African Pygmy Falcons live in dry bush in parts of eastern and southern Africa. These little cuties measure just over seven inches long, making them the smallest bird of prey found in all of Africa.

African Pygmy Falcons, also known simply as Pygmy Falcons, have a unique way of nesting. They use empty compartments in large Sociable Weaver nest structures, or abandoned nests made by other weaver species. Pygmy Falcons are also known to nest in polyandrous groups, with more adult birds than just the breeding pair caring for nestlings and chicks. The African Pygmy Falcon was added to Birdorable on April 25, 2012. If you can't get enough of these adorable little raptors, be sure to check out our range of unique Pygmy Falcon t-shirts and gifts!

Stuck inside on a cold or snowy day? Have some cute bird fun with our free Birdorable Coloring pages! We've got six holiday-themed pages plus thirteen other single-bird drawings ready for your creative coloring skills! Each of the single-bird coloring pages has some fun basic facts about the species - so you'll learn a bit about the birds as you color them in!

Have you used our coloring pages at home, in your classroom, or at an event? We’d love to hear about it! Send us photos of the pages in action, or the final result – we may showcase them on our blog!

The Corn Crake is a migratory species of rail that breeds across temperate parts of Eurasia and winters in southern Africa. When they return to their breeding grounds in the spring, male Corn Crakes call out to establish territory and to attract a mate. The call sounds like this:

This may not be the most melodious song, but it is remarkable due to the fact that it can be heard from up to a mile away and repeated more than 20,000 times a night! That's a lot of sound coming from an 11-inch tall bird. The Corn Crake (also known as Corncrake) was added to Birdorable on August 21, 2012. If you love these little loudmouths -- er, loudbeaks -- be sure to check out our collection of cute Corn Crake t-shirts and gifts!

Add Birdorable birds to your Christmas gift wrapping this year for some cute holiday cheer! Here are two fun ideas that combine our cartoon cuties with your own creativity!

Free Birdorable labels to print out and color

Print out our free downloadable PDF holiday labels. Use watercolor paint, crayons, markers, or colored pencils to color the birds. Cut out the finished birds and use tape or glue to attach them to your wrapped holiday gifts! Choose from Northern Cardinal, Tufted Titmouse, or screech owl.

Use Zazzle's tools to design your own Birdorable gift labels

Here are step-by-step instructions you can use to design personalized Birdorable gift label stickers for purchase. In this example, we'll design gift labels featuring one of our favorite birds, the Red-breasted Nuthatch. 1. Pick your bird! Visit Birdorable.com, click on Meet the Birds, and use the search box to find the Red-breasted Nuthatch species page. 2. Choose your design! Look at the Birdorable designs featuring the Red-breasted Nuthatch. For this example, we'll use Nuthatch Santa. 3. Start with a sticker! On the page featuring Nuthatch Santa apparel and gifts, find a sticker. Any sticker will do to start. Click on the square sticker to bring up the product page on Zazzle.com. 4. Customize it! Click on the orange Customize it! button to make changes to the sticker. Customization tools allow you to change things like the background color and design size and placement. The below video shows how customization works for some of these attributes.

You can make these kind of creative changes to all of our customizable stickers. So get creative and have fun! Happy holidays!

Our American friends are preparing to celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, which means that the holidays are just around the corner! We'd like to highlight just a few new products, popular products, and new designs that would make perfect gifts for the bird-lover on your holiday gift list.

Gifts For Owl Lovers

There's no doubt that owls are a hot design trend this year. Cute cartoon owls are especially popular. There are a lot of pastel or brightly colored owls on the market, but here at Birdorable we pride ourselves on designing cartoon birds that are totally cute and naturally accurate - though we aren't against adding a little whimsy to our designs. Case-in-point: our most popular seller this year has been Owls are Cool, which features a Birdorable Barred Owl wearing a cool pair of shades. Have a look at all of our cute owl gifts.

For Your Holiday Gift Exchange: Shop by Price

We have improved the shop-by-price function on Birdorable.com. In the upper left corner there is a handy box which lists gift recipients and gift price ranges. If you click on one of the price range links, you can see a list of all products within that range. The new functionality allows for searching for specific products and/or birds within a price range. For example, you can search for Barn Owl t-shirts priced between $25 and $35, Christmas ornaments priced $15 to $20, or Bald Eagle gifts from $7 to $13.

Fun Ideas for Backyard Birders

If you have someone on your list who loves feeding birds, let them show off their hobby with a cute t-shirt! We've got designs for sharing Backyard Bird love plus a special design for those across the pond who feed their garden birds. If your recipient has a special favorite bird, browse through our species pages to find the perfect gift!

Think Green with Sustainable Gifts

Promote conservation at home with reuseable water bottles and cloth grocery and tote bags.

NEW! Smartphone Cases for Everyone

We have cases for iPhone 5 cases; iPhone 4 cases; iPhone 3 cases; Droid RAZR phone cases; HTC Vivid cases; Samsung Galaxy S3 cases; Samsung Galaxy S2 cases; and Blackberry cases. Some of these cases are brand new in our shop and have not been added with all of our designs so far. If there is a case you want with a certain design, let us know and we'll add it as soon as we can!

Pictured: One Day I'm Going To Be The Pope! iPhone 3 case; Philippine Eagle HTC Vivid case; Four Color Warblers Blackberry case; Puffin Prowess iPhone 4 case; Leach's Storm Petrel iPhone 5 case We've got accessories for other electronic devices, too. Check out our growing collection of iPad cases & folios; iPod Touch cases; iPad mini cases; and Kindle Keyboard cases We've also got new apparel options, plus brand new birds will be added each week right up until the end of the year. We're really gearing up for Christmas! As you prepare for the coming season, we wish you and all of our Birdorable fans tranquility, peace, and love during this season, and all throughout the year.

Bohemian Waxwings are on the move this winter! A poor berry crop in their northern range may be driving them outside of their usual winter haunts. Flocks have been seen around southern Lake Michigan and individuals have been reported in many northeastern states in the U.S. The birds have also been reported in the Netherlands, where they rarely make an appearance.

Bohemian Waxwings aren't the only northern birds showing up further south this winter. Evening Grosbeaks, crossbills, Red-breasted Nuthatches, redpolls and other finch species are irrupting all over. Have you had any special winter visiters at your feeders so far this season? The Bohemian Waxwing was added to Birdorable on November 13, 2012. If you love these beautiful birds, be sure to check out our fun and cute Bohemian Waxwing t-shirts and gifts!

American Redstarts are migratory warblers found across parts of North America. They winter in the Caribbean and parts of Central and South America. These little cuties are named for their tails. Wait, what?

In Old English, the word for tail was steort, or start. Though the American Redstart's tail feathers are more orange than red, we can at least understand from where the 'start' part of the name comes. There is an entire family of birds found in the Old World known as redstarts. These are flycatchers, not warblers. American Redstarts are warblers, but they feed mainly by flycatching. Confused yet? If you were an insect, you might be. American Redstarts flare their tails to flash, startle and confuse potential prey items (insects). Both males and females do this, as you can see in the below photos.

American Redstart [male] by Wildreturn

American Redstart (female) by Jeremy Meyer

The American Redstart was added to Birdorable on October 18, 2012. If you can't get enough of these flashy little warblers, be sure to check out our great collection of American Redstart t-shirts and gifts!

Leach's Storm-Petrels live a remarkably long life for being so small. A lifespan of up to 36 years is not unheard of for this pelagic (sea-dwelling) species. This is about 25 years longer than would be expected for a bird this size! Why is this? Telomeres are pieces of DNA that alleviate cell division and oxidation. Longer telomeres usually occur in younger living things; telomeres typically shorten as aging occurs. However, the telomeres in Leach's Storm Petrels appear to actually grow with age. Does this mean that Leach's Storm-Petrels are immortal? In theory, maybe. But the birds still die. Their remarkable cell structure is an interesting source of study for scientists. Leach's Storm Petrel was added to Birdorable on October 13, 2012. If you can't get enough of this cute, little, and possibly immortal pelagic bird, be sure to check out our range of Leach's Storm Petrel gifts and apparel! Further reading:

• Living the pelagic life: of oil, enemies, giant eggs and telomeres (petrels part II)
• Wikipedia: Leach's Storm Petrel
• How Telomeres Work

Falconry is the sport of hunting with a trained bird of prey. Peregrine Falcons have been popular birds among falconers for thousands of years. When the species became endangered due to pesticide use in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, the expertise of falconers was instrumental in the eventual recovery of the species. In 1970, the North American population was believed to be just 10 or 20 percent of its historical average. The species was added to the Endangered Species list in 1975; at that time there were just 324 known nesting pairs in the United States. Harmful pesticides like DDT were banned, but the population needed additional help in order to increase their numbers.

Because Peregrine Falcons breed successfully in captivity, falconers continued to raise and hunt with captive-reared birds during the time it became endangered in the wild. Later, captive breeding and release programs in the United States, Germany, and elsewhere were extremely successful. These were done with cooperation between government agencies, non-government conservation groups, and experienced falconers. Today, the Peregrine Falcon is no longer on the Endangered Species list and populations have rebounded across much of their near-worldwide range. Peregrines have adapted to nest in urban and suburban settings. In the United States, many urban Peregrine Falcon nests are monitored by volunteers or via remote cameras. Birdorable fans know that our favorite Peregrine Falcon camera is the Rfalconcam in Rochester, New York.

Earlier this year we were asked by quilter Kate C. if she could use our cute Scarlet Macaw illustration as an inspiration for part of a quilt she was making for her granddaughter. We kindly agreed! Kate send us this photo of the macaw in the finished quilt. Isn't that cute?!

Thank you, Kate!