While we sleep at night during the spring and fall, millions of migratory birds fly overhead to and from their breeding and wintering grounds. The goal of the Old Bird student art awards is to promote art that opens public awareness to these birds. The hope is to channel students' creativity toward depicting the immense waves of nocturnal bird migration over the region of their schools....each artwork serving as a bridge to help people visualize and appreciate this amazing phenomenon.

Image content ideas for artists to work with or include in the background of their artworks 

• Birds migrating at night over the region where a student's school is.
• The migratory birds specifically monitored by the project (Least Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Canada Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Grasshopper Sparrow, Dickcissel)
• The expanse of geography that these birds migrate to (from South America to the Arctic)
• The bird call monitoring transect at schools and the microphone(s) recording the bird calls emanating down from the sky
• The idea of monitoring bird populations. Will the species and numbers of birds change over time? What threats do birds face that might affect their numbers?
• Artwork backgrounds that  include cultural and geographic aspects of the region where the student's school is.

Realism vs symbolism 

There is no weight in the awards toward realistic or symbolic art. The canvas is wide open!

Copyright & usage of student art

Students own the copyright for their artwork. By entering the competition, students consent to a single-use copyright for a low-resolution image of their art for display on the school's webpage associated with the bird study... all such displays will credit the student artist (note: these webpages may end up being transmitted via social media). For students who agree to have their artwork included in the trading card series associated with the awards, a single-use copyright for the trading card series is consented to. The participating artists will receive a pack of 20 trading cards of their artwork... the remaining copies will be included in packs mixed with other student art. These packs will be distributed to all the students and teachers participating in the competition. Students indicate their interest in having their artwork involved in the trading cards when their art is submitted to the competition (by May 1, 2026). (edited Apr 26, 2026)