Realistic puppeteers?

[YoyoYoda]

Maybe this is the wrong place to post it, since 'realistic' puppetry isn't the prime focus of the Henson style - but they did quite a bit of it for Labyrinth and Dark Crystal, as well as other projects the company worked on for seperate productions.
I'm wondering if anyone here has any experience in realistic puppets - made for special effects, with the intention to be believable and acting alongside of human beings. Building a realistic looking cat, for example, and figuring out how to move it in a way that looks like a cat (movements, etc).

I'm going to be working on some puppets over summer (I haven't built anything more complicated than a sock puppet before) and I'm going to try for some birds - birdlike movements, quick wrist movements, I figure they kind of work together. Any advice? Am I completely mad to be even thinking about doing this?

I do have some experience in sculpting, casting, and sewing, so I'm not ... completely inexperienced.

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I've done a fair bit of realistic puppetry - animals in theatre and a little FX-type stuff here and there. There's some links to info on animatronics/FX puppets on my website here. Maybe those will help.

 

[zoetrope]

Watch "Emmitt Otter's Jugband Christmas" which has lots of realistic birds flying through the backgrounds and some cool ducks in the opening scenes. Plus it's a great show. It might give you some ideas. The main characters are not realistic however, so there's only a few spots here and there that will be relevant.