32 Brilliant Bird Tattoos for Men in 2024
Freedom and flight are the symbolic meanings most associated with bird tattoo art. A wide range of styles and designs are available – and there are endless bird species to choose from! Bird tattoos for men can be realistic depictions of birds in nature, designs specific to the application technique and concept you are drawn to, or purely artistic tattoos meant simply to be enjoyed and admired for their skill and creativity.
But before you go and get your bird tattoo, let us help guide you in choosing the perfect piece of ink. Below we’ll show you the most interesting, creative, and captivating bird tattoos in 2024. You’ll surely be inspired with the perfect idea of which tattoo style to get and the size and exact placement on your body.
With that said, let’s begin.
The Best Bird Tattoos for Men - Men’s Eagle Tattoo on Forearm
The eagle is a ferocious, elegant bird of prey often seen in tattoo ideas communicating nobility, courage, freedom, and power. This forearm tattoo features the head of an eagle in profile. I love how the artist captures the fierceness of its gaze and the deft use of yellow ink to match the bird’s eyes and beak.
IG: panumart_tattoo
Realistic Black and Gray Jabiru Tattoo
The Jabiru is a large stork found mainly in Latin America and is known for its distinctive appearance. These elements – a black neck and head, a white body, and a massive bill – are featured in this beautiful realistic Jabiru tattoo, stretching up the client’s side and across his ribs. It’s a precise replication that looks like it could have stepped straight out of a magazine.
IG: willofyn
Geometric Fine Detail Owl Tattoo
While often associated with wisdom, owl tattoos may also focus on the bird’s fearsome reputation as a hunter. This realistic piece matches detailed realism in feathers and claws with framing support from geometric patterns. The wispy energy trail used to display that the owl took on the crows and won is an excellent artistic touch.
IG: panumart_tattoo
Men’s Inner Forearm Dead Bird Tattoo
This simple blackwork inner forearm tattoo is crafted in a freehand style, featuring an upside-down dove, a crescent moon, and a star bordered by a black ink frame.
Dead bird tattoos are often linked to the ending of one story and the beginning of another rather than symbolizing death in real terms.
IG: alex.machina
Men’s Snake Versus Crow Neck Tattoo
I love the contrast between the black crow and the red snake in this man’s neck tattoo. It’s cleverly thought out in design and application, and I like how the artist entwined the animals without cramping their solid forms. The shading styles used to create the crow’s plumage are well done.
IG: taena.tattoo
Neo-Traditional Red Cardinal Tattoo
I love this vibrant neo-traditional cardinal tattoo. The bright red bird is inked with a realistic bent, and the rest of the design offers bold new-school flourishes reminiscent of trash polka (from drips and splatters of ink). I like the contrasting line of black ink bottles below the perched bird, and the alternating stripes of blackwork and negative space provide background framing that hints at an optical illusion.
IG: sherrypodesta
Pointillism Men’s Crow Tattoo
This crow tattoo combines excellent black line imagery with shades crafted from a stipple-shading application. The Sharpie-like black ink scribbles provide a tremendous black ink blast, allowing the more subtle dotwork patterns to blend with the bird’s outline. I also like how the head is placed, cleverly putting the crow’s features into a side profile.
IG: patrykchybowski
Neo-Traditional Inner Bicep Bird Tattoo
The artist has taken one of the oldest tattoo symbols (swallows are famed nautical designs used to show a sailor’s experience on water) and given it a modern makeover with bright colors contrasting vividly against shades of blue and black ink. The use of gray dotwork to illustrate the bird’s underwings is a brilliant touch of subtlety!
IG: aleksymarcinow
Neo-traditional Owl and Skull Tattoo
In Native American culture, owls are linked with death and are considered a bad omen. This tremendous neo-traditional chest tattoo stands out for its precise placement and neat linework covering the feathers and facial features. I also like the detail threaded into the skulls of the mice clutched in the bird’s claws.
Line Art Vulture Back Shoulder Tattoo
Vulture tattoo designs demonstrate an alternative means to symbolize cleansing and renewal, or the cycle of life. The famed carrion bird is inked with incredible simplicity in this tattoo. There are no shade or color effects; crisp lines with differing thicknesses, sizes, and angles create a vulture waiting on a branch.
IG: sunghart_
Black and Gray Traditional Owl Tattoo
Owls make popular realistic tattoo concepts linked to wisdom and intelligence and have many characteristics that an artist and client can draw inspiration from. This piece uses exceptional technique in crafting a realistic design, made to look like the bird is swooping in to snatch prey. The variation in feather patterns adds a touch of geometry to this clean, crisply etched bird tattoo.
IG: taesin___
Black Owl Men’s Chest Tattoo
This man’s owl tattoo is a fantastic blackwork piece emphasizing pattern and shading. The artist uses numerous shapes and shades in crafting the bird’s feathers. I like the decision to keep the bird’s features free of any detail or shading, which creates a unique quality different from the rest of the design.
IG: brocolinoir
Sketch-Style Men’s Bird Tattoo
This upper arm bird tattoo features a Californian blue scrub jay in sketch style. I like the delicate linework and gray wash shading effects, particularly in the bird’s facial features and tail feathers, although I’m not sure the secondary shading behind the bird works quite as well.
IG: osmanergin_
Realistic Blue Swallow Tattoos
This thigh tattoo depicts an elegant pair of blue swallows in flight. I love how the design utilizes different angles to showcase one bird with outstretched wings and the other floating upward. The mix of color and detail used to craft both bird’s faces is also excellent.
IG: panumart_tattoo
New-School Galah Tattoo on Man’s Thigh
I love this contemporary tattoo of the Australian galah. The design offers the fundamentals of the bird in flat color, just etched boldly and larger-than-life. The thick black linework contrasts beautifully with the outsized colors and shapes, creating a unique thigh tattoo.
IG: mambotattooer
Owl Eyes Forearm Tattoo for Men
Owl tattoos often carry a strong symbolic meaning around acquiring knowledge or skills, and their eyes are a popular feature to draw inspiration from. This exciting owl tattoo uses the narrow forearm space to etch only the beak, eyes, and part of the facial features. The eyes are the main drawcard, inked with a vibrant blue color, which offsets the rest of the realistic features. The beak and surrounding feathers are also fantastic, contrasting softness against ripples of hard bone.
IG: sumok_tattooer
Neo-traditional Owl Tattoo
While many owl tattoos aim to depict realistic aspects, this neo-traditional forearm tattoo goes for a wholly aesthetic vibe. Only the bird’s head shape and beak indicate the bird is an owl, with the design focusing on a riotous mix of colors and patterns to make up a uniquely beautiful design.
IG: kudutattoo
Old School Men’s Crow Tattoo
If not for the broad color palette (steel blue, true gray, and orange), this awesome crow tattoo would be an entirely American Traditional piece. The old maxim, ‘bold will hold,’ fits the design and execution with a mixture of flat colors, thick lines and dots, and cleverly applied angles.
IG: jaspervangestel
Neo-Traditional Titmouse Upper Arm Tattoo
Using a titmouse as inspiration for your bird tattoo is unique but matches the rest of the neo-traditional theme. I like how the bird fits other pre-existing body art using similar colors. The restrained use of yellow ink and overall design make this piece more subdued than other tattoos in the style.
Realistic Crow Upper Thigh Tattoo
I love how this crow tattoo adopts subtle color changes in the wing feathers, from jet black to russet brown and even a burnt orange color. The small but significant shift creates a unique focal point for the whole tattoo, as most crows of this kind are black and gray shades only. The flourishes of deep blue ink used to create alternative patterns on the bird’s side and wingtips demonstrate the artist’s skills.
IG: chou_tatt
“Freedom” Black Ink Bird Tattoo
This black ink tattoo represents freedom and is one of my favorite designs in the gallery. The excellent technical aspects – flowing line art, subtle stipple and whip-shading, and spot-on use of negative space – match the placement, which superbly utilizes the client’s spine and shoulder region. I love how the outstretched wings flare across the man’s shoulders, and its claws poke out either side of the spinal column, just above the shaded tail feathers.
IG: tattooist.pado
Line Art and Watercolor Owl Tattoo
This upper arm bird tattoo combines watercolor with realistic line art. The owl is cleverly etched using a variety of line patterns, shapes, and angles. A layer of bright watercolor is applied over the top of the bird, providing a splash of orange-colored contrast.
IG: panumart_tattoo
Stipple-Shaded Men’s Bird Tattoo Design
This delightful bird tattoo is a near-flawless example of stipple-shading. The black and gray inks are tremendously layered throughout the piece – at least five distinct gray shades are created. The bird’s wings are also interesting because the shading gets more pronounced as the ink moves toward the tips.
IG: velco.tattoo
Linework Fine Detail Men’s Phoenix Tattoo
Phoenix tattoo designs traditionally represent rebirth and regeneration and are attractive to ink lovers seeking new beginnings. This tremendous linework phoenix eschews fire themes and bright colors, using deft lines of black ink to bring the bird to life. The outstretched wings demonstrate a superb line technique that imbues each feather with excellent detail.
IG: tattooer_intat
Black Line Art Crow Tattoo
I like the simplicity of this crow tattoo design and how it evokes comparison to a human fingerprint. The artistic use of thick black lines – no shading in support – gives it a unique style, where the lack of detail is essential to create the piece’s overall look.
IG: kellyricotattoo
Men’s Traditional Black and Gray Raven Tattoo
This traditional black and gray tattoo combines a large raven with tulips and roses in a traditionally shaded design. The gray wash shading depicts the characters effectively, utilizing variations in tone and depth to create a balanced piece of body art that accentuates the artist’s sketch-style approach.
IG: boneandink
Realistic Falcons Back Tattoo for Men
This realistic piece depicts two falcons tumbling mid-air (mating or fighting). The tattoo eschews heavy detail in favor of clever linework and contrasting shades. For example, the pale gray pockets of shading are enough to convey the idea of soft feathers without having to ink them individually.
3D Realistic Dove and Acanthus Leaf Tattoo
I love the 3D effects threaded into this dove tattoo, accompanied by acanthus leaves and plaster-like filigree. The artist has created great depth by utilizing true gray ink filler behind the 3D imagery. The restrained color palette, mainly the creamy ink used for the leaves and dove, makes this a subtle, restrained half-sleeve piece.
Men’s Black and Gray Eagle Tattoo
The traditional eagle motif often shows the bird – in profile, hunting, or as a flying bird – as a symbol of masculinity, power, dominance, focus, and strength.
Raven Head Tattoo
This impressive raven tattoo also incorporates the client’s face and much of their head. The neo-traditional piece offers fantastic line art and black ink accents utilizing a spilled inkwell effect. I like that the artist has applied interesting blackwork patterns and a realistic pair of claws to help give the bird its bold characteristics.
Watercolor Aberajuco Men’s Chest Tattoo
Often, an effective way to express freedom in bird tattoos is to utilize watercolor effects. This gorgeous aberajuco (European bee-eater) tattoo uses fantastic colors throughout the design, melding the bird’s vivid hues with complementary blue and black ink smears.
