Fun Pictorial Alphabet of Birds - Free To Print
Inside: Free pictorial prints from the children's Pictorial Alphabet of Birds book.
As a child, to pass the time on long car journeys, we used to play the alphabet game. We chose a random category, such as Countries or flowers. We took turns naming something in the theme for every letter of the alphabet.
Whenever birds were chosen as the category, my dad, the ornithologist, would get particularly animated and obscure in his answers. When I came across this vintage children's pictorial book, The Alphabet of Birds by Thomas Nelson (1874), memories of those long trips in the back of the car came flooding back.
However, I'm not sure the birds in the book would have been the same as the ones we'd chosen. There is no bird for the letter U, and the bird chosen for Z is a bit of a cheat.
I play the same alphabet game with my children, but it has more of an edge now as there is Google to check answers. In the past, we made up names and convinced others they were valid answers.
How To Download The Bird Alphabet Prints
The bird alphabet is spread across four pictorial prints and four corresponding pages of charming poems. Click on the title above the print you want. A higher-resolution image will open in a new window. Click on that image to print or save it to your device.
All the images are in the Public Domain, and you are free to use them as you wish.
Personally, I would have chosen cockatoos for the letter C as they are my favourite birds.
Pictureboxblue has a beautiful collection of flamingo art prints.
Check out these other hummingbird prints.
There are some more Pelican illustrations and Ostrich art prints on the site.
I would have chosen an exotic toucan for the letter T rather than the thrush.
Don't forget to check out the many other vintage bird prints on the site, including the stunning Adolphe Millot bird charts and Edward Lear's parrot paintings.
You may also like these tropical bird cigarette card illustrations.
See all the vintage natural history illustrations on the site here.
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This is absolutely wonderful! Currently I am drawing a year's worth of birds, just finishing Day 86 yesterday. To fine my drawings, check Instagram for @paperseedlings. I love birds, and what you presented to us is quaintly fascinating. Thanks for sharing! Smiles, Linda at Paper Seedlings
Thank you, that sound like a very creative and fun challenge. Your bird drawings are gorgeous.
U = Umbrella bird
Thank you! These are beautiful!
Thank you, that is a good one. I've just looked up an umbrella bird, and that is one unusual-looking bird. I think it could have easily been called an Elvis bird with that quiff.