Bird Zines? Yeah, we’ve got a few!
These zines about our feathered friends fit right in with the current exhibition of a feather: works by Thaddeus Holownia and Karen Stentaford, curated by Emily Falvey. This exhibition was organized in memory of Gay Hansen (1954-2021), a gifted teacher, mentor, and ornithologist who taught at Mount Allison University for thirty-nine years. Hansen was known and admired for an ecologically sound approach to life that encompassed scientific curiosity, nurturing countless students, caring for plants and animals, and a mastery of taxidermy and numerous craft practices, including knitting and woven baskets.
Zines form the Owens’ Teeny Tiny Zine Library touch a wide (wing)span of bird related knowledge and species including their habits, habitats, and personal relationships with our feathered friends.
Christina King
Sing along to the tune of Christina King’s favourite bird calls in The Free Guide to Cheeps zine, a pocket field guide of mnemonics for backyard bird identification.
Sarah Shay Mirk
Caw! Caw! This zine explores the communal parenting of the American Crow and how “helper” birds contribute to raising chicks. This zine was made for the Queer Creatures ride led by Sarah Shay Mirk and friends as part of Pedalpalooza.
Evan Furness
This mini zine includes information about the Great Auk a species of flightless bird that became extinct in the mid-19th century. This zine is a apart of a series by Furness made for In fine feather, an exhibition of works by 14 students from the Department of Fine Arts at Mount Allison University on the theme of migratory bird conservation.
Emily McDonald
Migratory ruminations about a red wing black bird, mourning dove, rooster and crows are accompanied by drawings by the author in this zine.
Cole Degenstein
This short story illustrates the author’s friendships with Canadian geese and other pigeon wisdom.
Kevin Melanson
As the title describes, this zine is in fact 13 images of birds, hand drawn by the artist from Google Image searches.
Sarah Shay Mirk
Superb Owl Sunday is a special day to appreciate the nocturnal birds. Mirk’s zine of superb owls includes the barn, burrowing, cloud-forest pygmy, spectacled, great horned and snowy varieties.
