Birds of Texas print

No state in the country holds more birds than Texas. The official checklist runs to 677 species, gathered where four flyways and four ecologies meet: desert scrub, subtropical river forest, Hill Country juniper, barrier-island shore. This plate brings the signature birds of that vast list onto a single sheet, composed in the Audubon tradition of close observation and honest colour.

At the centre is the Northern Mockingbird, named the state bird in 1927, a fighter for his own square of ground who sings through April nights. Around him gather the birds Texans know best. The crimson Northern Cardinal and his pale desert cousin the Pyrrhuloxia, sorted by rainfall and brush. The soft grey Mourning Dove, on nearly half of all Texas checklists. The tall, patient Great Blue Heron at the water’s edge, and the Sandhill Crane that winters on the central coast. A Ruby-throated Hummingbird at a blossom, and a Turkey Vulture riding the thermals overhead. One plate, the breadth of a state.

The print

A fine-art print in the Audubon tradition, drawn in the naturalist’s style of close observation and honest colour. Composed for the wall, with each bird given room to breathe across the sheet. Printed to order on archival paper so the colour holds true for decades.

Paper and finish

Unframed prints come on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm, a heavyweight cotton rag with a soft matte surface and true archival life. The framed option is a different stock: Enhanced Matte 200gsm, set in a classic moulding, mounted and glazed, ready to hang straight from the box. Choose your frame in black, brown, dark grey or gold.

Sizes

Three sizes: A4, A3 and A2. Prints from $39. Framed from $109.

How to hang it

A composite plate likes a little space, so give it a wall of its own. A warm white or soft sage ground lets the cream and the cardinal red carry. For the framed version, a brown or dark grey moulding suits the earthy palette, while gold lifts it in a brighter room. Hang it at eye level where the light falls across the sheet, and the smaller birds reveal themselves the longer you look.

A whole state, gathered on one wall.

Birds of Texas field guide: /state/texas/

More Texas prints: /plates/state/texas/

Printed on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag 308gsm.