At the expense of becoming a punchline, and already made fun of by the fine writers of Portlandia, I still believe birds can be used in functional, non-ironic decor. Just as shells have been coopted as the pattern-du-jour for beach houses, birds can usher in a tropical, modern feeling.

These toothless, egg-laying vertebrates come in myriad forms. Biologist estimate that ten thousand different species, an extraordinary variety, exist today. Think of the difference between an ostrich and a stork. A hen and a condor. A penguin and a hummingbird. Each of those different forms and colors can lend itself to a different style of home decor and clothing.

“It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds.” – Aesop