A really good book on this is Tim Wootton's DRAWING AND PAINTING BIRDS
Full of advice and suggestions on materials including paper, paint pencils, brushes, and examples of work by the author and others;
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For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides, binoculars, scopes, tripods, etc - put 'Birding Tips' into the search box
thanks for highlighting this - looked it up and it looks fabulous! another really good one is "Drawing Birds" by John Busby (RSPB). Not a "how to" but I find Leo du Feu's "Sketches from Canada" inspiring - sketches rather than finished paintings - including lovely bird ones.
see my photos on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/maggyn/
Seymour, thanks again for highlighting the Tim Wootton book - got it for my Christmas - it is brilliant :)