Best bird-themed vintage collectables: 11 that add instant charm to a home – including duck bookends

Before the widespread use of overhead projectors, hanging charts were popular classroom tools because they could be quickly rolled up and put away when not in use. Charts depicting different species of flora and fauna were especially common, with those illustrating a country or region’s native birds being an easy way to engage students in local wildlife.

What It’s Worth: Today, charts from across the globe made between the 1950s and ’70s typically bring between £100 and £300 each, depending on size and condition.

18th-century Swiss clockmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz is credited with developing the singing bird box, which was often affixed to ornate snuff boxes and sold to European royalty. Over the centuries, the windup mechanisms were simplified to suit mass production, and similar singing bird music cages became exponentially more affordable. Music players with drawers often doubled as jewellery storage.

What It’s Worth: While serious collectors shell out thousands for German-made cages from the early 1900s, casual collectors can expect to pay between £500 and £1,000 for players, depending on size and number of birds in the cage. Examples with working automatons bring the higher numbers.

Patented in 1853, the sewing bird served as a “third hand” for at-home seamstresses. The thumbscrew secured the tool to a table, and its spring-loaded tail pieces could be pinched to open the beak, which would grasp fabric in need of hemming. Over time, designs became more ornate, and grooms-to-be often gifted the birds to their betrothed while she prepared her trousseau.

What It’s Worth: Today, vintage clamps can sell for £150-£400 apiece. Sewing birds without a clamp and padded pincushion can often be found for less than £200.

A popular child’s plaything from as early as the 1600s, bird whistles have been made from a variety of materials throughout the centuries and were occasionally designed with water chambers to produce a warbling sound (bottom right). Rarer brass “Victory Canary Songsters” from the 1920s (centre) were crafted with a moving beak and often co-opted by photographers to capture the attention of young subjects – hence the phrase “watch the birdie.”

What It’s Worth: Victorian-era pewter, ceramic, and cast-iron pieces can be found today for £10 to £40. Rarer brass “Victory Canary Songsters” from the 1920s can command up to £200.

Following in the footsteps of his competitor Cadbury, confectioner Harry Vincent established his candy factory in England’s West Midlands in 1927. His popular Blue Bird Toffee was sold in decorative tins often emblazoned with a signature cerulean-hued swallow. Tins from the 1930s through the ’60s are considered collectors’ items—look for “Huntington” in the box address to confirm age—and pieces with interior lid designs are especially sought after.

What It’s Worth: Prices range from £10 for small rectangular tins to £50 for larger pieces. Rarer circular tins can top £100.

The classic brass duck bookends became popular in the 1960s and can often be found at flea markets, car boot sales, and on vintage sites. Birds-in-flight versions (top right) or non-brass variations, like wood-painted ceramic (centre), also make for fine complements to your field guides.

What It’s Worth: Brass duck bookends can be found for anywhere from £100 to £500, depending on age and condition. Most wood and ceramic pairs are easily found on Etsy and eBay for around £30-£50.

Long serving as symbols of woodland charm, birds have inspired cast-iron door knockers for decades. Given their rhythmic pecking, woodpeckers are a natural fit for front doors. Briefly popular in the 1930s, smaller indoor knockers produced by Pennsylvania’s Hubley Manufacturing Co. were offered in at least five bird designs. Parrots are the most commonly found, but rarer owls are also sought after.

What It’s Worth: Midcentury versions can be picked up for less than £100.

A quirky adaptation from purely function pie funnels from the Victorian era, it was the old nursery rhyme (“4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie”) that inspired the first bird-shape one in the 1930s.
Playing a crucial role in the pie-baking process, the ceramic vessel’s vented structure allows steam to escape during baking, thus preventing filling-overflow disasters. Pie birds (and their other quirky-themed counterparts) are highly collectible, especially if they are made by notable makers such as Stuart Bass and Clarice Cliff.

What It’s Worth: Most ceramic pie birds range from £10 to hundreds of pounds apiece. Most midcentury vintage versions, however, can be found for under £70, while some by notable makers can warrant a higher price tag.

While decoy styles run the gamut of colours and materials, some of the highest-value birds come from Detroit’s Mason Decoy Factory, where production was most active in the early 1900s. Known for their realistic painting and attention to detail, their decoys were divided into three categories based on performance grade: premier, challenge, and standard.

What It’s Worth: The decoys shown here range from £200 to £900, with the premier grade at the pricier end. Rare models can garner hundreds of thousands of pounds at auctions.

Ready to jump into bird watching as your next hobby?

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