All About Birdables
There's more to Birdables than beautiful cards. The reality is that thousands of bird species are currently at risk due to habitat loss, climate change, and other human-related factors. Even birds many people think of as common sightings may be rarer than you think. At Birdables, our mission is to raise awareness and appreciation for birds, and to hopefully make a difference by donating to conservation efforts in the process.
The Anatomy of a Card
Each Birdables card contains elements that reveal information about the bird or card.
The Card Rarity Scale
Each Birdables card has a rarity rating ranging from Each Birdables card has a rarity rating ranging from
Each Birdables card has a rarity rating ranging from
- The bird's conservation status
- The bird's Likeliness of being spotted in the wild
- The "Birdables Scale of Majesticness"
Quantity of cards released per rarity:
| Rarity | Digital copies | Physical copies |
|---|---|---|
Rarity: 1 out of 5 stars Rarity Scale Each Birdables card has a rarity rating ranging from
| 50 | 2000 |
Rarity: 2 out of 5 stars Rarity Scale Each Birdables card has a rarity rating ranging from
| 25 | 1500 |
Rarity: 3 out of 5 stars Rarity Scale Each Birdables card has a rarity rating ranging from
| 10 | 800 |
Rarity: 4 out of 5 stars Rarity Scale Each Birdables card has a rarity rating ranging from
| 5 | 200 |
Rarity: 5 out of 5 stars Rarity Scale Each Birdables card has a rarity rating ranging from
| 1 | 50 |
Physical -vs- Digital cards
Each Birdables card has a physical and digital version. The physical card is just like your typical sports collectable or Pokemon card. The digital card is an NFT.
Physical Cards
So that they will fit in your existing card sleeves or covers, each card is the standard trading/collectable card size of 6.4cm (2.5 in) x 8.9cm (3.5 in).
The cards are printed on 100% recycled paper right down the road from where they are designed and shipped from in Charleston, SC. We keep everything as local as possible to reduce the emissions emitted.
Physical cards can be purchased securely from Birdables' Etsy Storefront
Digital Cards (NFT)
If you aren't familiar with digital assets or NFT's (Non-Fungible Tokens ), you may not understand the point or purpose of a digital cards, but you're in for a treat.
Digital cards have an indefinite lifespan in your digital wallet, so you'll never need to worry about losing or getting your digital card dirty. The possibilities of how your digital card could be displayed or used in games/applications now and in the future are endless.
Digiatl cards can be purchased securely from Birdables' OpenSea Storefront
Card Packs
Replicate the real birding experience - and get your hands on rare "Specialty" cards!
Birders know - even if you want to see a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker every time you step out of the house with your binoculars in hand, it's really up to chance! The same is (mostly) true for Birdables. Most rare cards won't be sold separately and will only come as part of a random pack.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How do Birdables help birds?
Great question! We donate a portion of profits to a bird conservation organization like the Cornell Lab of Ornithology , eBird , Audubon , etc. More details on this are still to come, as it is still unclear the cost of running this operation. All donation amounts & recipients will be available on this website in the future.
To make sure Birdables is not contributing to the destruction of bird habitats, 100% recycled paper is used for all physical cards and envelope mailers. No trees are cut down for the creation of the cards.
The Birdables NFT's (digital cards) are minted and distributed on the Polygon blockchain, which validates transactions using the Proof-of-Stake consensus model. This model consumes far less energy than the Proof-of Work model.
Energy concise considerations were also made when creating this website. Each page is generated one time before uploading the files to the server. This allows for database & external API calls to be made once every “build” instead of on every page load by every user.
- What's the deal with offering physical & digital cards?
Originally, just digital cards were going to be offered. But as we tossed around ideas and began showing people early versions of the cards, it became clear that a lot of people still wanted something tangible they could hold in their hand. But offering a physical product vastly multiplied the complexity of the project. Converting each card to a printer-friendly format, finding a printer, figuring out how and if it was possible to do all this without cutting down a tree or adding to our planet's urgent climate crisis, shipping. All these factors grew this originally small endeavor, to a still small, but more time-consuming process.
- What's the NFT version of a card?
The NFT version of Birdables cards is a digital version that you keep in your crypto wallet. This NFT is proof of your ownership and is verifiable on the immutable Polygon blockchain. Purchases of the NFT will come with access to the hi-res artwork, not available anywhere else. NFT's of Birdables cards are also more scarce than physical cards. Learn more about the rarity.
- Do physical cards come with card protectors or sleeves?
Nope. The earth is already cluttered with single use plastics, and Birdables will not be a part of the problem. If you'd like to purchase your own, the cards are 6.4cm x 8.9 cm (2.5 inches x 3.5 inches).
- Who is behind Birdables?
Ken Jones. An amature birder, dog-foster dad, designer, music producer, and co-owner of the web design studio, AllDay . Birdables is very much a pandemic idea turned to creation.
- Can I support Birdables without purchasing a card?
Totes! Ken would love to upgrade his birding gear & travel to provide a better end product. You can donate to Birdables (Ken) here.
- Can I suggest my favorite bird for a card?
Soon! We have an internal list of birds we want to create cards for initially, mainly so that we cover multiple regions and types of birds. But after that, we'll open a way for you to suggest a bird you'd like to see.
- How do I get in touch?