Birds I've spotted and identified
In about 1989, my then-fiancee pointed out a Northern Cardinal in Michigan. I had never seen nor heard one before, and that sparked an interest in ornithology - a subject which I had never really thought about much. Since then I've been a birdwatcher (very amateur, let me be quick to point out). For me, life is enriched when I notice the variety of birds, and when I can identify the songs and calls they make.
When I was a kid growing up in Denver in the 1970s, I used to hear Western Meadowlarks out my window in the morning (although I didn't know what kind of bird I was hearing at the time). But they like open country, and as city development filled in around my home, the meadowlarks gradually moved out, and by the 1980s a thing of beauty had disappeared from our neighborhood.
One of my "birding highlights" was at college in Texas, where I witnessed a flock of Scissor-tailed Flycatchers doing their "sky dance". Their aerial acrobatics - and the sounds they were making - made for an unforgettable experience.
Another ponderous sight was one autumn in Elbert County Colorado, where I saw wave after wave of what I believe must've been almost the entire population of Sandhill Cranes, high overhead as they migrated southward from the Platte River to the San Luis Valley.
Primarily I use Peterson's Field Guide to Western Birds (3rd edition, 1990), and the birds listed below are grouped as they are in that book.
| Index (you can click on a link to jump directly to that group) |
| Swimmers (Ducks and duck-like birds) |
| Aerialists (Seabirds, gulls, etc.) |
| Long-legged waders (herons, cranes, etc.) |
| Smaller waders (plovers, sandpipers, etc.) |
| Fowl-like birds (grouse, quail, etc.) |
| Birds of prey (hawks, eagles, owls, etc.) |
| Nonpasserine land birds |
| Passerine (perching) birds (includes most songbirds) |
| Legend |
| Birds sighted in southeast metro Denver. |
| Birds sighted in Colorado, outside metro Denver. |
| Birds sighted elsewhere in the U.S. |
| Swimmers (Ducks and duck-like birds) | |
| Type of bird | Where sighted |
| Double-crested Cormorant | Garland Park; Cherry Creek Reservoir |
| Canada Goose | Common |
| Mallard | Common |
| American Wigeon | Garland Park |
| Bufflehead | South Platte River (November) |
| Common Merganser | Arkansas River near Nathrop |
| Aerialists (Seabirds, gulls, etc.) | |
| American White Pelican | Cherry Creek Reservoir |
| Gull (not sure of species) | Common |
| Long-legged waders (herons, cranes, etc.) | |
| Great Blue Heron | Common |
| Black-Crowned Night Heron | Common |
| Sandhill Crane | Flying over northwest Elbert County. Also between Cardwell and Boulder MT |
| Smaller waders (plovers, sandpipers, etc.) | |
| American Avocet | Once at Garland Park |
| Killdeer | Common |
| Fowl-like birds (grouse, quail, etc.) | |
| Ring-necked Pheasant | Western Kansas |
| Birds of prey (hawks, eagles, owls, etc.) | |
| Hawk (not sure of species) | Southeast Metro Area |
| Bald Eagle | Cherry Creek Reservoir; also along I-90 in western MT |
| Osprey | Silverthorne CO |
| Great Horned Owl | Southeast Metro Area |
| Nonpasserine land birds | |
| Type of bird | Where sighted |
| Belted Kingfisher | Cherry Creek |
| Mourning Dove | Common |
| Rock Dove (Domestic Pigeon) | Common |
| Greater Roadrunner | Near Sanderson TX |
| Common Nighthawk | Infrequently in neighborhood; Pawnee Nat'l Grasslands; Colorado plains |
| Rufous Hummingbird | Crawford CO |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | CO and KS high plains |
| Downy Woodpecker | Common |
| Northern Flicker (Red-shafted) | Common |
| Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) | Lake Scott State Park KS |
| Click for index and legend | |
| Passerine (perching) birds (includes most songbirds) | |
| Type of bird | Where sighted |
| Scissor-tailed Flycatcher | Waco TX |
| Western Kingbird | Mira Vista Golf Course, Platte River in SW Littleton, High Plains |
| White-throated Swift | Black Canyon of the Gunnison CO |
| Violet-Green Swallow | Grand Lake CO |
| Barn Swallow | Cherry Creek; common on golf courses |
| American Crow | Common |
| Blue Jay | Common |
| Steller's Jay | Various higher elevations in Colorado; Lolo Pass ID & MT |
| Pinyon Jay | Castlewood Canyon State Park CO |
| Gray Jay | Various higher elevations in Colorado |
| Black-billed Magpie | Common |
| Black-capped Chickadee | Common |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | Near Grand Lake CO |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | Occasionally in neighborhood |
| Brown Creeper | Once in neighborhood |
| House Wren | Early summers in neighborhood |
| Northern Mockingbird | Waco TX |
| American Robin | Common |
| Mountain Bluebird | Near Kenosha Pass & Jefferson CO |
| Loggerhead Shrike | Comanche Nat'l Grasslands south of La Junta CO |
| European Starling | Common |
| Yellow Warbler | Along Cherry Creek & Highline Canal |
| Brewer's Blackbird | Common |
| Common Grackle | Common |
| Great-tailed Grackle | Waco TX |
| Red-winged Blackbird (not sure which form) | Common |
| Yellow-headed Blackbird | Mira Vista Golf Course |
| Western Meadowlark | Southeast Metro Area |
| Bullocks Oriole (?) | Twice in neighborhood |
| Western Tanager | Twice in neighborhood; also Great Sand Dunes Nat'l Monument CO |
| Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon form (?) | Infrequently in neighborhood |
| Northern Cardinal | Waco TX and Grand Rapids MI |
| House Finch | Common |
| Pine Grosbeak | La Garita Wilderness; Holy Cross Wilderness |
| American Goldfinch | Infrequently in neighborhood and near Cherry Creek Reservoir |
| House Sparrow | Common |
| Lark Bunting | Pawnee Nat'l Grasslands; Colorado plains |
| Click for index and legend | |