Today, we're delighted to introduce a new addition to our collection: the African Firefinch, a species of finch that boasts a widespread presence across the diverse habitats of sub-Saharan Africa. This charming bird is a wonderful example of the rich avian biodiversity found in this region.

The African Firefinch is known for its striking coloration, which makes it a favorite among bird enthusiasts. It comes in various subspecies, each with its own unique shade and intensity of colors. Generally, all subspecies share common color patterns, with lovely reddish underparts that provide a stark contrast to their olive-brown upperparts. However, the exact shade of red and the balance between the red and olive-brown hues can differ significantly among the subspecies.

One of the most notable features of the African Firefinch is the distinctive white spots that males of the species display on their flanks. These spots add an extra layer of beauty to their appearance and are one of the key identifiers for distinguishing males from females in the species.

Find African Firefiinch gifts on Amazon, including this Birdorable African Firefinch Raglan Tee.

Tomorrow we'll add an endangered species of spoonbill to Birdorable. Can you guess which of the 6 species of spoonbill will join the flock?

Today we start our 2020 Birdorable Bonanza with a bang! Actually… make that an IRRUPTION! We’re kicking off 29 days of new birds by dropping four finches in this “finch invasion” winter season. A bright spot in 2020, many birders are delighting at seeing these and other finches visit their feeders for the first time in many years or for the first time ever.

Northern finches follow the food, and when they have a good season, large flocks of them might congregate farther south than in other years; their gregarious groups are a delight to see.

Today’s new Birdorable finches are the Pine Siskin; the Red Crossbill; the White-winged Crossbill; and the Purple Finch.

Pine Siskins are extremely gregarious and may be found in feeding flocks of hundreds of individuals. Wow!

Crossbills are named for their specialized bills, crossed at the tip, which allows them to feed on conifer seeds by stripping cones down to reach the food inside. Different crossbills specialize in different kinds of conifer seeds. Isn’t that neat?

Male Purple Finches have a beautiful bright raspberry red, streaky plumage. Females and juveniles are duller, with little to no red, though you can see the same face mask pattern on adult females.

Find our new finches in a variety of new designs on a great assortment of apparel and other products, available in our shop.

Tomorrow our 2020 Birdorable Bonanza will continue with a bird native to Australia with a long, curved bill and a bare head. Birds of this family are found nearly all around the world. Can you guess tomorrow’s new species?

Today our 2018 Bonanza continues with a Hawaiian species of honeycreeper: the Palila!

Many species of Hawaiian honeycreeper are endangered or face threats, and the Palila is no different, unfortunately. The Palila is considered to be critically endangered, due in part to loss of habitat.

Palilas are highly dependent on the Mamane tree. This association includes using the tree as a food source and nesting habitat.

Tomorrow's new bird is Europe's largest species of pigeon. Can you guess which species it is?

Earlier this month, the Iiwi ('I'iwi), a beautiful Hawaiian finch, was introduced as the American Birding Association's Bird of the Year for 2018. We think it's an interesting and excellent choice!

In 2016 Hawaii was added the ABA Birding area by popular vote, and the process of adding species to the official checklist was completed last year. So it makes sense to feature a Hawaiian species in 2018.

The Iiwi is a type of finch, part of a group of Hawaiian honeycreepers. More than 50 species of honeycreeper used to call Hawaii home. Today less than half of those species still exist. They face threats including predation by introduced species and competition from invasive birds, as well as habitat loss and disease.

Of the native birds of Hawaii, the Iiwi is the most common.

The beautiful Iiwi can be recognized by its bold scarlet and black plumage, and by its long curved bill. In many ways the Iiwi behaves like a hummingbird, hovering in flight and drinking flower nectar.

Be sure to visit the ABA's Bird of the Year page to learn more about the Iiwi!

The 5th bird in our 2014 Bonanza is an Australian songbird, the Black-throated Finch!

Black-throated Finches are granivorous, meaning they eat seeds and grains. They are endemic to Australia, where they are found in the northeast of the country, in Queensland. Historically they were also found along the eastern coast down in New South Wales, but their numbers have been declining. The species overall has a conservation status of Least Concern, but the southern population is considered to be Vulnerable by Australian authorities. Black-throated Finches are relatively sedentary (non-migratory), though they may change location in response to food availability during times of drought. The population faces threats from several factors, including loss of habitat from human development and predation by non-native mammals.

Black-throated Finch by Tim Lenz (CC BY 2.0; modified)

To learn more about this species, visit the Black-throated Finch Recovery Team website. The Black-throated Finch joins Birdorable today, becoming our 563rd species. We now have 24 species of finch. If you can't get enough of this darling Australian finch, be sure to check out our collection of cute Birdorable Black-throated Finch t-shirts & gifts!. Our Bonanza continues tomorrow with a New World species that likes to live by water and is named for a feature on its beak. Can you guess tomorrow's species?

We're adding new birds each day until we reach our 500th Birdorable species! Today's Bonanza bird is the Hawfinch.

Look at that massive bill! Hawfinches are bulky birds, with large heads and stout bodies. Their large finch beaks have a metallic look to them. Hawfinches feed on hard seeds, including cherry pits and olive pits.

Hawfinch by  Francesco Veronesi (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Hawfinches are social, often feeding in groups -- especially in the winter. They tend to be shy around people, but will visit feeding stations that offer seeds.

Tomorrow we'll add a somewhat elusive species of heron found in the Americas. It's a small one!

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Back in March the American Birding Association (ABA) announced that their bird of the year for 2012 would be the Evening Grosbeak. We are supporting the ABA with sales of Birdorable Evening Grosbeak merchandise. Birdorable is proud to support the ABA by offering Evening Grosbeak apparel and merchandise with 25% of sales going directly to the organization. All Birdorable Evening Grosbeak designs are participating in this promotion throughout 2012! All Birdorable Evening Grosbeak products, including shirts, stickers, mugs, and mousepads, are completely customizable via our production partner Zazzle. One great thing about offering our products via Zazzle is that customers can add elements like text or photos to products to personalize them. We are offering some "pre-personalized" ABA-branded merchandise in our Birdorable shop. You can find them here: ABA Bird of the Year 2012.

Here is a very short tutorial showing how you can customize Birdorable products, using an ABA Evening Grosbeak shirt as an example. From the shop page linked above, click on the Value Shirt thumbnail. This brings you directly to the product page on Zazzle.com. Click on the orange Customize It button.

The page refreshes with a new customization menu available on the right side of the screen, shown below. Notice that there are two design elements - one text and one image. Click on Change text to customize the t-shirt text.

A small text box pops up on the screen. In this example I have changed the text to read I LOVE THE ABA. I used the text size tool to increase the font size on the caption. Here is what my new shirt looks like.

There are other customization options - you can change the font style or color, change the placement of both the bird and your caption, or even add your own images. You can add your name or anything else to the back of shirts, too! Customization tools like these are available on all Zazzle-provided products, and there is no obligation to buy - so feel free to play with the tools and let your creativity shine! We've had fun with this before on our blog, adding funny text to our Kakapo shirts when a particularly funny video clip was making the social media rounds. Check it out, and be sure to look at the shirts at the bottom of the post: Shagadelic Birdorable Kakapo. If you play around with the customization tools, feel free to show off your creations, either by commenting here on the blog or by posting on our Facebook page.

Today's new addition to Birdorable is the stocky and beautiful Eurasian Bullfinch.

Eurasian Bullfinches are stocky songbirds with gorgeous rosy-red, grey, black, and white plumage. While flashy in color, these beauties are rather shy, visiting feeding stations only if there is enough cover for a quick escape. They also travel in small groups, unlike some other, more gregarious, species of finch.

Bullfinch by chapmankj75

We're offering this new cute Birdorable bird in a few different designs. The male Bullfinch sits alone, or a small mixed flock of Bullfinches takes flight. Finally, we offer a boldly colored Eurasian Bullfinch embroidery pattern on shirts and bags.

Tomorrow's bird is a "royal" giant. Can you guess what it will be?

Today marks the official introduction of the Evening Grosbeak as the American Birding Association's Bird of the Year for 2012. It also marks the official introduction of our brand new Birdorable Evening Grosbeak!

American Birding Association (ABA) President Jeffrey A. Gordon calls Evening Grosbeaks "avian firecrackers" for their conspicuous nature, their colorful appearance, and their gregarious, noisy manner.

Gordon continues, "the ABA Bird of the Year program is all about birders being more conspicuous, and drawing attention to the excitement of birding and the fellowship of birders." Birdorable is proud to support the ABA by offering Evening Grosbeak apparel and merchandise with 25% of sales going directly to the organization. All Birdorable Evening Grosbeak designs are participating in this promotion; soon we will offer more styles featuring the ABA Bird of the Year 2012!

Be sure to visit the ABA's Bird of the Year page to learn how the Evening Grosbeak will be celebrated in several BOY events occurring throughout the year. And if you'd like some to have some Evening Grosbeak coloring fun, check out our new coloring page which features the ABA Bird of the Year 2012.

We recently added the Double-barred Finch to Birdorable. This cute little bird is also known as the Owl Finch because its facial markings resemble the disc-like appearance of some owl species. Owl Finches will visit feeders and bird baths in their native range over parts of north and east Australia, where they feed on seeds. They also eat insects. They are gregarious in nature, so Australian back yard birders may have a flock of several birds invading a feeder or bath at the same time. Check out our Owl Finch t-shirts and gifts and other Birdorable Finches.