Metal Bird - Black Robin

Our Robin is:

• 12cm high by 31cm wide (includes measurement of the branch/spike)
• Easily installed with the tap of a hammer (pre-drill hard wood)
• Crafted in 3mm Corten® 'weathering' Steel to form a beautiful patina that changes with the seasons

The pretty, round Chatham Island Black Robin (Karure/Kakaruia) is a tiny miracle. In the early 80s it was the world’s rarest bird – the population was down to a single egg-laying female. A successful breeding programme turned it around and the world cheered as it came back from certain extinction. While the Black Robin is still desperately rare, the population now sits at 250-300 birds. We can’t sing the praises of this lovely songbird enough. It deserves to be honoured in your backyard.

METAL BIRD

Metalbird is the brainchild of Phil Walters, an industrial designer and lover of street art and New Zealand’s native flora and fauna.

His handcrafted artworks bring together his passions: the tough, 3mm Corten® steel and stencil design, a nod to his urban art roots. The birds are inspired by the mysterious, satirical street artist Banksy – the stencils look as if street art has turned 3D.

Metalbird started as a guerrilla street art project. All over New Zealand’s North Island, more than 40 life-sized, Metalbird stencils appeared. In parks, in fences and on power poles – anywhere you’d least expect. And people loved them.

"Our designs represent some of New Zealand’s most precious birdlife. Art isn’t just something you see on a gallery wall – it can be the way the light shines through a coloured window or the splash of spray-paint on a city overpass. Art can be something you see, hear, taste or touch. But most of all, it’s something you experience – bringing with it memories and emotions"