We’re thrilled to announce that the T-shirt designs for our upcoming AOS & BC Conference are complete – and they are gorgeous! The endemic birds of Puerto Rico, the location for this year’s conference, are the stars of the design, elegantly presented on the front and back of the garment.

The idea to create this T-shirt was conceptualized by Gabriel Lugo, past president of the Sociedad Ornitológica Puertorriqueña, Inc. (SOPI) and Tour Guide for Wildside Nature Tours. In partnership with renowned Cuban artist and friend of BirdsCaribbean, Arnaldo Toledo, the pair created this timeless piece that will undoubtedly be a source of pride for all Puerto Ricans and friends of Puerto Rico.

BirdsCaribbean Executive Director, Dr. Lisa Sorenson, highlighted the excellence of the artistic piece and expressed gratitude and excitement that these designs will be launched at the AOS-BC Conference in Puerto Rico.

“We are extremely honored to be debuting this wearable piece of art as our official conference T-shirt. The love that was poured into this project by Arnaldo and Gabriel is apparent. Arnaldo really captured the essence of Puerto Rico’s endemic birds with intricate details and special care taken to display each bird in a life-like, vibrant manner. We are certain these T-shirts will be a success at the conference, and beyond, to raise awareness about Puerto Rico’s 17 endemic birds and the importance of conserving these unique island treasures.”

Sorenson added, “We are very grateful also to Kevin Loughlin of Wildside Nature Tours for supporting this T-shirt. Wildside Nature Tours is a sponsoring partner of our Caribbean Birding Trail Project. When Hurricanes Irma and Maria devastated multiple Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico, in 2017, Kevin jumped into action and raised funds to support our Hurricane Recovery Project, and included a generous match from his company.”  

Behind the Design

We sat down with Gabriel Lugo to learn more about his passion for birds, conservation, and art – and how he used all three to honor his homeland.

Tell us a little about yourself. How did you become interested in birds? 

Birds have always interested me. I’ve liked being in nature since I was a little kid, but it was when I worked with SOPI that I really got involved in birding and bird conservation. I visited one of the properties that the company managed to do some scouting for a Christmas bird count and that experience really piqued my interest. A short time after this I began birding – trying to identify my backyard birds – and the rest is history.

What inspired you to embark on this project?

When I was a kid, I enjoyed painting and drawing. Not necessarily birds, and not necessarily anything about nature, but I liked art. It’s something that always attracted me. I admire the artists that paint these beautiful birds and I try to support them and their work.

I also studied graphic arts and did screen printing because art is something that is in me. I knew that, at some point, I wanted to do a project that combined the things that I liked: birds and art.

Looking for a way to help SOPI, which I am still involved with – having worked with the organization for 12 years – we noticed that T-shirts are an item that sells well, so I decided to go for it! With the economic support of Wildside Nature Tours, I got in contact with Arnaldo and jumped into the project.

 

How did you collaborate with Arnaldo to bring the vision to reality?

The process with Arnaldo was easy. When you are working on a project that you love, altogether, it seems easy. I got in contact with Arnaldo and I explained to him the basics of what I wanted – something that he probably did many times with clients and with other T-shirt projects.

I shared my ideas for the design. I wanted to use his scientific illustrations of birds in the most realistic way possible without it seeming like photos. I wanted the artistic representations to combine art, song, and creativity on the T-shirt. Once I shared my vision with him, Arnaldo made the sketch and that was the only one we needed. Right away, he got my idea and we started working from there.

Did you encounter any challenges?

At the beginning, we were creating this T-shirt design for SOPI, to feature our endemic birds, so there was no hurry. 

We were then asked by BirdsCaribbean if we could use the artwork for the NAOC (North American Ornithological Conference) scheduled for August 2020 in Puerto Rico. Once we learned of plans for the conference, we began to work towards completion with a set date in mind. We did encounter some difficulties, however. The in-person NAOC was canceled, due to the pandemic, and then Arnaldo suffered an unfortunate accident. We put a pause on the project to give him time to properly heal and he recovered well, which was the most important thing.

The organization of this year’s AOS-BC Conference, and a new working deadline, got us back on our path towards completion. I spoke with Arnaldo and he agreed that it was time to put the paint on the paper and start drawing.

I began working with friends to source photos of birds that we can use as references for the artwork, because there are some features on the birds that we needed specific poses – like the beak, the wings, and some feathers. That’s probably the hardest part from my side, to get the specifics that Arnaldo would need to complete the painting.

 

 

What do you hope to achieve with these wearable pieces of art?

Everything that I do relating to birds, aside from my guiding tours, is for educational purposes. I’ve been taking photos of birds for about 10 years now and I don’t use my photography as a way to earn money, it is for education.

The idea is to create something that would last for many years. I saw the potential of the T-shirt because I’ve designed simple T-shirts in the past and people loved them.

This vision of the “Endemic Birds of Puerto Rico T-shirt” has come to life now and I know it’s going to be a big success – not just at the conference, but in the years to come. In addition to local support, I already have clients, participants in my past tours, that have requested four or five orders and I had to let them know that the T-shirts are not yet available. People love it and this is what I was hoping to achieve. 

I just want to share our birds – in my business, with participants, but also locally to teach about the birds. The T-shirt is a piece of art, a talking point. This is already happening, so hopefully when people begin wearing it this will happen even more. What you see on the website and in the photos is the near-complete version. We are going to have different colors that will showcase the designs, it is going to be beautiful.

 

Tell us about your partnership with BirdsCaribbean to raise awareness on bird conservation through Wildside Nature Tours. 

This project was made possible because of Wildside Nature Tours owner, Kevin Loughlin. Kevin is often recognized as one of the most generous persons in bird conservation and, in my opinion, he really is. Whatever I need, especially if there is a hurricane, he is always ready to help and provide economic support for conservation and education. 

I help with bird conservation in the best way that I know how – by birding and showing others. I don’t consider myself to be the best communicator or the best speaker but this is my way to help SOPI and BirdsCaribbean, through my tours, to raise awareness about bird conservation and habitat preservation.

What are your plans for the future?

A pretty obvious next step, as we have all the illustrations, is to make individual species shirts – especially with the most popular birds, like the Puerto Rican Woodpecker, the Puerto Rican Tody, and the Puerto Rican Parrot.

I plan to work on another T-shirt and a poster as well. It is going to be a really good one, so I don’t want to give away too much information just yet, but everyone will love it.

How can interested persons contact you?

For now, the T-shirts will be made available for the AOS-BC Conference, and can be purchased through BirdsCaribbean’s website (link coming soon) or in person at the conference in Puerto Rico. 

Outside of the Conference, the T-shirts will be available on the SOPI website: sopipr.org. As I mentioned before, the whole idea behind the project is to help SOPI with their conservation efforts. Interested persons can also reach me on the SOPI website or through the Wildside Nature Tours website: wildsidenaturetours.com.

Artist’s Statement

Arnaldo Toledo also shared with us his vision and process for creating this artwork:

“The artwork features the endemic birds of Puerto Rico in an artistic design for a T-shirt.  It was conceived to be part of two compositions, one that includes eight of these birds on the front and another including nine birds on the back, creating in this way a more dynamic and attractive art design.  The birds are the main subjects and protagonists of this artwork. Each bird is made as an individual high-quality watercolor illustration. 

First, I carefully researched each species and made an extensive study of reference material. This was essential in order for me to render each individual in a way that shows the beauty and life of the bird, as well as precisely draw and paint its field marks and diagnostic details. The pose and attitude of each bird is drawn to set the flow and balance of the composition, while at the same time showing all the splendor of these Puerto Rico endemics.” 

Arnaldo is a Cuban Scientific Illustrator, Wildlife Artist, and Photographer. He is renowned for his artwork on both plants and animals. In 2019, he created the magnificent art for the World Migratory Bird Day poster with theme: Protect Birds—Be the Solution to Plastic Pollution. The poster is available for sale at Environment for the Americas’ website. Arnaldo was also the grand prize winner of our first-ever Zine Competition for our Caribbean Endemic Bird Festival in 2021 for his amazing zine on the Fernandina’s Flicker – see his winning zine here. 

Pre Orders

All of the proceeds from T-shirt sales for the AOS-BC Conference will go towards funding travel scholarships for Caribbean nationals to attend the conference. If you would like to pre-order T-shirts before the conference, stay tuned, we will be sharing a link to do so soon!

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Gabriel Lugo for conceiving this T-shirt design and sharing the artwork with us for our upcoming AOS & BC Conference, and to Arnaldo Toledo for once again allowing us to be the beneficiaries of his wonderful artistic talent and hard work. We also thank Kevin Loughlin, owner of Wildside Nature Tours, for his support of this project and BirdsCaribbean through his company’s partnership with us. If you are interested in a birding tour in the Caribbean or beyond, we encourage you to visit Wildside’s website – they offer outstanding tours to many different countries. If you are coming to the AOS-BC Conference in Puerto Rico, we strongly recommend you to sign up for Gabriel’s pre- or post-conference tours of Puerto Rican endemics! Information will be soon be available on the AOS-BC Conference website.