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Bird chalk art at the Berkeley Bird Festival

By Ilana DeBare

The sidewalks of U.C. Berkeley blossomed with colorful bird life on Sunday — a chalk art aviary that was part of the first-ever Berkeley Bird Festival.

Golden Gate Audubon Society invited artists and nature sketchers, adults and kids, casual doodlers and “me? I can’t draw!” passersby to join in creating chalk art images of birds on two campus plazas, in front of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology and the Li Ka Shing Center. The results were fantastic. But the process was equally fantastic—watching art emerge, bit by bit, smudge by smudge, out of bland concrete walkways.

Many thanks to all the artists who participated! And to our festival co-sponsor, the California Institute for Community, Art, & Nature, and to the U.C. Berkeley Chancellor’s Community Partnership Fund, which supported the Festival. We’ll give a broader report on the Festival in an upcoming blog post, but for now here’s a gallery of chalk art images.


Peregrine Falcon chalk art
GGAS’s own Clay Anderson kicked the chalk art program off with a magnificent Peregrine Falcon, inspired by the falcon pair that nest on the UC Campanile.
Kingfisher chalk art
Teamwork to create a Belted Kingfisher.
Red-tailed Hawk chalk art
Red-tailed Hawk with a message: Don’t use rodenticides!
Creation of an Allen’s Hummingbird. Some of the more experienced chalk artists used brushes and water to create a smooth, blended look.
Bufflehead chalk art
Bufflehead by GGAS board member Amy Chong. She managed to capture its iridescence!
Chalk art parrot
A “wild parrot of Telegraph Hill”
Peregrine Falcon chalk art
Peregrine Falcons were a popular subject!
Grant Yang creates a Lazuli Bunting
Grant Yang’s finished Lazuli Bunting
Woodpecker chalk art
An Ivory-billed Woodpecker -— extinct in nature but alive on the UC sidewalk — by Brenda Helm
Nukupuu chalk art
Nukupu’u, a Hawaiian honeycreeper that is most likely extinct, by Michael Helm
Chalk art bird and tree
This young artist drew habitat as well as a bird
Common Loon chalk art
Creating a Common Loon
Bonaparte's Gull chalk art
Bonaparte’s Gull chalk art
Peacock chalk art
A resplendent peacock
Chal kart peacock
Peacock!
Woodpecker chalk art
Pileated Woodpecker and chicks
Thunderbirdchalk art
Native American-style Thunderbird
Evolution chalk art
This artist depicted the evolution of birds from other dinosaurs
Hummingbird chalk art
A much larger-than-life hummingbird
Painted Bunting chalk art
Painted Bunting
Bird chalk art
More young artists at work
Girl doing chalk art
Chalk artists at UC Berkeley
Artists spread out, making the whole walkway their canvas
Chalk art bluebirds
The author, one of those “me? I can’t draw” people, with her Western Bluebirds
Chalk art and Clay Anderson
At the end of the day, time to clean up. Thank you, Clay and all the participants! There were many more beautiful chalk birds than we could fit in this blog post.

Photos By Ilana DeBare and Ryan Nakano.

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Our Mission

The Golden Gate Audubon Society engages people to experience the wonder of birds and to translate that wonder into actions which protect native bird populations and their habitats.

Home page photo of an Anna’s Hummingbird by Parham Pourahmad. Home page photos rotate on an occasional basis. If you have a Bay Area bird photo you would like us to consider, email us at rnakano@goldengateaudubon.org.

Home page bird illustrations by Tex Buss. We are grateful for her generous donation of time and talent!

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Golden Gate Audubon
2530 San Pablo Avenue, Suite G
Berkeley, California 94702

Phone: 510.843.2222

Office hours: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 12 noon, or by appointment

The Golden Gate Audubon Society  is a
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Our federal tax ID number is 94-6086896

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