Lincoln’s Sparrow by Peter Daverington

Painted: 05/10/23

Sponsored by: Hudson Square Business Improvement District

About the Bird: The Lincoln’s Sparrow may be heard before it’s seen, as the secretive little bird skulks low to the ground, under the cover of shrubs and dense vegetation. Birders may find it by following its rich, gurgling song, more wren-like than sparrow-like in its musicality. Like many songbirds that migrate through New York City, Lincoln’s Sparrows may find rest and resources—including seeds and insects to help fuel their long flight—in the pockets of habitat located in the city's parks and in outdoor spaces like Freeman Plaza East in the Hudson Square neighborhood of Lower Manhattan. If global warming continues apace, the Lincoln’s Sparrow stands to lose 75 percent of its breeding habitat in the Northeastern United States and Canada by 2080; at 1.5 degrees warming, only 34 percent is projected to be lost, which for this species could be the difference between adapting and disappearing.

About the Artist: Peter Daverington is a painter and musician from Melbourne, Australia, currently living and working in Kingston, New York. He completed an MFA at the Victorian College of the Arts at the University of Melbourne and has been commissioned to paint public murals in Argentina, Australia, China, Egypt, Germany, Guatemala, and Turkey. Daverington has also painted the American Black Duck and the Bald Eagle for the Audubon Mural Project.