Infrequently Asked Questions

Absolutely not. Nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, are quite often a scam and/or scheme designed to take advantage of under-educated consumers. BIRBZ, while collectible, are simply digital assets you pay for with real, normal money. No crypto shadiness, no deflationary nonsense.

BIRBZ should be collected for the love of the birbz themselves, and/or your penchant for supporting good projects doing good things.

BIRBZ are collectibles, just like baseball cards or Beanie Babies. Maybe they’ll be worth something one day, maybe they won’t. But either way, once you buy a birb, it’s yours — only one copy of each birb is available, ever.

Once you claim a birb, you’ll be sent a URL where you can access your birb from any device — perfect for showing it off to all your friends (or rubbing it in the face of your enemies).

Unfortunately, the nature of digital collectibles is that once you purchase, you have full access and ownership of the collectible. As such, it’s impossible to offer refunds without violating the exclusivity of the collectible for others.

Furthermore, proceeds from BIRBZ are donated to local charities and mutual aid collectives, making refunds infeasible.

As BIRBZ are one-off collectibles, it would be a total buzzkill if someone bought all the cards at once, taking the opportunity away from others. The one-per-order limit discourages such a purchase.

You’re still more than welcome to own multiple BIRBZ, of course! Just note that each one will be a separate transaction.

And of course, if you’re just wanting to put your dollars toward a good cause (as all BIRBZ purchases do), you can always donate to any of the recipient causes directly.

Soon, probably. A new brood of BIRBZ is released every two weeks(ish), so keep an eye out for the next batch to land! Or, sign up for email alerts to be notified when cool new birbz are headed this way.

Up, down, all around!

The birbz featured on this site are entirely found in and around the Twin Cities area. Most are taken on my stupid little daily walks, but others might be snapped at special locations around the cities. In trees, on fences, at feeders, on the ground hoppin’, in the water ploppin’ — it’s all fair game.

That said, I respect our urban-dwelling avians as the wildlife that they are, so all birbz are snapped from a respectful distance in their natural state. No birbz are flushed, no nests are disturbed, and the geese especially are given a wide berth.

All proceeds from the sale of BIRBZ are split evenly among the designated causes — groups or organizations that are making a direct and profound impact in my community. The current causes are:

• Community Kitchen MPLS — a volunteer-driven collective delivering meals to housing encampments in Minneapolis
• OurStreets MPLS — an advocacy nonprofit working for a city where biking, walking, and rolling are easy and comfortable for everyone
• Sanctuary Supply Depot — a mutual aid group in Minneapolis that distributes basic necessities to our houseless neighbors
• Southside Harm Reduction — a harm reduction-focused organization working to promote health, safety, autonomy, and agency among people who use substances in our city
• Youthlink — a nonprofit that provides teens and young adults experiencing homelessness with the shelter, resources, and basic needs they need to thrive

A bit harsh, but fair question. Long story short, BIRBZ is a place for me to share my bird photography with the world, while doing so in a way that can create impact in my community.

 

Long story long(er): BIRBZ was created as an outlet for my new-found pandemic hobby of birdwatching. While some made sourdough, and others took up Animal Crossing, I sat in my bedroom-turned-home-office and watched as various birbz took perch upon the tree outside my window — something I had never before paid any mind to.

This new interest turned into quite the passion, as I refamiliarized myself with my trusty DSLR and learned about birbz that were previously unknown to me. But I knew the collection of photos I was amassing couldn’t just be left to decay on an SD card. So I devised BIRBZ as a way to share my collection with the world.

At the same time, my eyes were starting to open to the reality of life in this city. Countless injustices plague Minneapolis, from the acute (George Floyd was murdered in the street just a dozen blocks from me, as one light example) to the ongoing and systemic (such as the repeated terrorizing of unhoused citizens by the city). Obviously I can’t solve all this with some cute birb pics, but I can put my passion to use and spread the love to some amazing organizations and collectives doing truly restorative work in the Twin Cities.