This is one of five blown and tooled glass birds by Oiva Toikka acquired directly as a gift from Iittala Oy Ab, the parent company of the Nuutajärvi Glass factory, in 2004. A long-tailed duck designed in 1981 was already in the Collections. These attractive and richly-coloured birds, along with the many other bird designs produced, are collectively by far the most successful designs in the history of the Nuutajärvi glassworks and the range is regularly expanded. Being handmade, each bird is unique and all are signed by the artist. Prof. Oiva Toikka (born 1931) is an internationally renowned glass artist who has won numerous awards. He has worked at Nuutajärvi as a designer and maker since 1963 and his birds have been in constant production since 1972.

The Fallingwater Red is based on a songbird called the Scarlet Tanager which feeds on beetles and caterpillars in the dense tree canopy surrounding Fallingwater. Fallingwater is the name of a house built over a waterfall in Pennsylvania, USA. It was designed in 1935 by the renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the Kaufmann family. The Kaufmanns, who normally lived in urban Pittsburgh, were keen bird watchers. They delighted in the brightly-coloured birds at their summer home. Oiva Toikka was inspired by the singing and striking colour of the Scarlet Tanager on a visit to Fallingwater and created the Fallingwater Red with the intention that a percentage of the sale price of each limited edition bird would support the restoration and upkeep of the house.