Before you spawn
The character screen lets you recolor beak, eyes, primary feathers, secondary feathers, chest, and talons. Advanced sliders are RGB and HSV. You can add markings and a surface texture, then save.
The January 23, 2026 group announcement from GoldenAviary is the current save rule: the cap rose from 16 to 48 saves, split into 24 Palettes and 24 Designs. Palettes are general color and texture sets. Designs are species-specific paint jobs. Older guides that say 12 slots are out of date.
Paint mode
Paint mode, shipped in that same update, selects individual parts. Pupils can be colored. Left and right can differ. Markings can go on the beak and the legs. Three new default markings are wavy stripes, diamonds, and tips.
The editor also has a screenshot mode: play an animation on the model and change the background lighting. Night lighting in the editor was brightened so the bird is visible.
Click a username in the player list to request a copy of their colors. They can turn requests off in settings.
Size and voice
The scale slider changes call pitch. Larger birds sound deeper. Very Important Bird extends scale to 120 percent. Free scaling still changes pitch inside the normal range.
Wearable hats and accessories are not planned. The developer said each bird has its own rig, so a shared accessory system is not practical across 200-plus models.
Console limits
Console players cannot view or write bios, name save slots, or view flock names, because of user-generated-content rules on those platforms. Color sliders themselves were fixed for controllers in the Burrowing Owl patch notes after they had stopped responding.
Realistic looks without a pass
Start from a free texture, keep markings small, and match beak and leg colors to the species you are copying. Neon, auras, and the extra VIB textures are the paid step. Realism presets exist in the customizer for players who want a reference plumage before they paint over it.