The fur probably would look best as a mix of uv-mapped grey squirrel fur, and particles in some areas.
Yeah, I hope to do that. I just have to make good looking transitions from uv to particle.
The animation looks suprisingly quick… I mean, usually the animations are really slow, it could be a touch to fast, but I like it, looks better quick than lagging.
I agree that quick is better, but I’ll redo this once I get some reference footage of birds (I’ll probably just film them at our feeder.)
i also think the anim is too fast
i got a bit frame by frame through it… cold it be that ur bird flaps like this:
(the slashes shall represent the wings position)
/O/
\O\
it looks quiet wrong and funny
also the flapspeed is too high (one flap per frame!) maybe a little colobri flaps so fast…
hope its not to complicated to adjust this
I’ll try adding an intermediate flap position and seeing how that looks. Should double flap speed.
Yeah, it flys to it, lands, pecks once, then flys away, for no good reason
It would be funny if the Squrrel jumps on it LOL that would make more sence, but really it’s just that the Bird doesent do much once it lands.
Btw, love the Flapping
Flapping good? Flapping bad? What do I do? 
The chickadees at my house always fly on to the feeder, grab a seed, and then take of to eat it elsewhere. That might just be chickadee “personality” cause some birds do hang around the feeder longer.
also it starts a littlebit funny
first it starts to float up (maybe too much helium in the seeds then it starts to flap and then it flies away
umm… but if i think about i dont know how real birds do this oO
the idea with the attacking squirrel is great… with some wired expression
(o)(°) <-- this should be eyes
Yeah, it took too long to render to fix those obvious flaws. An attacking squirrel could be funny. I’ll see how it goes.
Well, here are the promised pics.
One version of particle fur. I discovered it is difficult to light particles properly, resulting in this weird glowing look. But I didn’t really try. 
http://img143.echo.cx/img143/9655/furtest300011ab.jpg
Another version of the fur. A little less bristle-like than the first one. Fur is still too puffy, mostly around fingers and face.
http://img143.echo.cx/img143/3730/furtest2000127rr.jpg
Another attempt at fur. Note the bare spots.
http://img143.echo.cx/img143/8132/furtest500014zg.jpg
The old man (I should probably give him a name.) This is an early version of him. I will most likely start over completely. Plus, this was my first head modelling experience. He is obviously missing the details that make him look old (wrinkles, pronounced brow, etc) but a new version would have them. Any specific ideas about making him look old and have a lot of character would be great.
http://img143.echo.cx/img143/5214/oldman200011qi.jpg
Old man again, from a poorly lit and positioned angle. I had this because I liked his head better in 3D view. It just looks better than the perspective you get from a single image, so I thought I’d include an alternate angle. His ear is kind of screwed up and I plan to give him a rounder, more bulbous nose.
http://img143.echo.cx/img143/8610/oldman00011fe.jpg
Also, some of you may have seen this thread http://www.elYsiun.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39170&highlight= which is done by my collaborator. This is the tool box that the old man has as he’s building the birdfeeder.
Well, there you have it. Keep in mind that this is intended as a long-term project in which I’ll learn as I go, so don’t expect results too soon or get your hopes too high for this preliminary work.
No comments. Oh well. So you think it flies away too fast? Timing is the hardest part.