Look at the feet. That's where the engineering is. Two thin toes forward, two back, wrapped around a bare branch no thicker than a pencil. The claws are grey, curved, and locked. He could sleep like this and does, sometimes, hanging on through the whole night.
Now the head. Black cap, white cheek, a sharp black bib under the bill. The boundaries are razor clean, no blending. It looks printed, but up close every feather is a separate thing, laid in rows, slightly rough at the edges.
The eye is small, round, glossy, and positioned to see almost everywhere at once. The bill is short and pointed, made for seeds and the occasional argument.
On the chest the feathers are soft grey, downy, fluffed against the cold. Along the wing the feathers go darker, almost black-brown, with fine pale edges like stitching.
The background is one wash of green, bokeh so smooth it looks painted. No branches, no sky. Just color, so the bird is the only thing with detail.
He turns his head one click. Then another. Then he's gone, and the branch is just a branch again, still holding the shape of his feet. #chickadee #macro #bird #feathers
