Nature Reference: Bird

Found this poor bird out in the horse pasture early one morning after a night of chilly temperatures. I think he was a young bird that had just left the nest and cuddled up to one of the horses during the night. Unfortunately cuddling with a 1200 lb. animal when you weigh a few ounces isn't a great idea and he was squished. I thought I would include him here as reference for others who are interested in nature study. I'm working on a portrait of a raven and the more detail I can find on the anatomy of bird feet the better.

I didn't realize how long the claws are in relation to the overall size of the birds foot.