A winged giveaway.

{Birds, randomly grouped.}

{Would you like one?}

Fifty linen-fronted birds have recently been made (as part of an order for Lee Mathews). Fifty linen birds plus two. Two extra loves, the fetching Hester and the beguiling Hennie, made to give away to two kind blog-reading souls.

All you need to do to be in the running is to leave a comment below or over here (or both to effectively double one’s chances). Crossing your fingers also helps, or so I hear. Leave mention of your favourite common bird name and you may find you’ve tripled your luck. The spine-tailed log-runner, the spotted nightjar, the rainbow-bird with its fondness for dragon-flies and robber-flies both, the budgerigar, and the spotless crake… are any of these a favourite of yours? Perhaps you prefer the speckled warbler, a bird who favours a small, hooded nest.

(Should your inner ornithologist prove too hard to summon and you don’t know a snow goose from an azure kingfisher… you’ll find a handsome list of birds here and here.)

Best of luck, friends.

{A scene viewed in the distance.}

Comments

[Kitty]

I do love birds. My favourite is the common house sparrow. Beauty in the everyday.

[Carol]

These are such fun Gracia. My favourite has to be the Barnacle Goose of course. Not Australian though so I guess my Aus fave would be the cheeky Apostle Bird - or maybe the Butcher Bird, for looks and song rather than behaviour. Too many favourites - Magpie, Currawong, Raven, Superb Blue Wren...

[louise]

I'm not entering our own competition, no, instead I'm complimenting you on your new banner. The wolf is very fetching. xo lj

[Carrie]

these birds are so cut, i just love them! and i also love reading ur blog. id have to say my favorite bird is the quail, so tiny and cute. keep up the great work!

[Marieke]

Wonderful birds! A big blue brother has a place of honour at my desk :-)

[Tiel]

how sweet. I can't go past the chestnut teal!

[Kay]

cute birds, I love the Robin, got one in my garden and he will tell me when the winter starts

[Marie-Louise]

So nice things, I like the birds so much!
And the illustrations - very great!
I vill come back soon again.

[julie]

I love the picture of them altogether - one of my faves are penguins - so beautiful and gentle in my eye.
Lovely collage too. xxx

[Jess]

Oooh -- these are just lovely. I work for a birdwatching magazine in the U.S., so my life is infused with birds every day. My favorite? Too many to choose from. It's a tie between the Blue-footed Booby (love the name, love the feet) and the American Dipper (ridiculously charming bird).

[erika]

Hi G.,
I must say that the loon is my current favorite...just finished a series on the bird over on my site. DO take a peek if you get a moment...I would love to hear your thoughts. beautiful work up above, I must say that Scene viewed from a distance is absolutely stunning. LOL- erika

[Sequana]

I love the big blue Herons.

[cally]

the linen aviary, i like it.
the patriotic part of me has always loved the Capercaillie, such a great Scottish name for a bird, and such funny things to spot.

When it come to listening, the Oystercatcher tops the bill for me, a great name, a great look and a hauntingly beautiful sound as I used sit outside on my tea break during the night shift. I heard them last week when the wind stopped and it is the most soul lifting sound.

Have awonderful March, I guess it must be autumn time where you are, hopefully a month of beauty for you. Certainly there is always beauty around from your own creations. Cally xxx

[bugheart]

the moth
collage
*faint*
is it your
200th to?
reminds me
of the
little birds gallery
bird show.
did you see it?
xo

[Veronica TM]

oh, those birds are so beautiful!! and your collage, just wonderful too.
speckled warbler is my favourite.
thank you for making two more, you will make people very happy with them.

[Diane]

How fun! I love the red winged blackbird. My husband, whose second language is English, once asked me, "What is that black bird with the red wing?" He did not believe me when I told him.

Thanks for entering me!

themommyspot(at)gmail(dot)com

[Maria Fe]

this are so GREAT!
I'm really loving the one with the white tummy and brown stripes!

[hrsj]

I have a fondness for juncos and that piece of yours above!

[lisa s]

fingers toes legs arms and tongue [well turned] crossed...
xo

[Carmen C.]

How wonderful this is! I love your lovely blog and have enjoyed reading from the sidelines, but today I had to add my .02$
Hard to choose a favorite, but if I must it would have to be the hummingbird as it reminds me of warm & sweet days...
Did you know that there are around 10,000 living species of bird known?
Thank you for the opportunity. Have a beauty-filled day...

[francesca]

ooh! me! me please!

i like the pied wagtail for some reason.

[Jenna]

Absolutely lovely! I'm home sick today so seeing these wonderful birds cheered me right up!

Thanks for the awesome inspiration.

[Sarada]

An English winter is not the same without a friendly robin perched in the garden. I also discovered a cute bird whilst in New Zealand, the faintail. One of them accompianied us on a walk, so sweet. My sister and I love checking into your blog, very inspiring, thank you. x

[alexandra Hedberg]

yes - please give me a bird as a gift! (that's not what you meant;)?)

[Jenni]

What lovely linen birds!
I actually am a bird-lover. White egrets are a favorite, and how about Haliastur sphenurus - Whistling kite?? What a name.

[risa]

gracia! i adore a scene viewed in the distance. soooooooo beautiful.
i mentioned blue-footed boobies on louise's blog but my other favorite ecuadorian bird are stinky turkeys. anything with the work stinky in it has to be pretty great, even it does smell.

[risa]

i meant word stinky, not work!

[cruststation]

Ooh, yes! how I would love to own one of youe beautiful birds. I love magpies, swallows, puffins (made famous by the book publishers) and toucans.

[Kylie]

how divine! i love the collage underneath all the birds, too - beautiful...

[Eunice]

i'll chime in with a zebrafinch (native to south america, i think). those are lovely.

[comfies]

sparrow! i love the simple brown sparrow. xo.

[amisha]

love all those birds together, and the new collage. happy wednesday g! xox

[jeanne]

Im here again to sing praise to the Crow!! And trying to get my name in the mix another time, I would so love those birds!!

[andrea (scout)]

well, i already have my own most precious blue-eyed bird, so i will not add my name to the hat. but i am quite fond of one such bird called the greater yellow legs. i have spent many hours admiring this and other birds at 'all species all the time' (thanks to you). which is your favourite, dear? :)

[Amanda Ball]

They are so lovely! I love to see the Red Breasted Nuthatch when I'm camping...partly cause I can shout out Look! a Red Breasted Nuthatch!

[claire]

there is a little shop around the corner from us, run by this man & wife... sounds lovely doesn't it!
until one day, when i was paying for my gum, the man grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards him. he started telling me things... crazy things, and i really started freaking out.
then he told me that the black birds were watching me, and to always feed them should i come across them, because they were my guardians. ALWAYS FEED THE BLACK BIRDS, he said.
and godbless.
i have never gone back to the store, but i always feed the black birds...

[kitekato]

can't go past the Willy Wagtail myself - so busy, always something to do, somewhere to go...
(Ooh, and I've just realised that I'm not even sure that that is it's proper name...)I love 'em nonetheless.

[Nancy Cook]

hello
well i adore birds and yours are very nice
even after watching 'The Birds'

[sophie bond]

Great linen birds, g and l.
my vote is for the fairy wren.

[csr]

great birds!
i am fascinated by most birds..the intelligence and "tool" use of ravens..the aesthetic decisions made by the male Bower birds in order to win the affection of a female . can i create a new bird? a mix between a raven and a bower bird?
have a lovely day.

[csr]

ps. to be more specific..about the Bowerbirds...the Vogelkop Bowerbird is the one i find the cutest..due to it´s tiny size.

[sharis]

such a thoughtful giveaway. i'd love a little bird to add to my aviary. i'm quite partial to a palm warbler. xox

[Kylie]

I must say I love the magpie for its amazing ability to adapt and adjust to urban landscapes, its wonderful call and beautiful feathers. I love watching the magpie families go about their daily life in our backyard.
- Kylie

[pve design]

chirp, chirp, come fly away with me.
will provide sun water and an artful nest.

[emilie zoey baker]

so many pretty things to store in my imagination here, I always feel like my mind has had a coffee after visiting.

[Angela Baker]

thanks for the lovely giveaway! as an incurable bird-brain, it's hard to narrow down my favorites!! my favorite bird for looks would be the crowned crane, for common name would be cedar waxwing, for affection would be slender-billed cockatoo, and for sound would be meadowlark.

[Kim]

Your birds are wonderful. Really.
I just browsed your blog and suddenly I saw these birds and they reminded me of something exctiting that has been going on in my life recently, which I will tell you now, even if it may sound odd. My American pen-pal and me, we have imaginary carrier birds (as an alternative to computer communication) and we write letters to each other. We both pretend that colorful chirping birds are delivering letters to the other's house, when in reality they are brought by busy mailmans. Not to mention the lack of beautiful plumage. If I'd win one of your birds, I would send it to my pen-pal with a message tied around its neck so that he could see that our birds do not only exist in our imagination. I like Whippoorwills. Maybe it would be a whippoorwill with the name Amundsen.

Three greetings from Germany: One with good weather, one with a mini-bouquet and one with a stapled-on smile. Et voilà!

P.S.- I apologize for my bad English.

[gracia]

House sparrows, superb blue wrens, quails that scamper and chestnut teals, robins and penguins, big blue herons and Scottish named capercaillies… so many great birds, many of which were new to me. From your speckled warblers to your red winged blackbirds and toucans, thank you so much for playing along with Louise and I.

Congratulations to Veronica (Petunia) and Lisa (Lisa’s Musings). Your names, written on yellow and black respectively, were pulled from a little tepee of cut paper strips huddled on the floor. A small and colourful paper mountain of hopefuls that later afforded Omar and Olive a little tumbling-about-in joy. Congratulations to you both. And look to your letterboxes shortly.

One or two addition folk may find a smaller little something also heading their way soon, should we be organised.

Thank you, once again, dear friends and new faces, for your interest in our handsewn birds, playing along and for listing favourite feathered friends.

take care,
g xx