Your bird is cool, love those wings.  I'm jealous, so many talented folks here. 

Cool way to do it. I'm experimenting with umbrellas, too. I got the idea here:

the hand mech the guy makes is awesome

http://theabstractions.com/hand.html

Brilliant! now just make sure you keep them clipped or he might really fly away. great job!

@Rymanofsteel: THANK YOU ever so much! That was just what I was looking for!

Thanks for all the compliments guys. 

I'm planning on making another puppet with wings soon.  I'm thinking some kind of flying monster, but I'm not really sure.  I also want to make a bigger bird, like a Bald Eagle.

Those mechanical hands that are shown above are pretty cool.  I was working on something similar for rabbit ears, but couldn't get it to work quite the way that I wanted it to. 

@Rymanofsteel: THANK YOU ever so much! That was just what I was looking for!

thanks. i'm gonna give that a try as well