18 August 2026 · 10 min read · by Warwick Levy

GIFT GUIDE: What to get someone who's really into birds

If you're gift hunting for a birdwatcher, we're here to help. You're sure to find the perfect present below, whether you're after goodies for upcoming Father's Day, a birthday, or getting prepped for Christmas.

Bird people are not subtle. There are binoculars near the back door. Dinner conversation stops mid-sentence because something interesting landed outside. They have opinions about ibis and they're ready to defend them. You already know if you have one of these people in your life, and if you're here, you do.

The good news is they're a dream to buy for, because the bird thing is bottomless. The trick is matching the shirt to their particular strain of it: the serious lister with a life list, the magpie sympathiser, the one who thinks bin chickens deserve respect, or the one who just likes drawings of very good birds.

Here are 38 options, from proper hand-drawn bird art to birds holding knives. Everything is designed in house or by the independent artists we work with, printed to order in our Sydney studio. Adult unisex sizing, XS to 5XL. Every picture goes straight to the product.

38 gift ideas for the bird person in your life

Brenda The Birdwatcher Tee A peregrine falcon in a bucket hat, binoculars on, field guide in wing. Brenda is a retired science teacher working through her life list. Hand-drawn in coloured pencil by Kayla Reay, and yes, a bird who birdwatches.	Phone Wallet Keys Binoculars Tee The full checklist before leaving the house. If your bird person has ever turned the car around for the binoculars, this is documentary, not comedy.
Certified Bird Nerd Tee Drawn by Bridget Farmer, printmaker and bird illustrator from rural Victoria, whose books your bird person may already own. The certification is self-issued and permanent.	Bird Noticer Tee For the person one step below birdwatcher. No list, no app, no dawn starts. They just notice birds, constantly, and would like you to notice them too.
Chosen Violence Tee A magpie, wings out, under a lovely rainbow reading "I have chosen violence." Every September, somewhere in Australia, this is simply the news.	On The Loose Tee Silly goose on the loose, and the goose is going for a knife. Every group chat has one member this shirt was made for.
Attempted Murder Tee Two crows. A group of crows is a murder, and two isn't quite enough. The collective-noun joke every bird person respects.	Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos Tee A flock of yellow-tails in flight, inked on a yellow tee. If your person stops walking and points at the sky when these fly over, and they all do, here it is in wearable form.
Springtime Magic Tee A grid of magpie close-ups, staring back at you. "Springtime magic" is one way to describe what they do to cyclists in September.	Gang Gang Gang Gang Tee A gang-gang cockatoo as a small chest print. The bird is called a gang-gang. The shirt says it four times. This is the correct number of times.
I Have Binned Ibis Tee "Forgive me Lord, for I have binned." An ibis rendered in full stained-glass glory, chip packet in beak. The bin chicken finally gets the religious art it deserves.	Kookaburra Corolla Tee Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree? No. Kookaburra sits on a purple Corolla in front of a vaporwave sunset. The song needed updating and we updated it.
Flamin' Galah Tee A galah, in actual flames, for the Alf Stewart fan in your life. Twenty years of Home and Away insults, finally taken literally.	I May Be Dumb Tee A pigeon, photographed like an album cover, admitting what we were all thinking. The sentence doesn't finish and it doesn't need to.
Spotted Pardalotes Tee Two spotted pardalotes among the wattle. Tiny, spectacular, and criminally under-merchandised until now. The lister in your life will know exactly why this matters.	Protect Powerful Owls Tee Australia's biggest owl, staring straight through you. Both a conservation message and the most metal name in Australian birding, printed exactly as seriously as it deserves.
Quismas Quacker Tee A duck in a Santa hat. Quismas quacker. The Christmas gift that says the joke out loud at the table, so nobody else has to.	Away With The Fairies Tee Fairy-wrens, for the person who is away with them. The daydreamer's shirt, with Australia's most charming little bird doing the daydreaming.
Diamond Firetails Tee Three diamond firetails on gum branches, on camel. A finch with a red tail and white diamonds down its side, drawn like it knows it's a big deal.	Emu Wren And Flowers Tee A tiny emu-wren on a bunch of flannel flowers, painted by Kirsty McIntyre. This is the proper-art end of the page, for the person who'd frame it if it weren't a shirt.
White Faced Heron Tee A white-faced heron mid-stalk, painted by Kirsty McIntyre. The bird every Australian has watched standing dead still in a drain, finally given a proper portrait.	Perfectly Pelican Tee A pelican on a post, painted by Kirsty McIntyre, looking like it owns the jetty because it does. Perfectly pelican is the only honest title.
Magpie Warble Tee A magpie in the wattle, painted by Kirsty McIntyre. The other side of the swooping discourse: the best song in the country, free, every morning.	Honeyeater And Kangaroo Paw Tee A honeyeater working a kangaroo paw, butterflies in attendance, painted by Kirsty McIntyre. Two natives on one shirt, which is efficient patriotism.
Giddy Aunt Tee A cockatoo hanging upside down off a branch, because that's what cockatoos do when nobody's grading them. For the aunt in question, honestly.	Lorikeet Lovers Tee Two lorikeets pressed together on a gum branch, painted by Kirsty McIntyre. Lorikeets pick a partner and shout at everything else together forever, which is the dream.
Clive The Cyclist Tee A magpie in full lycra and a helmet with spikes on it, standing proudly beside his bike. Kayla Reay has drawn the magpie as the cyclist, and the role reversal fixes everything.	Pride Flag & Lorikeets Tee Two rainbow lorikeets carrying the progress pride flag, drawn by Kayla Reay. The one bird that was already dressed for the occasion.
Gail The Gull Tee A seagull in a chip shop apron, holding the chips. Kayla Reay has finally put the gull on the right side of the counter, and Gail looks like she's been waiting her whole life for it.	Baz The Bin Man Tee An ibis in hi-vis and a hard hat, on the job at a bin, pigeon offsider in tow. Kayla Reay's argument that the bin chicken isn't scavenging, he's working. Baz has a family.
Corey The Cricketer Tee A plover in a baggy green, leaning on his bat. Plovers already spend every summer defending a patch of oval against all comers, so Kayla Reay has just made it official.	Basil The Butcher Tee A butcherbird in a butcher's apron above a "famous meat pies" sign, by Kayla Reay. The name was right there and somebody finally did it.
Swoopy Boy Tee A scribbly magpie and two words. He swoops because he loves. This page's third magpie, because one magpie is never enough magpies.	Space Lorikeet Tee A lorikeet in an astronaut helmet, mid-flight through the stars. No pun, no joke, just a lorikeet in space, and sometimes that's the whole gift.
Never Made For Flight Tee "Fight or flight. I was never made for flight." A penguin with a knife, in full metal-band layout. The penguin understands its situation and has made a decision.	I Cry When It Rains Tee A yellow-tailed black cockatoo in a prize ribbon. They're the bird that's supposed to herald rain, so this one's for the sensitive types, bird and wearer both.
Laugh It Off Tee A kookaburra in a rosette: "when your feelings are weird, laugh it off." Questionable advice from a bird that has never once stopped laughing. Companion piece to the crying cockatoo.	Get This Bread Tee "I alone shall get this bread." Two pigeons, styled like a Japanese metal poster, with the hustle-culture slogan returned to the animals who invented it.

Still stuck? Pick by what kind of bird person they are

Bird people come in strains. Match the strain:

Actual birdwatcher, owns the app, has a list: Brenda The Birdwatcher, Phone Wallet Keys Binoculars, Certified Bird Nerd, Spotted Pardalotes, Diamond Firetails, Protect Powerful Owls.
Bird noticer, not quite birdwatcher: Bird Noticer, Away With The Fairies, Giddy Aunt, Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoos.
Wants bird art, not bird jokes: the Kirsty McIntyre paintings: Emu Wren, White Faced Heron, Perfectly Pelican, Magpie Warble, Honeyeater, Lorikeet Lovers.
Magpie sympathiser: Chosen Violence, Springtime Magic, Swoopy Boy, Clive The Cyclist, Magpie Warble.
Believes bin chickens are misunderstood: I Have Binned, Baz The Bin Man.
Backyard birds with day jobs: the Kayla Reay characters: Brenda, Clive, Gail, Baz, Corey, Basil.
Chaotic bird energy: On The Loose, Never Made For Flight, Get This Bread, I May Be Dumb, Flamin' Galah, Quismas Quacker, Kookaburra Corolla.

And if 38 somehow isn't enough, the full bird collection has the rest, with the wider animals range behind it.

You can also check out our other gift guides for cinephiles, nerds, Aussie millennials, foodies, kind people, tired people, eco warriors, grumpy bastards, and pun lovers.

Why bird people are easy to buy for

Most hobbies are hard to shop for because the person already owns the gear and has strong opinions about brands. Birds are different. The hobby is looking at things, the gear is binoculars they already have, and the merchandise gap is enormous. Bird people spend years being handed generic owl mugs by people who mean well. A shirt with the actual bird they care about, drawn properly, lands like nothing else you could spend the same money on.

There's also the identification reflex. A bird person cannot see a bird on someone's shirt without identifying it. Every one of these will get their species named on first viewing, which for the wearer is the entire point.

If you don't know their bird, that's the one real risk, and the gift card removes it. Or just check which bird photos they take. There will be photos.

What you're actually buying

Everything here is designed in house or by the independent artists we work with, then printed to order in our Sydney studio. Printed in Australia, not made in Australia, and we'd rather say that plainly than be vague about it. The blanks are ethically sourced AS Colour, the inks are OEKO-TEX certified, and our printing has been carbon neutral since 2021.

The bird range leans harder on real artists than anything else we do. Bridget Farmer is a printmaker and bird illustrator from rural Victoria. Kayla Reay hand-draws her characters in coloured pencil and gives every bird a name and a job. Kirsty McIntyre paints the portrait pieces. Buying these supports working Australian artists, and a portion of every sale goes to Australian charity on top of that.

Questions people ask before buying this stuff

What do you buy someone who loves birds?

Their bird, specifically. A generic bird print says "I noticed you like birds." A spotted pardalote says "I have listened to you talk about spotted pardalotes." If you don't know their bird, the birdwatching-joke shirts like Brenda or Phone Wallet Keys Binoculars work for every bird person regardless of allegiance.

Are these real Australian species?

Mostly, and the bird person will absolutely check. Pardalotes, diamond firetails, powerful owls, gang-gangs, yellow-tailed black cockatoos, emu-wrens: all real, all drawn recognisably. The pigeons holding knives are less field-guide accurate, but so are pigeons.

Is there a good gift here for a serious birdwatcher rather than a casual bird liker?

The serious ones tend to go for either the accurate art (the Kirsty McIntyre and Bridget Farmer pieces) or the hyper-specific jokes (Phone Wallet Keys Binoculars, Brenda). What they don't want is a cartoon owl with big eyes, which is why we don't sell one.

How do I get their size right without asking?

Fits are relaxed and unisex, XS to 5XL. Go with whatever size they wear in a normal t-shirt, and size up one if they like things oversized. Measurements are on every product page.

Are these adult sizes?

Adult unisex only. Despite the name, Lonely Kids Club is an adult label. The smaller sizes fit most teenagers fine.

How long will it take to arrive?

Everything is printed to order, so leave time for us to make it before it ships. Current production and delivery times are on the shipping page. Order earlier than feels necessary if it's for a birthday.

Designed and printed in Sydney since 2011. Original designs, printed to order, and permanently on the side of the magpie.