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 Mick Thompson.
Love this article, Jason, and it will cause me to look for these murals around the Portland metro area! I also appreciate the link to Audrey’s Flickr account which shows even more murals.
Thanks! Ruth
Good job, Portland! This is much better than what I saw in Denver recently: an English Robin adorning construction signage downtown. Why an English Robin? They are very cute but I think a local bird would make more sense. Thanks for this fun article although the headline kind of offended me at first…