Our Local Birds (2020) is an illustrated information board exploring the familiar birds we encounter in gardens, parks and urban spaces, with a particular focus on their different feeding habits.
The board features seven species: magpie, robin, blue tit, crow, wood pigeon, goldfinch, and blackbird. Rather than presenting them as a collection of bird portraits, the illustrations introduce some of the ways these familiar species interact with their environment and find food.
This was an early project exploring wildlife illustration as a form of environmental interpretation. I wanted to create something visually engaging enough to attract attention, while also giving people a chance to learn more about birds they may already encounter every day.
There is something particularly interesting about illustrating common species. Because we see birds such as robins, blackbirds, and wood pigeons so frequently, it is easy to stop really noticing them. A well-designed information board can encourage people to pause and look again, turning an everyday encounter into an opportunity to observe and learn.
Dún Laoghaire County Council financially supported the project, and it was developed as a resource for display in a school setting.
For me, projects like this sit naturally between wildlife illustration, graphic design and environmental communication. The challenge is not only to draw the species accurately, but to organise the information and imagery so that it works for someone encountering the board casually, perhaps while walking through a park or other public space.
This approach has continued to inform my work on biodiversity publications, interpretation boards and educational projects. I’m particularly interested in creating visual resources that make local wildlife easier to recognise and understand, while encouraging people to develop a closer connection with the natural environment around them.
A copy of Our Local Birds is available to purchase from my online shop.
If you are developing an illustrated information board, wildlife sign, biodiversity interpretation project or educational resource, get in touch to discuss how wildlife illustration and design could help communicate your subject.
