A beloved homeless artist famed for painting the birds of Central Park was identified Monday as the woman found viciously murdered in a gazebo near the park’s boathouse — shocking the flock of eclectic friends she collected during her colorful life.

Lee Rogers, 63, who buoyantly peddled intricate wildlife watercolors during her years of sleeping rough in the wooded Manhattan haven, died after being bludgeoned by a stick-wielding madman Sunday, law-enforcement sources said.

Lee Rogers, also known as Elise Bainbridge Hill, is shown in a photo posted to Facebook on Feb. 26, 2021. Facebook/Francis Lee Rogers

Beloved homeless artist Lee Rogers, 63, known for her Central Park bird paintings, was found brutally murdered in a park gazebo. Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post

“She was like the Grandma Moses of Central Park,” said Robert DeCandido, a nature walk guide, referring to the famed 1950s American folk painter.

“When she did the bird feeders, the birders loved her. They would buy her artwork in the park,” DeCandido, who goes by “Birding Bob,” told The Post on Monday.

An undated painting by Lee Rogers, also known as Elise Bainbridge Hill, is titled “Central Park Bird Feeders.” Francis Lee Rogers

Illustration of raccoons in a park at night, titled “Mother Racoon and young descending the cyclops tree 2016”. Francis Lee Rogers

The discovery of a body in the gazebo near 74th Street and East Drive quickly prompted rumors among Central Park birdwatchers – and homeless people who frequent the green space – that it was Rogers.

The suspect – Jonathan Robles, 36 – turned himself in to authorities late Sunday, police said.

Sources said Rogers and Robles got into some type of argument that escalated into violence, although the details were unclear.

Candles are placed inside a Central Park gazebo where a 63-year-old homeless woman known as “Lee” was found allegedly stabbed to death, Monday, September 28, 2026. Matthew McDermott for NY Post

Rogers, also known as Elise Bainbridge Hill, was the subject of a 2007 documentary, “Begging Naked,” detailing her past. Instagram/Francis Lee Rogers

Rogers referred to herself as Francis Lee Rogers on her website and Facebook. Sources said she was also known as Elise Bainbridge Hill – a name that sheds some light on her murky past.

Elise Bainbridge Hill, was the subject of the acclaimed 2007 documentary “Begging Naked.” Several people who knew Rogers confirmed the film — which was shot by her friend Karen Gehres over nearly a decade — documented her life and tragic path to homelessness.

Rogers, or Hill, ran away from home as a teenager and came to New York City, where she fell into prostitution and drug addiction, the film shows. 

Joe Lopez, an acquaintance of a 63-year-old homeless woman known as “Lee” who was found allegedly stabbed to death, stops by a Central Park gazebo with some of her artwork, where candles have been placed, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. Matthew McDermott for NY Post

She eventually worked as a stripper while she honed her prodigious skills in art, using her lusty neon-colored world as inspiration for paintings, the documentary details.

But Rogers also battled mental illness — a struggle the documentary shows as she veered into paranoid fears about her studio, a converted air shaft near Carnegie Hall, being bugged.

Eventually, Rogers lost her home and started sleeping in and around the park.

The compassionate, yet tough-as-nails Rogers often cultivated an air of mystery as she became a fixture in the park, trodding out with a sketchbook and a twisted walking stick.

When the New York Times profiled Rogers – and compared her to naturalist artist John James Audubon – in 2012, Rogers politely declined to give her age or details about her life.

Birders and parkgoers knew Rogers through her paintings, which she sold as she camped out at churches near the park.

A painting by Lee Rogers titled “Cardinal on the bridle path the day the opossum appeared”. Francis Lee Rogers

“For many years I was homeless,” she wrote on her website. “I worked on my paintings at the Central Park boathouse.”

DeCandido said the outspoken Rogers became well-known among the park’s nature lovers.

“People got to like her a lot,” he said, though he added she suffered from “mental problems.”

“She once told me she had to watch the boathouse constantly because she was expecting someone to blow it up. She had some paranoia issues along the way.”

One of Rogers’ friends — Joe Lopez — met her in 2016 when he bought one of her paintings depicting the famed red-tailed hawk known as “Pale Male” that made Central Park its haunt.

A painting by Rogers titled “A long eared owl hunts on west 76th street.” Francis Lee Rogers

Lopez, who knew Rogers as “kind and sweet and soft,” clutched the painting Monday as he visited the gazebo bench where she often slept to pay his profound respects.

“She was fun to talk to, she knew wildlife, she knew animal behavior,” he said. “It’s not like she just sat there and painted, she really knew more than an artist would about these animals. And I found that intriguing.”

Rogers lived on and off in the park for years, sometimes spent time in shelters and managed to get off the streets for a spell when a fellow birder gave her a place to stay in their home several years ago, DeCandido said.

But the nature-loving artist ended up back in the park, and her health seemed to decline over the last four or five years, DeCandido said.

A painting Rogers titled “2017 A common loon on the Central Park reservoir”. Francis Lee Rogers

“She was more standoffish, more reclusive,” DeCandido said, recounting that she also lost weight.

“She had a tent set up across from one of the benches. It was kind of just a shroud she would hide under. She would just look off in a daze,” he said. “It was not the Lee I remember from 10 years ago.”

Moje Ramirez, 51, who is homeless, said he knew both Rogers and Robles, the man accused of killing her. 

He described Robles as homeless and someone who couldn’t control his actions when under the influence.

“When he’s under the influence, he does whatever he wants to get his space, and that makes him a bad person,” Ramirez said. 

“They both knew each other well. He lived here and she lived here. They didn’t get along but they were regulars.”

Robles was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan court on murder and criminal possession of a weapon charges Monday.

— Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer