A dove, a swallow, a songbird and a hummingbird are drawn here in thin dark outlines, and inside each bird the feathers, the breast and the eye are outlined as separate shapes. This free printable bird outline PDF gives you the four birds as templates for coloring pages, layered paper crafts, stencils and tracing.
I drew these birds mainly to be built in layers: a body cut from one colored paper, and feather details cut from another color and glued on top of it. For that reason, I kept the shapes clear and simple, so that children can also cut them with ordinary scissors and still end up with a bird that looks layered and complete.
Four Bird Outlines on Four Printable Pages
The PDF contains four US Letter pages, and each page holds one bird. The dove and the hummingbird stand on portrait pages, while the swallow and the songbird lie on landscape pages, so every bird fills its sheet comfortably. On every page, the outer contour of the bird and all of its inner shapes are drawn as closed outlines. When you print at 100 percent, the birds have the following sizes.
On page 1, the dove spreads its wings across about 172 × 194 mm (6.8 × 7.7 in).
On page 2, the swallow glides across about 220 × 167 mm (8.7 × 6.6 in).
On page 3, the songbird stands on the ground at about 229 × 147 mm (9.0 × 5.8 in).
On page 4, the hummingbird hovers at about 172 × 180 mm (6.8 × 7.1 in).
Each bird keeps at least 22 mm of free space from the edges of its page. As a result, the pages also print at 100 percent on A4 paper without losing any part of the outline.
As coloring pages, the birds offer two kinds of areas: the large body of the bird and the smaller feather, breast and eye shapes inside it. Color the body in one color and the details in another, and after the colors are finished, you can also cut the bird out along its outer contour if you want a paper bird to stick on a card, a window or a classroom wall.
For a layered paper bird, print the same page on two sheets of craft paper in different colors. From the first sheet, cut the bird out along its outer contour to form the body. From the second sheet, cut out the feather, breast and eye shapes. Then glue these details onto the body, using the printed lines on the body as a guide for where each piece belongs. For the small round eyes of the dove and the hummingbird, a 1/8 inch (3 mm) craft punch can replace the scissors.
For a stencil, print the page on cardstock and cut out only the outer contour of the bird, leaving the inner details uncut. The sheet with the bird-shaped opening then becomes a painting stencil. Dab paint through the opening with a sponge onto paper, a card or a gift bag, and each print leaves a solid bird silhouette.
You can also use the outlines as tracing patterns. Transfer the swallow onto a wooden box lid or the songbird onto a small sign with graphite paper, and then follow the lines with a wood burning pen.
Download the Free Bird Outline PDF Templates
The download is one PDF with four template pages.
- Format: PDF, 4 pages
- Page size: US Letter (8.5 × 11 in); dove and hummingbird in portrait, swallow and songbird in landscape
- Content: one bird outline per page, with feather, breast and eye shapes
- Print scale: 100 percent for the sizes given above
Download the bird template PDF and print only the page of the bird you need at 100 percent on Letter or A4 paper. Then color the bird, build it in layers from two colors of craft paper, or turn it into a stencil, depending on your project.
Looking for other formats of this design? Our full collection includes SVG, PNG, DXF, DWG, CDR and STL files. You can access them all on the main collection page.
License and Usage
These files are licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 for strictly personal, non-commercial use.
You are free to download, cut, and modify these designs for your personal projects. However, you may not sell the digital files or any physical products manufactured from them. If you share a modified version of this design, you must credit FreePatternsArea and distribute it under this exact same license.
Unauthorized redistribution, reproduction, or commercial exploitation of these files is a violation of intellectual property rights and may result in legal action.