If you haven’t seen the May issue of The Iowa Source on shelves yet, it’s due to drop any minute! And we are pleased as punch to be featuring, on its colorful cover, art created by you … our readers, friends, and community members, in celebration of Draw a Bird Day 2026 on April 8!
We had so many wonderful submissions, from participants ages 3 to 83, coming in from all over Iowa and beyond! We did our best to include at least one drawing from each artist in the May print issue. What we didn’t have room for on its cover, we included on an interior page. We hope you’ll pick up a copy at your local library, coffee spot, or grocery store and marvel at all the wonderful birds—ranging from native Iowan species to more fantastical feather-heads, including rainbow-striped flamingos, “land dancers,” and “love birds”!
Very special thanks to the Fairfield Public Library and to Gail Hunter at GG’s Signs & Designs for providing the space and supplies for bird art, and to Katherine Walmsley’s Maharishi School 2nd grade class who celebrated Draw a Bird Day by creating art books filled with birds!
I had a great time hanging out at the library booth on April 8 and witnessing the creativity of the community—and especially a handful of kids who, by the end of the afternoon, had created entire portfolios of bird pictures. Kudos to young artists Simone and Kai Starling, and to Lucas and Ella Talley, whose artwork was prolific! It was hard to choose which of their fine pieces to pick, and it felt a shame to only have space for thumbnails in most cases.
And now, for the artists!
Cover art, pictured below (from top left): Dani Hannes, Kai Starling, Kai Starling #2, Lucas Talley, Simone Starling; Tulsi Sieck, Melinda Arndt, Heidi Ash, Meredith Siemsen, Kathy Siemsen; Mary C. Ruegg, Sue Gail, Ruthee Sea Scoter, Tobias Shade, Simone Starling; Craig Deininger, Rhonda Rowden, Helen Raymond, Rosie Sieck, Jacqueline Signori; David Patterson, Dede Duffy, Zinnia Sieck, Lucas Talley, Ella Talley.
Interior art, pictured below (from top left): Arete, Graham Rowden, Michelle, Jackie; Martha Durham, Mina, Helen, Brennan Walker; Robert Rowden, Pheonix, Queen, Lucia; Luca, Colin Roy Ehri, Ilana, and “anonymous.” (You are not fooling anyone, Lou Bolster.)
In case you’re wondering—why all the birds?—see the article in our April issue. In short, Draw a Bird Day began during World War II, inspired by an eight-year-old named Dorie Cooper.
We hope you’ll help us keep the tradition going for many years to come. We’ve had so much fun.
