The Wall of Birds

To celebrate its centennial, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology commissioned Ink Dwell to paint a 2,500 square-foot mural titled From So Simple a Beginning: Celebrating the Evolution and Diversity of Birds. The mural depicts the 375 million year evolution of birds, from the 30-foot long Yutyrannus, ancestor of the first feathered dinosaur, to the tiny marvelous spatuletail hummingbird. All 270 species represented are painted to scale.

The Wall of Birds took more than two-and-a-half years to complete, with 17 months of on-site painting. It is the only mural in the world to showcase all modern families of birds.

“One of the world’s most ambitious natural history murals.”

– Juxtapoz Magazine

Reflecting Nature: Creating The Wall Of Birds

Visit The Interactive Wall Of Birds

Because the wall is so big, no single photo was capable of capturing the mural. A six-person team spent months photographing every square inch of the wall and then stitching together more than 700 pictures into one giant image. Viewers can zoom in and see every detail, every brush stroke on the wall. It’s also packed with natural history about each animal, real-time distribution data–even bird calls. Think: Google Maps for the Wall of Birds.