3D Magic

Native birds, printed layer by layer from recycled plastic.

Kererū, tūī, pīwakawaka and five more, made on a 3D printer in New Zealand by Clara. A share of every sale goes to native bird conservation.

Ask about a bird See the birds
Kererū, last layer going on. Illustration.
  • Recycled filamentEvery bird is printed from filament made of plastic that has already had one life. Old plastic becomes a kererū instead of landfill.
  • Printed here, one at a timeEach bird is made to order in New Zealand, in layers a fraction of a millimetre thick, and finished by hand.
  • Gives back to the real birdsA share of every sale goes to native bird conservation. The charity and the share are being chosen now.

The birds

Eight natives to start, each with its name in te reo Māori and English, and the real bird’s story.

All eight birds
  • 3D-printed Kererū (New Zealand pigeon) figurine, illustration

    Kererū

    New Zealand pigeon

    The only bird left that is big enough to swallow the fruit of tawa and karaka and spread their seeds, so whole forests depend on it.

  • 3D-printed Tūī (Parson bird) figurine, illustration

    Tūī

    Parson bird

    Two voice boxes, a white throat tuft and a song that mixes bell notes, clicks and coughs with some notes people can’t hear at all.

  • 3D-printed Pīwakawaka (Fantail) figurine, illustration

    Pīwakawaka

    Fantail

    Follows you along a bush track to catch the insects your feet stir up, tail fanned, never still for more than a second.

  • 3D-printed Kiwi figurine, illustration

    Kiwi

    Nostrils at the tip of its beak, whiskers like a cat, and an egg about a fifth of its own weight. It cannot fly and finds its food by smell.

The pictures are illustrations of the range while Clara photographs her first prints. More on the credits page.

3D-printed border collie and kererū figurines side by side, illustration

Have something else in mind? Ask for it.

Clara takes custom requests: a bird that isn’t in the range yet, a pet, a name plaque for a door or a desk, a model from a photo or an idea.

Say what you’re picturing and you’ll get a straight answer about whether it can be printed, in what colours, and what it would cost. Some things need a model made from scratch, so some answers are “not yet”.

Make a custom request

How a bird is made

From a spool of recycled plastic to a bird on your shelf, in three steps and a few hours.

The whole process
  1. A spool of deep green recycled filament, illustration

    Recycled filament

    It starts as a thread of plastic that has already been something else, ground down, melted and drawn out again onto a spool.

  2. A 3D printer nozzle laying down a layer on a half-finished green bird, illustration

    Printed layer by layer

    The printer melts the thread and lays it down in layers a fraction of a millimetre thick, one on top of the last, until a bird is standing on the bed.

  3. Five finished 3D-printed native birds in a row on a wooden shelf, illustration

    Finished by hand

    Supports come off, edges get tidied, and the layer lines stay. They’re the proof it was printed for you, not moulded by the thousand.

Every bird sold helps the real ones

A share of every sale goes to native bird conservation, so each bird on a shelf does something for the ones still in the trees.

Charity name and the percentage of profits will be confirmed here once Clara has chosen them. Nothing is promised until it’s settled.

How giving back works

3D-printed kākāpō figurine in mossy green recycled filament, illustration

Ask about a bird

Tell us which bird you’d like and roughly when you need it. You’ll get a reply with what’s possible, the colours on hand, how long the print takes and the price.

Every bird is printed to order, so there’s no stock sitting in a box. That also means a bird for a birthday needs a little notice.

Your message is emailed to Clara’s family, who handle enquiries for her. It isn’t stored anywhere else.