Felted Junco - Male

Needle felting is fast becoming one of my favorite crafts.

Last night I was stuck for inspiration when Clancy suggested a bird.  So I got out the field guide and settled on the male junco since it has a soft rounded shape without too many details.  It took me about two hours to make the bird and then the little nest with eggs.

Note of inaccuracy: male juncos do not incubate the eggs, only the females do.

The hardest part for me was getting the eyes to look realistic.  I'm not 100% pleased with them...but I decided to stop before I really messed them up.

In my opinion, this little felted bird looks the most realistic from the underside.  Unfortunately, I've seen a few juncos hit the window glass, or get offered up by the resident cat.

I had so much fun with this little bird, and I'll definitely try to do more.  I would like to get some black wire to make little feet in the future.

In the meantime, this little guy will have to snuggle into the nest I made for him.