metalbirds com

June 21, 2025

Metal bird silhouettes hammered into trees? Yeah, that’s a thing—and it’s cooler than it sounds.

Metalbirds.com started as a single guerrilla art experiment in New Zealand, turned grief into creativity, and now ships rust‑proof steel birds worldwide. They’re easy to install, age gracefully, and kick back a slice of every sale to real‑world bird conservation.

How a Street Art Prank Grew Wings

Picture 2009 Wellington. A designer—obsessed with Banksy stencils—cuts a life‑size tūī out of Corten steel, sneaks into a park at dawn, and hammers it into a tree. Walkers stop, double‑take, smile. That spark spread. Friends wanted their own. Soon, “one‑off prank” morphed into Metalbird.

Then life flipped. The founder’s wife died of cancer. Instead of quitting, he poured the grief into those steel silhouettes. Each install felt like pinning a memory to the landscape. People felt it too: “Put a bird up, honour someone.” That emotional fuel still powers the brand.

What You Actually Get in the Box

Open the flat‑packed envelope and you’ll find:

A laser‑cut Corten steel bird—think garden decor meets sculpture.
A built‑in spike. No brackets, no screws.
One‑page instructions that basically say, “Grab a hammer. Go outside.”

Corten’s the same stuff used on weathering‑steel bridges. It rusts—on purpose—but only the surface. That patina locks the metal, so your cardinal or hummingbird keeps its shape for decades. No flaking, no orange streaks down the trunk.

Install: 30 Seconds, Tops

Pick a post, fence, or tree. Hold the bird parallel to the ground, give the spike three solid whacks, and you’re done. No pilot holes, no level, no ladder (unless you want it really high). Kids treat installs like treasure hunts; grandparents love showcasing them at backyard BBQs.

Birds That Match the ZIP Code

Metalbird doesn’t blast the same catalog at every country. In the U.S. you get bald eagles, blue jays, cardinals, and ruby‑throated hummingbirds. Australians snag kookaburras and cockatoos. Europeans claim robins and kingfishers. That local touch matters—seeing a familiar species in steel feels like a salute to home turf.

Why “World’s Largest Art Project” Isn’t Hype

Count every install from Oregon to Oslo and you’ve got a sprawling open‑air gallery stitched together by social media. People post their birds in snow, desert, city balconies. Scroll the #metalbird hashtag: it’s a crowdsourced exhibition without a curator.

Conservation Cred That Isn’t Just Marketing Fluff

Ten percent of every sale goes to BirdLife International. That’s habitat protection, anti‑poaching patrols, the un‑glam stuff that keeps real birds alive. Buying a silhouette literally funds the feathered version outside your window. It’s guilt‑free retail therapy.

Gifting Angle: The Safest “I Remember You” Present

Forgot Mother’s Day until Thursday? Express shipping a cardinal beats frantic flower‑shop runs. Metalbirds ship flat, fit in a mailbox, and stay impressive longer than tulips. People also latch onto the memorial angle—steel birds don’t wilt, so they make poignant grave‑side markers or backyard tributes.

Durability Stories From Real Backyards

In Minnesota, a customer hammered a chickadee into a birch during a July heatwave. Minus‑30 °F winters didn’t bend it. Three years later, the bark swallowed half the spike, and the bird looks intentionally “nested.”
In coastal Florida, salt air faded a wooden deck in months, yet the osprey silhouette just deepened its bronze hue—no pitting, no flakes.

The Buy‑With‑Prime Perk

U.S. shoppers can check out through Amazon and still support the small business. Prime handles the shipping; Metalbird handles the feel‑good story. Win‑win.

Brand Personality in the Wild

Their socials read like a witty park ranger’s diary: photos of birds mid‑install, pun‑heavy captions (“Wood you look at that”). Instagram lives show staff sanding wings, not stock footage. That transparency builds trust—customers see actual welders, not faceless factories.

Local Factories, Global Footprint

Every region cuts and packages its own stock—U.S. birds made in Michigan, Aussie birds in Melbourne. That slashes shipping emissions and pumps cash into local metal shops instead of one giant overseas plant.

What Makes People Come Back for More?

Collect‑’em‑all effect. First you buy a cardinal, then notice the empty fence post.
Seasonal installs. Folks swap in owls for Halloween, robins for spring.
Gift chain. A recipient becomes a customer, sends one to someone else, loop continues.

Not Perfect—But Close

Biggest gripe? Limited poses—most species come in one silhouette. If variety matters, you either buy another bird or wait for new releases. Also, Corten’s initial rust can rub off on hands during install—wear gloves if you’re manicure‑proud.

Closing Thought

Metalbird is what happens when street art meets clever engineering and a cause. It turns a hammer, a tree, and a slice of steel into a tiny burst of joy—and that’s hard to beat.