The concept of Metalbird was born in New Zealand in 2009. It began as a street art project and 10 years later has morphed into a global art project with product sold throughout New Zealand, Australia, Europe, the UK and now North America.
A copper chromium alloy steel, our Premium Corten® Steel is weather resistant – it’s designed to quickly develop a patina, which then gives a layer of protection sealing in the steel and preserving it. It means that Metalbirds last for decades, with a patina that changes with the seasons. Corten® Steel is the steel you see use in high end exterior architecture. Once it develops a patina it looks beautiful for years
The short answer is 'yes'. The better answer is our birds are made from Premium Corten® Steel which is a weathering steel. It's designed to develop a patina that then seals in the steel providing it with long term protection against the elements. We started the business 10 years ago in New Zealand and birds installed at the start still look great today with a beautiful patina that shifts with the season.
Metalbirds are made from Premium Corten® Steel which is designed to develop a patina (or surface rust). This gives them long term protection against the elements, and a beautiful patina that shifts with the season.
It would be easier (and cheaper) to make our product in a far off, distant land. We’re happy to say that every one of our birds is proudly made the USA! Thank you for supporting ‘Made in the USA’.
Not really – Metalbirds are made from Premium Corten® Steel which is designed to weather naturally and not be painted. It doesn’t mean you can’t but we kind of like them the way they are and unless you do a wonderful job prepping the surface, the paint is likely to come off. If you really, really want to add colour to them, then we recommend having them professionally powder coated.
They have been designed as a collaboration between the North American Metalbird team and the New Zealand Metalbird team – these designs are exclusive to Metalbird. The lead designer is Phil Walters who started this crazy dream over 10 years ago in New Zealand.
A lot of love, skill and time goes into the creation of one bird. All up, over a week’s work to get it just right! We’re a small team and at this stage it just isn't feasible for us to do small one-off projects - as much as we'd love to. If you have something larger in mind though please get in touch by emailing info@metalbird.com and we'll see if we can help.
No – while we’re not sure what goes through a real Nuthatch’s mind when it sees a Great Horned Owl Metalbird, however, judging from the thousands of photos we’ve seen, real birds love sitting on, or next to our art pieces.
The hard part is picking the perfect location where the bird can be seen and is ideally silhouetted against the clear sky or a light single colour… take your time, find the perfect spot and be the artist.
The easy part is installing it. Simply grab a hammer and tap, tap, tap it into a tree or post. If the wood is particularly hard, drill a hole a little smaller than the spike, and then hammer it in firmly making sure there is no movement in the bird.
While anything that breaks the bark of a tree provides an opportunity for infection, in 10 years of running this project around the world we have yet to hear of a single tree that has died as a result of one of our birds being nailed into it. Our original birds are a decade old and the trees are showing no long-term damage whatsoever
I guess what happens is that the spike on our birds is driven firmly in with little room to allow infection. Over time the tree will seal off around where the bird has been installed to protect itself from disease.
We're not saying that it's not a potential issue. We're just saying that we don't believe it’s a big issue. In saying that… I'm glad I'm not a tree!
Absolutely… in fact, over half of the birds we sell are gifts. Just tell us the name and postal address of the lucky person and we’ll send it to them in its own beautiful recycled gift box. When you check out, you can even get us to insert a personalised message that our team will handwrite it on a beautiful card. And no… we won’t put anything in the box showing how much it cost. That will be emailed to you.
You have the right to cancel your Metalbird.com gift voucher within 14 working days of receipt provided that you have not used the gift voucher. In case of cancellation, Metalbird will refund the amount of the gift voucher to the original payment method used during ordering within 14 days of cancellation.
Don’t you hate it when gift vouchers expire? Well great news Metalbird gift vouchers are valid forever and only expire once you’ve used them! Feel free to redeem at a time that works for you… or pass it on to your family or to your friends.
Metalbird gift vouchers work just as you’d expect to use any other form of payment. Add your items to cart and proceed to the check out to finalise your order payment. If you get carried away and buy more than what the voucher is valued for, simply top up the final amount with your credit card or Paypal.
Realistically most discount codes cannot be applied to gift vouchers. The exception is a product specific discount code where the product is the gift voucher.
Yes! Please note though, for purchases outside of the USA, Metalbird is not responsible for taxes, customs charges, duties, and restrictions that vary from country to country and result from the importation of certain products.
Delivery times can vary but the table below contains the indicative delivery times provided by Fedex when you choose standard delivery option at checkout.
USA
Standard Shipping
1 to 4 days
CANADA
Standard Shipping
1 to 4 days
GLOBAL
Standard Shipping
7 to 10 days
Note* 2-day shipping and 1-day shipping options are available on checkout and delivered by Fedex for USA and CANADA.
2-day shipping and 1-day shipping options are available on checkout and delivered by Fedex for USA and CANADA. Cost will be calculated based on shipping location, item weight and service selected
If you are ordering from overseas, shipping costs can be found when checking out. If your country is not available, send us an email at info@metalbird.com and we can arrange shipping to your country.
No way… you’d kill us if it was a present! All order information will be emailed to the address you give us when checking out. We don't put anything in the shipment in case it's a gift for someone!
All our US and Canada orders are shipped with Fedex and Global orders with USPS. You will be sent a tracking number when your order is sent so you can follow your Metalbird's journey
We aim to have orders placed before midday shipped the same day but almost always within two business days to ensure you receive your Metalbird promptly.
Once your order has left our warehouse, we are no longer able to change the address or make any other amendments. If you still require a change of address, you must sign up with FedEx Delivery Manager, and request a change of address on delivery at a cost of $5.55 per package.
To receive alerts, provide delivery instructions, schedule a delivery, or deliver to another address, you can create a complimentary account with FedEx here to manage your delivery: https://www.fedex.com/apps/fdmenrollment/
