The piece currently resides in a private collection and is not regularly seen on public display.
Nevertheless, it is possible to appreciate the work via the medium of digital scans and understand how it ties in with many of the polymath's other works and influenced the art world for centuries after Da Vinci's death.
At the centre of the piece, sits a bird shaped object. The perspective of the drawing means that this shape can be interpreted in multiple ways. It could be the bird from the title, it could be another creature flying underneath the titular bird or it could be a small lake or other landscape feature, similar to the one towards the top right of the sketch.
The detail of the drawing is relatively sparse and abstract when compared to some of Da Vinci's other work. Compared to his original landscape, the Drawing for Santa Maria Della Neve, the detail is fairly sparse and abstract. It's not possible to clearly identify the landscape as it is in the Santa Maria Della Neve drawing.
Compared to Da Vinci's other landscape drawings, the sense of perspective is also less developed than in other landscape drawings. Despite the obvious 3D implied by the title, the drawing feels relatively flat. There is no sense of a flowing valley with mountains and valleys.
This lack of any true perspective is what causes the confusion between the bird like figure which may also be a lake. It is possible that this rather abstract feeling is a deliberate decision on the part of Da Vinci. This type of abstract approach was unheard of during his era.
However, as with so much else, it is possible that this is an example of Da Vinci injecting a sense of the abstract into his art over 300 years before this became commonplace. On the other hand, it is equally possible that Da Vinci is facing the same problems with perspective that other artists of his era often struggled with.
Digital scans of Birds Eye View of a Landscape show the drawing to still be in a relatively good condition. It is possible that being stored in a private collection has actually been relatively good for the state of the drawing. Many similar sketches by Da Vinci which are on public display in the great museums of Europe are in a far poorer condition.
Some have even been the subject of fairly appalling botched restoration attempts which have done a huge amount of damage to the work. However, the fact that most of the public are unable to go and see Birds Eye View of a Landscape by themselves makes it difficult for the average member of the public to go and appreciate the work for themselves.
