers and didn’t want to stop adding details

2026 Birbfest - 1 Bronzewing Pigeon copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 2 Many-colored Rush Tyrant copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 4 Golden-headed Manakin copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 6 Northern Emerald Toucanet copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 7 Steller's Sea Eagle copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 8 Andean Cock-of-the-Rock copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 9 Indian Flycatcher copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 10 American Purple Gallinule copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 11 Mountain Bluebird copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 12 Common Redpoll copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 13 White-Eared Pheasant copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 14 Silver-eared Mesia copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 15 Short-eared Owl copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 16 Eurasian Wigeon copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 17 Spangled Cotinga copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 19 Red-Legged Seriema copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 20 Dalmatian Pelican copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 21 Ornate Fruit Dove copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 22 Galah Cockatoo copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 24 New Holland Honeyeater copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 25 Common Kingfisher copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 26 Common Cuckoo copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 27 Red-Bearded Bee-Eater copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 28 Little Penguin copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 29 Red Junglefowl copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 30 Oystercatcher copy.png

2026 Birbfest - 31 Indian Peafowl copy.png

procreateillustrationchallengebirbfest

Leslie Leonard

Birbfest 2026

100 Day Project

Bennett, Ruby, & Brooks

Leslie Leonard

Art & Illustration