Whether you're after enamel or wooden wildlife-themed pins, there are plenty of lovely options to choose from. These pins include realistic and cute designs, and many are from either wildlife organisations or independent designers. They make great stocking fillers or Christmas presents too!
How will you choose to wear yours – as a brooch on your shirt, decorating your bag or hat, or lining the straps of your camera bag or binoculars?
If you love these suggestions and are crafty, check out these beautiful needle minders from our colleagues on Gathered.
18 wildlife-themed enamel and wooden pin badges
Shark enamel pins
Made from zinc alloy, these cute enamel pins feature four cartoon sharks with a little message: I’m Very Tired, My Head Hurts, Need Advil and Help Me. Each pin is only three or four grams in weight, and measures almost one inch along its longest dimension. They all have a metal catch backing to keep them securely in place on your clothing, bags or the straps of your camera or binoculars. Whether you want to buy them as sweet little pins, or a way to communicate how you’re feeling to friends and colleagues, these four shark enamel pins are a great addition to any pin collection.
Mute swan enamel pin badge
- Buy now from Little Paisley Designs (£7.50).
Celebrate a range of British Wildlife species with these pins by Bristol-based illustrator Eleanor Longhurst, including a mute swan (pictured above), a fly agaric, a garden tiger moth and a puffin. She's also produced a number of nature-inspired embroidered patches and temporary tattoos as well.
Snail enamel pin badge
If you love the combination of craft and wildlife, this cute snail with a yarn ball for a shell is perfect! It's designed by Jeannie Voirin-Gerde in Washington, US, who also has some other colour combinations of this snail available – and the same designs, and an adorable yarn owl, available as needle minders.
Jumping spider enamel pin badge
- Buy now from Mary Capaldi ($14.00).
Part of Mary Capaldi's Celestial Insects collection, this little jumping spider (based on a peacock spider) caught out our with its dance moves and patterns. Based in Ontario, Canada, Mary has a range of insect and invertebrate enamel pins available, one of our other favourites was the 'Bee Yourself' enamel pin, based on the blue carpenter bee.
King penguin enamel pin badge
- Buy now from Falklands Conservation (£2.00).
The Falklands Conservation charity has a range of enamel pins available, which have been produced in collaboration with its BirdLife International partner the RSPB. Choose from a variety of penguin species, the black-browed albatross, orca and more.
Jumping spider enamel pin badge
The Bush Bling Etsy shop, based in Sydney in Australia, has an expansive range of enamel pins from sugar gliders and Tasmanian tigers (also known as thylacines) to orchids, damselflies, and a leafy sea dragon. One of our favourites was the very aptly-named splendid fairywren (pictured above).
Cuttlefish wooden pin badge
Produced by two marine biologists in the USA, these pins are amongst a number of ocean-inspired products available in the Fin Pin shop. Choose between wooden pins and enamel pins in a variety of designs including cuttlefish (pictured above), beluga whale, seahorse (which is glow-in-the-dark!), and rays.
Bumblebee enamel pin badge
- Buy now from Bumblebee Conservation Trust (£2.50).
The Bumblebee Conservation Trust has produced ten different bumblebee enamel pin designs, each of a different bumblebee species – some are common species, such as the early bumblebee pictured above, whilst others celebrate rare species such as the great yellow bumblebee and the shrill carder bee. There's even a pin for the tree bumblebee, a species that was first seen in the UK in 2001.
Lapwing enamel pin badge
- Buy now from Wader Quest (£2.00).
The Wader Quest charity has produced a number of collectable pin badges of wading birds found both in the UK and around the world. Species include the northern lapwing (pictured above), Eurasian curlew and spoon-billed sandpiper.
Raven enamel pin badge
Corvids and Tarot combine in this enamel pin by Adrian Ramos in California, USA. Featuring an impressive raven perched on a branch with the four suits: Sword, Wand, Pentacle and the snail shell necklace serves as the Cup.
Kookaburra enamel pin badge
Based in Melbourne, Australia, the Oh Jessica Jessica Etsy shop has over 100 pins to choose from. The wildlife ones are mostly of birds as there were two Australian Birds volumes produced via Kickstarter, but there's also a stingray and a couple of axolotls amongst the selection available.
Sunfish enamel pin badge
Another marine wildlife-inspired pin collection, this time by Kir who runs the Ummvelt online shop. There's a range of products available, including enamel pins and clothing. This sunfish pin (pictured above) caught our eye with its London skyline design.
Hedgehog enamel pin badge
- Buy now from British Hedgehog Preservation Society (£1.00).
The British Hedgehog Preservation Society have this cute cartoon hedgehog enamel pin for sale in their online shop.
Green tiger beetle wooden pin badge
Handmade in the UK, this pin badge is made from responsible sourced European birch wood and is roughly 30mm wide. 10% of the profits from this Etsy shop by Katie Waddington go to the Buglife charity, and all the pins are of insects photographed by Katie, including a green tiger beetle (pictured above), a marbled white butterfly, a cinnabar moth and a rhinoceros beetle. Each pin comes on a yellow backing card with information about the species.
Waxwing enamel pin badge
Part of CrowArtist's collective nouns enamel pin badge collection, this Bohemian waxwing pin celebrates the waxwing irruption of 2019. Other birds in the collective nouns pins collection include bee-eaters (colony), starlings (murmuration), and magpies (mischief). There are also a number of other enamel pins outside of this collection.
Brown long-eared bat enamel pin badge
Based in Bristol, Claire Spiller has produced four enamel pins for her city wildlife collection: red fox, herring gull, rock dove/pigeon and this brown long-eared bat pin. Each features a cute cartoon illustration of the species and the bat and fox pins come with a free QR code for a free fact sheet.
Puffin enamel pin badge
Perhaps the most well-known producers of wildlife enamel pin badges and very popular amongst pin badge collectors, the RPSB has a huge range, some of which are available to buy year-on-year, whilst others are only available for a short amount of time, such as special editions for specific campaigns or reserves. These pins manage to raise over £1 million every year for the RSPB, and there are more than 350 different designs, including both UK and international species such as a puffin (pictured above), a bluebell, a leatherback turtle and a long-snouted seahorse.
Sleeping animals enamel pin badge
Made from metal alloy with an enamel painted coating, this pin from Bongles has three sleepy animals curled up in a snoozing cuddle puddle, and features: an orange sloth, a blue-green koala, and a yellow cat on top. The description says it’s a gift for children, but we reckon any adult wildlife lovers could wear it too! The pin has a metal catch backing to stop it being lost from your clothing, bags or the straps of your camera or binoculars. There is also a design available with the same three sleepy animals happily hanging from a branch.
