Here's Bernini from a photo. I love this portrait because I remember snapping the photo; it was summer, B was relaxed and even a little bit curious, which you can tell because she hasn't artfully arranged her crest feathers. (She was probably preparing to do something like chew on some part of the house.) She's got personality in spades, but it's difficult to catch it in a photo. B has a rich emotional life (as rich as a bird can possess): she expresses contentment, frustration, embarrassment and impatience... sometimes a little too well.
But as with most birds it doesn't show in her face. She emotes with her actions, by stretching and marching, bobbing her head, squawking and moving her feathers. Her behavior changes around cameras, so it's not easy to catch her personality in a photo.
I suspect that that's true for all birds. Wood ducks pip their heads and fluff their crests in a way similar to B. Harpy eagles stretch one wing and foot, like B does. Flickers get flustered and react to situations rashly... like B.
Birds are a challenge, because to really see them you have to observe them, but getting close enough to them to really see them could mean that a) they won't behave naturally and/or b) they move too quickly to see details.
Eventually, I hope to strike a balance between sketching from life and drawing from photos. But for now, as I get to know how birds are shaped, different beak and foot shapes, feather structures and patterns, I find working from photos helpful.
Doodled from a snapshot I took last summer.
