Christmas Cardinal Bird Decorative Light

About this lamp

A bird built from panelled colour work and standing on a moulded resin base, lit from inside by a small warm bulb. It stands about as tall as a coffee mug and works as a lamp or as an object: unlit the panels still hold their colour, and lit it throws warm shapes onto whatever it sits on. The shade of light is warm rather than white, which is what stops it reading as a nightlight.

Five birds, one shape

Red is a cardinal with its crest up. Green, blue and yellow are the parrot, the jay and a yellow bird in the same pose. Colorful is the macaw, patched in red, blue, yellow and green. Same mould, different colour work, so a row of them looks like a set rather than a collection of odds and ends. Bought as a pair in two colours, they read as two birds rather than a duplicate.

How it is put together

Coloured panels set into a metal framework and standing on a resin base with a cast texture. The metal lines between the panels are part of the look rather than a defect, and they are what gives the bird its outline when the lamp is switched off. The base is heavy enough that it does not walk across a desk when the cable is moved. The moulding around the base is decorative rather than functional, and it is part of what keeps the lamp from looking like a toy.

Power

Choose USB or battery at checkout. On USB it runs from any port, which is why it ends up on desks rather than only on Christmas shelves. Either way it draws very little, so it can be left on through an evening without thinking about it, and the bulb stays cool enough to move the lamp by hand. Left on all evening it warms a corner of a room without drawing attention to itself.

Where it actually ends up

A bedside table, a desk, a hallway shelf. The bird shape holds up outside December, which is more than most things sold as Christmas lighting manage. Bought in November, it is still earning its place in March, and it is the sort of thing that gets a second one bought for the other side of the bed.

Specifications

Type	Bird shaped decorative lamp
Material	Resin base with panelled colour work
Power	USB or battery, chosen at checkout
Colours	Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Colorful

Where it ends up

1. On a desk

   Small enough to sit beside a monitor without crowding it.

2. On a bedside table

   Warm light, low output, no glare.

3. In a hallway

   Left on, it is enough to see by without waking the house.

4. As a gift

   For the birdwatcher who already has every feeder.

In the box

• 1 x bird lamp in the colour you choose

Care

Dust the panels with a dry brush and wipe the base with a damp cloth. Do not use spirit on the resin, which dulls the finish. Let it cool before you move it, and unplug at the port rather than by the cable, since the joint at the base is the part that suffers first.

Common questions