Bird on a Wire
a flock of robins living on two wires

What you see on every new tab

Bird on a Wire puts a small flock of robins on the New Tab page, on two telephone wires and a couple of trees against a chalky pastel sky. The sky and trees are thousands of brush dabs painted at load time; the birds are repainted every frame from feather templates, so they stay the same birds while they live.

• Real wires: each is a string with six standing-wave modes. Birds weigh them down where they sit, every take-off and landing plucks them, and they spring back.
• Bird behaviour: look, tilt, fluff, preen, tail flick, wing stretch, shuffle, hop, sing; swoop between wires and trees; tip over backwards to hang upside down and swing; chase in pairs; land beside a friend who turns to look.
• A living sky: soft dabs of lilac-grey, orange and white that drift slowly across a blue-and-mauve ground.

Nothing is a video. The scene is generated live on your graphics card with WebGL, so it never loops and never looks the same twice.

What it reacts to

• Mouse: a sudden move startles the flock into the air together; a slow cursor gets a curious look.
• Music: the beat sets their rhythm when music sync is on.
• Night: a hand-painted night scene comes on after dusk at your location.

Free or Pro?Pro

Ambient New Tab is free to install, with three free themes. Bird on a Wire is a Pro theme. Pro is a one-time $19 purchase, no subscription, and it unlocks every Pro theme, music sync, and every theme we release in the future. You can preview Bird on a Wire full screen before you buy: open the Themes panel and rest your mouse on it. Changed your mind? 14-day refund, no questions.

How to get it

1. Add Ambient New Tab to Chrome (or Edge, Brave, Arc, Vivaldi, Opera).
2. Open a new tab and click the Themes pill in the bottom-right corner.
3. Pick Bird on a Wire. Done.

Questions

Are the birds animated clips?

No. Each robin is drawn every frame from a feather template and its own behaviour state, which is why they can hang upside down, chase and land anywhere.

Is Bird on a Wire free?

It is a Pro theme. Pro is a one-time $19 purchase, no subscription, that unlocks every Pro theme, music sync, and every future theme.

Is it calm enough to work over?

Yes. Most of the time the birds sit and preen; the flock only scatters when you startle it.

Does it work on my phone?

No. It's a desktop browser extension for Chrome and Edge on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS. If you're reading this on a phone, send yourself the link.

More themes

See every theme →