Wow, what a whirlwind of a launch. You fully funded Pocket Birds in 1 hour and 36 minutes! Incredible!
Now that Pocket Birds is really truly happening, we have started reaching out to artists and writers for the Common Nighthawk, Sandhill Crane, and Atlantic Puffin issues! We will share the new covers and art for those issues as they're made.
Latest Community Bird Stories
Part of why we are making Pocket Birds is because we want to hear and share your bird stories and experiences with the community! Here is a fun one submitted by Anonymous Toucan from New Zealand!
Our backyard always had massive Kererū in it who would gorge themselves on hot berries in the summer and then become so full and effectively drunk they’d waddle around on the ground unable to fly. You could walk up to them in this state and they wouldn’t seem to mind. We once had to capture a dizzy Kaka (green and umbre parrot, eats fruit) in our yard that had crashed into a window, to get it checked up by a local bird rescue. It’s whole Hoon (sort of a parliament) gathered round to watch and then followed the van to the rescue centre. surreal how much they seemed to understand. My favourite bird has to be the Silvereye or bushman’s friend, which self introduced here 200 years ago and earned the Reo Māori name Tōhou, meaning stranger.
Our next poll is up! Come vote for which Seabird you'd like to see for Issue 06 at the bottom of this update!
Poll closes Friday July 10th!
Test Prints and stickers arrived!
With Issue 01 being complete, we got proof prints in, and they look great! There are some paper weights and finishes we're going to tweak to make them feel even better to hold and use, but otherwise, I think we are good to go!
We also have our first batch of stickers in! Every issue will include a sticker for one of the pieces of art inside the zine. Issue 01 will feature the artwork from the amazing Ryan Lynch of Outride Creative, the creator behind the fairy tale adventure RPG Perils & Princesses.
I am not a good photographer, sorry. :D
New Artwork!
We have lots of amazing artwork coming in! Issue 02 - Cooper's Hawk is complete and we're working on completing Issue 03 as we speak.
Both Issues 01 and 02 will not feature mini games! Nick Gralewicz of Deep Dark Games has written and illustrated the game "Battle at the Bird Feeder" for the Cooper's Hawk.
From left to right, artwork by Overshia, Tony Tran, and Overshia
From left to write, artwork by Galen Pejeau, Overshia, Vic Putinski, and Ryan Lynch
We have our third issue's bird decided by your votes and it is:
The Common Loon!
This is one of those birds that really highlights how human communities and storytelling can revolve around birds and might be the first issue that we add a couple pages to just to fit it all in. Artwork and research is already underway!
The next poll is up! Don't forget to vote at the bottom of this update!
Vote for an Insectivore or Groundbird to be covered in Issue 04! We have:
Anna's Hummingbird*
Chimney Swift
Common Nighthawk
Downy Woodpecker*
Greater Prairie-Chicken
New Icons
Galen Pejeau has finished up the icons for the core bird categories: Songbirds, Raptors, Waterfowl & Shorebirds, Insectivores & Groundbirds, Wading Birds, and Seabirds.
Illustrations by Galen Pejeau
More Carolina Wren Art!
We already have artwork streaming in for Issues 01, 02, and 03 now. We'd like to share some of the wonderful Carolina Wren illustrations from Overshia and Tony Tran!
Art by Overshia
Art by Tony Tran
Two Minigames
Because we are a TTRPG studio at heart, both Issue 01: Carolina Wren, and Issue 02: Cooper's Hawk will feature mini games that you can play! Issue 02's minigame will be written by Nick Gralewicz from Deep Dark Games, best known for A Perfect Rock, and Home: Mech x Kaiju.
Part of why we are making Pocket Birds is because we want to hear and share your bird stories and experiences with the community! Below is a story from Vic P. (who is now an artist for our Loon issue! Welcome to the team, Vic!).
During the summers of 2014-2017, I was lucky enough to join a PhD project in the Canadian Tundra, studying shorebirds at the East Bay Migratory Bird Sanctuary on Southampton Island. I was surrounded by hundreds of waterfowl, songbirds, shorebirds, caribou, insects, flowers, and fresh air. A constant soundtrack of birdcalls graced my ears, all hours of the day and "night" (the sun never set). I think the coolest experience I had was observing two sandhill cranes, potentially a mated pair - that site was rarely visited by Sandhill cranes (or any cranes), so witnessing this was life-changing! Core memory achieved.
* Hummingbirds and Woodpeckers are technically their own categories, but we combined them with the Insectivores and Groundbirds. Read more about our categories here.
We are so grateful for the excitement for Pocket Birds! We are almost to 180 followers within the first week!
Last week, you choose the Cooper's Hawk to be the bird for Issue 02 and we are already working on research and writing! An arial attack raptor, these birds are expert hunters, targeting small birds and mammals.
Next up, we have a poll for Issue 03 that just went live! Pick a waterfowl or shorebird to be covered: The Common Loon, Wood Duck, Black Oystercatcher, or Killdeer.
Since we are a tabletop game company at heart, we have written a minigame for the creative writing section in Issue 01, titled The Gossiping Wrens.
We've been compiling the questions we've been seeing on socials and emails into an FAQ page. Check it out for lots of good information.
Wow, what a whirlwind of a launch. You fully funded Pocket Birds in 1 hour and 36 minutes! Incredible!
Now that Pocket Birds is really truly happening, we have started reaching out to artists and writers for the Common Nighthawk, Sandhill Crane, and Atlantic Puffin issues! We will share the new covers and art for those issues as they're made.
Latest Community Bird Stories
Part of why we are making Pocket Birds is because we want to hear and share your bird stories and experiences with the community! Here is a fun one submitted by Anonymous Toucan from New Zealand!
Our backyard always had massive Kererū in it who would gorge themselves on hot berries in the summer and then become so full and effectively drunk they’d waddle around on the ground unable to fly. You could walk up to them in this state and they wouldn’t seem to mind. We once had to capture a dizzy Kaka (green and umbre parrot, eats fruit) in our yard that had crashed into a window, to get it checked up by a local bird rescue. It’s whole Hoon (sort of a parliament) gathered round to watch and then followed the van to the rescue centre. surreal how much they seemed to understand. My favourite bird has to be the Silvereye or bushman’s friend, which self introduced here 200 years ago and earned the Reo Māori name Tōhou, meaning stranger.
Our next poll is up! Come vote for which Seabird you'd like to see for Issue 06 at the bottom of this update!
Poll closes Friday July 10th!
Test Prints and stickers arrived!
With Issue 01 being complete, we got proof prints in, and they look great! There are some paper weights and finishes we're going to tweak to make them feel even better to hold and use, but otherwise, I think we are good to go!
We also have our first batch of stickers in! Every issue will include a sticker for one of the pieces of art inside the zine. Issue 01 will feature the artwork from the amazing Ryan Lynch of Outride Creative, the creator behind the fairy tale adventure RPG Perils & Princesses.
I am not a good photographer, sorry. :D
New Artwork!
We have lots of amazing artwork coming in! Issue 02 - Cooper's Hawk is complete and we're working on completing Issue 03 as we speak.
Both Issues 01 and 02 will not feature mini games! Nick Gralewicz of Deep Dark Games has written and illustrated the game "Battle at the Bird Feeder" for the Cooper's Hawk.
From left to right, artwork by Overshia, Tony Tran, and Overshia
From left to write, artwork by Galen Pejeau, Overshia, Vic Putinski, and Ryan Lynch
We have our third issue's bird decided by your votes and it is:
The Common Loon!
This is one of those birds that really highlights how human communities and storytelling can revolve around birds and might be the first issue that we add a couple pages to just to fit it all in. Artwork and research is already underway!
The next poll is up! Don't forget to vote at the bottom of this update!
Vote for an Insectivore or Groundbird to be covered in Issue 04! We have:
Anna's Hummingbird*
Chimney Swift
Common Nighthawk
Downy Woodpecker*
Greater Prairie-Chicken
New Icons
Galen Pejeau has finished up the icons for the core bird categories: Songbirds, Raptors, Waterfowl & Shorebirds, Insectivores & Groundbirds, Wading Birds, and Seabirds.
Illustrations by Galen Pejeau
More Carolina Wren Art!
We already have artwork streaming in for Issues 01, 02, and 03 now. We'd like to share some of the wonderful Carolina Wren illustrations from Overshia and Tony Tran!
Art by Overshia
Art by Tony Tran
Two Minigames
Because we are a TTRPG studio at heart, both Issue 01: Carolina Wren, and Issue 02: Cooper's Hawk will feature mini games that you can play! Issue 02's minigame will be written by Nick Gralewicz from Deep Dark Games, best known for A Perfect Rock, and Home: Mech x Kaiju.
Part of why we are making Pocket Birds is because we want to hear and share your bird stories and experiences with the community! Below is a story from Vic P. (who is now an artist for our Loon issue! Welcome to the team, Vic!).
During the summers of 2014-2017, I was lucky enough to join a PhD project in the Canadian Tundra, studying shorebirds at the East Bay Migratory Bird Sanctuary on Southampton Island. I was surrounded by hundreds of waterfowl, songbirds, shorebirds, caribou, insects, flowers, and fresh air. A constant soundtrack of birdcalls graced my ears, all hours of the day and "night" (the sun never set). I think the coolest experience I had was observing two sandhill cranes, potentially a mated pair - that site was rarely visited by Sandhill cranes (or any cranes), so witnessing this was life-changing! Core memory achieved.
* Hummingbirds and Woodpeckers are technically their own categories, but we combined them with the Insectivores and Groundbirds. Read more about our categories here.
