Layered Paper Indian Pitta Bird

How many times have you looked up at soaring bird, fascinated, wondering how cool it would be if you could do the same? One of lesser known birds in India is the pitta bird. This small bird can mostly be found in the foothills of the Himalayas and along the hilly regions of Peninsular and southern India. Bright and colorful, these birds lay purple eggs, and are known for their short tail and a stout bill.

We decided to pay homage to this amazing little bird by making a layered paper portrait of it! Read on below to learn how to make your own Indian Pitta bird!

Paper template (found here)

Paper cutter/ scissors

Glue

Stationery for decoration

As you can see, this layered bird is essentially a 3D structure created by pasting each layer of the bird, one on top of another. So, while printing out our template, we recommend you use either thick card paper, or glue multiple sheets of thin paper to add more depth to your layered bird You can also paint on multiple layers as shown to add color to your bird.

For those of you with vinyl cutters, feel free to check out the dxf file here for this template to try it out!

Once you have the template printed out, you can move on to the assembly!

Cut out the piece labeled Layer 1. We recommend using a paper cutter for all the cuts, as the details can be obtained more clearly.

Cut out the piece labeled Layer 2, and glue Layer 2 on top of Layer 1 as shown. The thicker your pieces are, the more depth is added to your layered structure. Coloring your layers will also help distinguish between them, and make it colorful.

Similarly, assemble Layer 3 on top of Layers 2 and 1 as shown.

Now, assemble Layer 4 on top of the previous layers as shown, and glue it on.

Now, assemble Layer 5 on top of the previous layers as shown, and glue it on.

Now, assemble Layer 6 on top of the previous layers as shown, and glue it on. And, you're done!

Feel free to play around with the pieces, and their colors and structures. Once you are done, you can customize your piece, and even frame it on your wall!

Innovate and get creative!

We would love to see your take on the layered Indian Pitta bird.