Brown Creeper by Frank Parga

Listen to the bird in this mural!

Painted: 8/4/2025

About the Mural: In this mural created by artist Frank Parga, Brown Creepers perch and swoop among blooms of Common Yarrow. As part of the Audubon Mural Project—a public-art initiative drawing attention to birds that are vulnerable to extinction from climate change—NYC Parks’ Art in the Parks program and NYC Parks GreenThumb worked with the National Audubon Society, Gitler &_____ Gallery, and local artists to design murals in community gardens across the city. Through a collaborative process between the partners, artist, and garden group, each mural was designed to feature climate-threatened birds as well as native plants that birds depend on for food and shelter. By creating vibrant urban green spaces, community gardeners provide essential support for birds and people. Explore more murals from the collaboration here.

This mural was created with Townsend Garden, a patch of green space in the Bronx that offers a place for neighbors to connect with food, nature, and each other. 

About the Bird: The Brown Creeper’s petite size and delicately patterned brown plumage makes it easy to miss as it spirals around tree trunks to pick out insects and their tasty eggs. It’s easier to hear than to see: Listen for its thin, reedy call and tinkling, descending song in the woods. 

Though Brown Creepers are still generally common, they’ve declined in the East with the loss of their mature forest habitat. A changing climate holds further threats: The species is predicted to lose more than half its current summer range if warming continues at its current pace, according to Audubon’s Survival By Degrees report. Taking action to limit climate change can help ensure creepers can thrive across a wider range of habitats in the future. Meanwhile, maintaining pockets of green space like community gardens—and filling them with native plants—can offer these birds crucial places to rest and refuel.

About the Artist: Frank Parga is a New York City-based artist, muralist, and educator originally from El Paso, Texas. He has worked on a variety of large-scale murals across the city, including a Gyrfalcon mural in Washington Heights for the Audubon Mural Project, a large-scale installation at R. H. Hungerford School on Staten Island in collaboration with the NY School Construction Authority and Public Art For Public Schools, and a series of murals at Coler Hospital on Roosevelt Island in collaboration with NYC Health + Hospitals. He has worked with the Brooklyn Arts Council, el Museo del Barrio, Groundswell NYC, Creative Art Works, and Lincoln Center Education on various creative projects and workshops. Parga previously served as director of education at One River School of Art and Design in Larchmont, New York. His work has been shown nationally and internationally.

For this mural, Parga used a “loose” style of painting to allow the sky-blue background to peek through among the creepers and yarrow. He hopes the mural will inspire people to learn more about the Brown Creeper and the threats to wildlife. “I hope this raises awareness about conservation and an understanding that there is a lot of animal and plant life at risk,” Parga says.