What do you get a bird-lover who has everything?

I looked over at the calendar the other day and literally almost jumped halfway across the room. The end of 2012 – and the holidays – are coming fast. Y to the ikes. On the plus side, it’s almost time for the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, and by all accounts, it’s shaping up to be a very finchy winter across much of North America. But on the other hand, there was so much more I wanted to do in 2012 … and wow, I really need to start buying gifts for my family and friends.

Now if you’re a regular 10,000 Birds reader (and the cool kids are, amiright?), you may have noticed that adorkable little Burrowing Owl who’s been peeking out of the right sidebar for the last few days. Owls are kind of superheroes, and as it happens, this little character’s superpower is solving gift-buying woes. Go ahead, give it a little click. That’s right … and … BAM! Gift worries solved!

Audubon (full disclosure: I’m a National Audubon Society employee) has launched an online holiday gift catalog featuring 16 birds that represent North America’s four great flyways. In true Audubon fashion, the images are stunning:

Painted Bunting from the Audubon Gift Catalog. Image by David Morgan.

Here’s how it works: You choose a bird (or two, or four) to adopt for that special bird lover in your life. (And hey, maybe that’s you – we don’t judge here.) Your gift recipient will receive a 5×7 photograph of the bird, a 2013 Audubon calendar, and a one-year subscription to the award-winning Audubon magazine, which features some of the best environmental reporting and photography on the planet.

Your gift is tax deductible and will support Audubon’s mission to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on birds and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth’s biological diversity.

You can choose from these birds: Northern Cardinal, Common Loon, Atlantic Puffin, Roseate Spoonbill, Baltimore Oriole, Bald Eagle, Snowy Plover, Sandhill Crane, American Goldfinch, Mountain Bluebird, Spectacled Eider, Black Skimmer, Brown Pelican, Burrowing Owl, Rufous Hummingbird, and Painted Bunting.

Here’s that link one more time: Audubon Gift Catalog. Happy shopping!