Birding

Golden-Crowned Kinglets are Trash Birds

April 9, 2024 by Jason Crotty 2 Comments

In Portland, Oregon, the Golden-Crowned Kinglet is fairly common in appropriate habitat, particularly during migration and in winter. The eBird bar chart for the kinglet in Multnomah County, which includes Portland, is below.

But this “tiny, hyperactive songbird” is not found only high in the tree canopy. It also found much lower, adorning some of Portland’s public trash cans. These practical and functional examples of public art were “designed by local artists and chosen in partnership with local community members.”

The artist is Alex Chiu (website). He has also collaborated on a huge downtown mural (part of the Portland Street Art Alliance) entitled “Inheritance” featuring a Western Bluebird, along with other flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest.

For more bird-related public art in Portland, check out Tweets and Chirps.

Photo: Golden-crowned Kinglet by .

Written by Jason Crotty
Jason Crotty is a birder, lawyer, and occasional writer currently living in Portland, Oregon with his wife and daughter. A Bay Area native, he started birding while working at a large law firm in San Francisco, but birds less frequently now that there's a kid around, so he writes instead. Jason started at 10,000 Birds with a few guest posts and signed on as a beat writer in March 2017. He is particularly interested in the intersection of law and birding (especially the Endangered Species Act), other bird-related federal litigation, and federal public lands. Jason's writing has also appeared in BirdWatching, Birding, and Birder's Guide, both online and in print.