Members of the bird family chickadees belong to have very simple bodies. To make them from air dry clay, roll a very small ball of clay and pinch it slightly at one end, pushing the pinched end up as the base for a tail. The ball of clay you start with should be somewhere around 1/8 to 5/32 inch in diameter. See photo above. The first body shape in from the ball is the easiest to make and will make very good birds. The second body shape is a bit too large but it can be used as well. Set the bodies aside to dry before you work on the next step of inserting the eyes and adding the wings and tails.
To Make Wings and Tails for Miniature Chickadees or Titmice - flatten a small amount of air dry clay on a tile or flat surface. Leave the clay to dry. When the clay is dry, you can cut it out using curved bladed scissors into appropriate tail and wing shapes (see the next step of these instructions).
