The Wild Birds of Colorado
Are Really...Wild!

Take a trip on the wild side - the wild birds of Colorado side, that is.

If you're coming to Durango, and you like birds, be prepared for a long list of species you can see in action. Four hundred eighty-two for the entire state of Colorado, at last count.

Though not the county with the highest bird list in the state (that's Larimer, on the north border of Colorado about middle of the state at 392!), La Plata County boasts 310 wild birds of Colorado species that live or pass through its area. The entire state of Minnesota only has 312 species!









One of the 310 wild birds of Colorado species that can be seen in La Plata County, though this one was seen in our backyard in Minnesota, summer 2007.

I'm told, by local bird experts in Minnesota that one advantage Colorado has over flatter states is the micro-climates because of altitude changes. Every hundred feet higher, the climate's different. That might be an exaggeration, but not by much.

For great information on Colorado bird watching, the Colorado Field Ornithologist website has county by county lists of what you can see and where to go to see many of them. You can download the La Plata list there, or I've posted a list here for easy access: La Plata County Bird List

Of course, you can see plenty wild birds of Colorado just by watching out the window when you're driving in the area. No! Not if you're the one driving! Whew, that was close!

Now that my son is old enough to drive, I don't have to do much of the driving on our trips. So my daughter and I "hang our heads out the windows", so to speak, and watch for birds.

Most of what we see are raptors, especially red-tailed hawks, who haunt roadsides looking for roadkill. Who says we're the only ones who get a free lunch?

The other reason I've seen (and recognized) many of them is because my daughter and I volunteer with a licensed bird bander once or twice a month (more during migration seasons). Which means we get an up close and personal look at the birds and how to tell them apart.

Put me in the field and I'm useless for identifying the smaller wild birds of Colorado unless I get a clear picture and whip out my Sibley bird book. Sparrows can be particularly hard, or the really small birds like warblers.

We had a ruby-crowned kinglet hit the window of our porch in Minnesota, for instance. It was only stunned, so, since we know how to handle birds for banding, we sheltered it for ten minutes or so, until it could fly again. Hawks and neighbor cats could easily eat it, if we didn't give it a place to recover, briefly.

Then I held it for pictures (please don't try this if you haven't been taught how to handle wild birds!). We had to blow the head feathers up to see the ruby crown. And I wouldn't have recognized it, except we'd just banded six of them a couple days prior to that at bird banding.

Pretty cool!

Please note: Keeping a wild bird as a pet is illegal in most areas, unless you're a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. We never keep birds that hit our windows (or fall from nests in the yard) for more than a few minutes for them to recover. Please don't try it; for the bird's sake.

As you can see, we get a lot of pictures from our yard in Minnesota, too. So far, I haven't gotten many clear pictures of birds on our Colorado property, but I keep trying.

Here's hoping you get to see a few of the wild birds of Colorado on your next trip!

Colorado Bird Houses
Colorado State Bird
Bird Watching in Colorado
Colorado Bird Watching Clubs
Colorado Bird Watching 2
Colorado Upland Bird
Birds of Colorado 2




Return to Colorado Birds main page from the Wild Birds of Colorado page.

Return to Homepage