Every fall when Thanksgiving comes around, I start seeing turkeys everywhere! On decorations, kids’ crafts, and even little drawings on classroom boards. So today I’m going to show you how to draw a turkey easily. That big fan-shaped tail and the funny wattle under the beak make turkeys one of the most recognizable birds to sketch. The good news is that drawing this bird is much easier than it looks.

Here’s an easy step by step tutorial that will help you create turkey drawing.

Please note: In each step, the new parts of the drawing are shown in orange while the parts you’ve already drawn stay in black.

Step 1: Draw the turkey’s body

Start by drawing a large oval in the middle of your paper. This oval will become the main body of your turkey. Don’t worry about making the shape perfect. Slightly uneven lines are completely fine and make your drawing feel more natural. Leave a little space around the oval so we can add the turkey’s feathers later.

Step 2: Draw the turkey’s head and neck

Next, draw a curved line coming up from the top side of the body to form the turkey’s neck. At the end of that line, draw a small circle for the turkey’s head. Add a tiny dot for the eye and a small triangle for the beak. Now your turkey is starting to look like a bird.

Step 3: Add the turkey’s wattle

Turkeys have a small flap of saggy skin under their beak called a wattle. Now to create this, draw a short wavy shape hanging under the turkey’s beak. It should look a little bumpy and loose. This simple detail helps the drawing clearly look like a turkey.

Step 4: Draw the turkey’s wing

Inside the body oval, draw a soft curved line shaped like a wide “U”. This line represents the turkey’s wing resting against its body. Keeping the wing simple helps make the turkey drawing easier for beginners.

Step 5: Draw the turkey’s legs and feet

Now let’s give the turkey some legs. Draw two short straight lines coming down from the bottom of the turkey’s body. At the bottom of each line, draw small feet with a few short toes. They can stay simple, you need not add too much detail.

Step 6: Draw the turkey’s tail feathers

Behind the turkey’s body, draw several tall rounded feathers spreading outward like a fan. These feathers are the most recognizable part of a turkey. Try drawing five to seven feather shapes that spread outward from the back of the body. The size should gradually decrease from top to bottom.

Step 7: Add details to the turkey’s feathers

Inside each tail feather, draw another curved line near the tip. These lines give the turkey’s feathers a little more detail and help them look layered. You can also add a few small curved lines on the wing if you’d like.

Color your turkey

Finally, color your turkey. Most turkeys are shades of brown, with a slight blue undertone and a red wattle under the beak. The feathers can have lighter brown or tan tips. You can also use warm fall colors like orange, yellow, or red to make your turkey look festive.

We’re all done

And that’s it, you’ve just learned how to draw a turkey. If you’d like to practice later, I’ve attached the full step-by-step picture so you can save it and draw at your own pace. I always recommend keeping your sketches because it’s fun to see how your drawings improve over time.

Keep practicing, and soon you’ll be able to master it. Many of the same shapes we used today also work for other birds, like in an easy duck drawing or even a rubber duck drawing. If you want to keep drawing, you can check out my duck drawing tutorial or even try a simple bird drawing next. Happy drawing!