According to a study facilitated by BirdLife, there are more than 1,300 bird species threatened with extinction and among them are hundreds which don’t have the benefit of being household names and whose decline have likely gone largely unnoticed.

Species like the California condor and the bald eagle are benefiting from high-profile conservation efforts that turned their fates around, but what about the curlew or the linnet? Have you even heard of such birds?

Since 2014, British street artist ATM has been working to change that collective social imperception by placing impressive portraits of imperiled birds in public spaces in the UK, Europe, and New York.

The approach is simple and effective; featuring detailed and accurate portraits of birds over bright solid-color backgrounds and juxtaposed against industrial surfaces in urbanized settings.

Bringing images of birds displaced (or otherwise imperiled) by human activities right back into the center of those activities restores their presence in ways that the video and photographic instruments commonly wielded by conservationists just can’t match.

There is a physical presence brought about by these paintings. They are instantly arresting, highly-engaging works that easily lend themselves to inclusion in our connected “sharing-culture” society.

They also are composed in a way that naturally stimulates curiosity and conversation. There is no text to accompany the paintings beyond the artist’s signature (and in some cases a website link), spurring the viewer to do the kind of inquisitive research which will likely lead them to discover information regarding the bird’s plight.

The viewer will subsequently see those paintings again and again as they go about their daily business, firmly entrenching that information in their mind.

They are highly-engaging, shareable works that easily integrate into our “connected” and “experience-motivated” society.

ATM’s choice of placement for his works also appears to be very specific and tailored to the conservation concerns and opportunities relative to the countries in which he paints.

In New York, he painted birds like the red-faced warbler (Cardella rubifrons) which is threatened by climate change in Arizona and New Mexico.

In Norway, he painted a white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) as an expression of gratitude to the people of Norway who provided Scotland with a population of the birds in the 1970’s after the species was driven to extinction in Britain.

In London, he painted a goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) to highlight their persecution and the fact that they were once driven to extinction in England prior to informal reintroduction in the 1960’s.

It is a well-targeted, personalized tactic and makes his work even more effective at bringing imperiled birds to the front and center of local consciousness.

You can learn more about ATM in this piece by The Guardian and in this one by the Audubon society. There’s also this piece by the blog Inspiring City.

In closing, here are some thoughts straight from the artist: