The story of the bird
New Jersey adopted the Eastern Goldfinch - now the American Goldfinch - as state bird in 1935, after a bill whose first Senate reading was drowned out by members whistling. The state’s Atlantic peninsula geography makes it the most concentrated migratory bottleneck on the eastern seaboard, funneling hundreds of thousands of birds through Cape May each autumn. New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory has recorded an average of 30,000 raptors in a single fall season.
This plate gathers the signature birds of New Jersey onto a single sheet, drawn in the Audubon tradition of close observation and honest colour: Red Knot, Piping Plover, Peregrine Falcon, Saltmarsh Sparrow, Black Skimmer, and the American Goldfinch.
The print
A studied composite in the Audubon style. Cream ground, the navy and sage of the house palette, each bird drawn in true proportion to the others and arranged as a single editorial plate rather than a chart. It reads as one picture of what New Jersey’s skies and yards actually hold.
Paper and finish
Unframed prints come on Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm, a heavyweight cotton rag with a soft matte surface and true archival life. The framed option is a different stock: Enhanced Matte 200gsm, set in a classic moulding, mounted and glazed, ready to hang straight from the box. Choose your frame in black, white or natural.
Sizes
Three sizes: A4, A3 and A2, or an instant digital PDF. Prints from $39. Framed from $109. Digital download $9.
How to hang it
A composite plate wants room to breathe. Give it a pale wall, warm white or sage, and hang it at eye height where the palette can carry. A brown or gold moulding suits the cream ground; black or dark grey gives a more graphic edge. Keep it out of direct sun, which fades the colour over decades.
Birds of New Jersey field guide: /state/new-jersey/
More New Jersey prints: /plates/state/new-jersey/
