Complete field guide to every bird species recorded in Colorado. Browse by name, filter by taxonomic family or order, and tap any species for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.
All sighting data is sourced from eBird, the world's largest citizen science database for birds. Use this guide to discover what birds live in Colorado, learn their calls, and plan birding trips to the best hotspots in the region.
Colorado's list stands at more than 510 species, spread across the greatest elevation range in the lower 48 — from shortgrass prairie at 3,300 feet to alpine tundra above 14,000. That range means Mountain Plovers and longspurs in the morning and White-tailed Ptarmigan the same afternoon.
The state's signature spectacle is the April lek circuit: Greater and Gunnison Sage-Grouse (nearly the entire world population of the latter lives here), Greater and Lesser Prairie-Chickens, and Sharp-tailed Grouse all display within a long weekend's drive. Add winter rosy-finch flocks — all three species at a single mountain feeder — and Colorado earns a place on every North American birder's calendar.
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Where to bird in Colorado
Pawnee National Grassland
The shortgrass classic: Mountain Plovers, McCown's (Thick-billed) Longspurs, Chestnut-collared Longspurs, and Lark Buntings on territory, with Burrowing Owls on the prairie-dog towns.
Rocky Mountain National Park
Trail Ridge Road puts you on the alpine tundra by car: White-tailed Ptarmigan among the rocks, Brown-capped Rosy-Finches on the snowfields, and Dusky Grouse displaying at the forest edge in spring.
Guanella Pass
The most famous ptarmigan stakeout in America — in winter, White-tailed Ptarmigan feed in the willows near the summit parking, invisible until a rock stands up and walks.
The Gunnison Basin
Home to nearly all the world's Gunnison Sage-Grouse. The Waunita Hot Springs lek viewing site offers dawn displays in April without disturbing this critically threatened bird.
The eastern plains lek circuit
Wray's Greater Prairie-Chicken tours and the Lesser Prairie-Chicken country near Campo anchor the April grouse pilgrimage across the plains — book lek blinds well ahead.
Barr Lake State Park
The Front Range's migrant magnet and home of the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies: nesting Bald Eagles, spring warbler flocks in the shoreline cottonwoods, and a 400-plus species park list.
Chico Basin Ranch
A working ranch southeast of Colorado Springs whose isolated tree groves trap spring and fall migrants — the banding station and vagrant record are the stuff of state-list legend.
John Martin Reservoir
The plains' great water: Snowy Plovers and Least Terns nest on the shores, waterfowl and gulls stage by the thousand, and the surrounding shortgrass holds curlews and Scaled Quail.
Box Canyon Falls, Ouray
The most accessible Black Swift nest colony in the country — visit on a July morning to watch this near-mythical species swirl above the waterfall.
Colorado birding by season
Spring (March–May) — Lek season — the grouse grand slam
April is for dancing grouse: sage-grouse, prairie-chickens, and Sharp-tailed on their leks, ptarmigan still in white, and the plains reservoirs full of migrating waterfowl and shorebirds.
Summer (June–August) — Alpine mornings and canyon specialties
Ptarmigan and rosy-finches above treeline, Black Swifts at their waterfalls, and the full mountain suite from Cordilleran Flycatchers to American Three-toed Woodpeckers in the high forests.
Fall (September–November) — Vagrant season on the plains
The isolated groves at Chico Basin and the eastern reservoirs pull in eastern warblers, Sabine's Gulls, and jaegers, while mountain passes stream with southbound raptors and hummingbirds head through by August.
Winter (December–February) — Rosy-finch flocks and prairie raptors
All three rosy-finch species swirl at mountain feeders, Guanella Pass hides its ptarmigan in the willows, and the eastern plains host Ferruginous and Rough-legged Hawks, longspur flocks, and the odd Snowy Owl.
All 552 bird species recorded in Colorado
Every species on this list has been recorded in Colorado on eBird. Tap any bird for photos, range maps, songs, and identification tips.