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How to Use Artificial Bird Heads


For years, bird taxidermy meant cleaning the skull, rebuilding the skull and anchoring your neck wire. This method can produce beautiful results when done properly, but is very time consuming and difficult for the novice. Now many taxidermists are using artificial bird heads, these heads are very easy to use and you can achieve great results right off the bat. Van Dyke’s offers bird heads by World Class Taxidermists: Tony Finazzo, Joe Ferebee, Joe Kaiser and Randy Life. Used in this article was a cast pheasant head with medium fall wattles. These quality heads were cast and sculpted by Randy Life from a wild South Dakota rooster and have exact detail and positive set eye sockets. Also available are heads with small wattles and heads with large Spring wattles.

Some species are more conducive to using artificial heads such as pheasants and waterfowl over other species like grouse and quail, but the artificial heads will work very well for all species. Pheasants and waterfowl typically have heads that are larger in diameter than their necks making traditional skinning hard at the best. When inverting the neck skin over the head the skin must stretch. This sometimes results in the skin tearing, sometimes to the point of being irreparable.

There is also the problem of shrinkage. All natural beaks will have some degree of shrinkage. Some including waterfowl will have more than others. A freshly cast artificial head will show none or very little shrinkage.

Just about all beaks need to be painted, sometimes resulting in overspray on the feathers of the head and breast. The artificial beak can be painted before the mounting process, thus eliminating the overspray problem.

Then comes the problem of setting eyes. A cleaned bird skull will have an eye socket much larger than the glass eye, making accurate placement of the eye very difficult. A quality artificial head will have preset eye sockets that are accurate in placement and angle, making eye setting a breeze.

Here are the directions for using an artificial head. With a very sharp scalpel, make a cut all the way around the skin, where it joins the beak. Follow the contours of the beak. Start inverting the skin back towards the eye. Use care not to cut the eyelid when you approach the eye orbit.

Continue working the skin toward the back of the skull. Separate the skin from the ear canals. When you reach the very back of the skull, sever the head from the neck. Save the skull for now. Go ahead and skin, flesh, wash, wire and preserve the skin as you normally would. Using reference, paint the artificial beak. Studying the real beak will help, but keep in mind, the color will have faded some from when the bird was alive. Live reference photos are always the best to go by. After painting, sealing, and letting the beak dry, scuff up the area where the skin will be attached to the artificial beak. This will help the glue to adhere better.

With a Dremel tool or drill cut a slot into the back of the artificial head so the neck can be attached. Make this slot approximately 1/2” deep, and 1/4” tall. Mount the bird as usual, sliding the neck skin over the artificial neck. Cut the wire protruding from the neck to approximately 3/4” and bend it into a “U”.

Test fit this “U” into the slot you cut in the back of the head. If you are happy with this fit, mix up a small amount of Bondo (note: white activator was used in this bondo and no color change was evident) and apply to the slot. Make sure the head skin is slid back out of the way on the neck and then install the head onto the neck wire. Hold or prop in place until the bondo sets up. If necessary blend the head to neck union with a small amount of critter clay.

Pull the head skin onto the artificial head, making sure the eyes are in place. Forceps, a regulator or pinning needle greatly helps with this. Pull the skin into place around the beak and check for fit. Start by running a very small bead of super glue gel halfway down each side of the “V” of the bottom beak. Place the skin in place. Turn the bird over and repeat the gluing process on the top of the beak. In the case of a pheasant there would be a “V” under each nostril and for a duck the “V” would be on the very center on top of the beak.

When the skin is attached on the top, start working down each side to the corner of the mouth. Place the bird on its back and glue the skin in place on the bottom corner of the mouth and include all areas that were not previously done. Place the bird on its base and adjust the eye skin. Monitor the eyes and the attachment areas of the skin on the head over the next few days to ensure that nothing has shifted or the glue is coming loose. Make any necessary adjustments before the skin completely dries.

Here is an optional tip that you may find useful. Some taxidermists like their birds to have a “puffy cheek” look. This can be achieved by pumping a small amount of latex caulk into the cheeks from the front, before the skin is glued in place around the beak. Use care since the caulk has a way of finding the eye holes in the skin. If you are going to do this it is usually best to sew up the ear holes as well. Getting caulk out of feathers is indeed a chore.

Even though these procedures may seem complicated this is a task that is relatively easy to master and with a little practice you will find that the “pros” of using an artificial head will definitely out weigh the “cons”.


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