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List of birds of Colorado

Adapted from Wikipedia · Adventurer experience

A beautiful White-tailed Ptarmigan bird in its natural habitat on Mt. Evans, Colorado.

Many different kinds of birds live in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of September 2022, people have seen and recorded 519 different species of birds there. These records were kept by the Colorado Bird Records Committee, a group of bird experts.

This list of birds follows a special order used by the American Ornithological Society. This group makes a list of all the birds in North and Middle America. The names of the bird families come from another group called the Clements taxonomy.

Six of these birds are not originally from North America. People brought them to this part of the world, and they are marked special on the list. Some birds might have escaped from places where they were kept, but they are not included in this list unless they were seen flying free in Colorado. One extra bird, seen only once, is also included in the records.

Ducks, geese, and waterfowl

Canada goose
Female mallard in flight

Order: Anseriformes   Family: Anatidae

The family Anatidae includes ducks, geese, and swans. These birds are good at living in water. They have webbed feet, special bills, and feathers that stay dry.

Some birds in this group live in Colorado. They include the Black-bellied whistling-duck, Snow goose, Canada goose, Wood duck, Mallard, and Ruddy duck, among others.

New World quail

New World quails are small, plump birds that live on the ground. They look like other quails but are not closely related.

Pheasants, grouse, and allies

White-tailed ptarmigan

Order: Galliformes   Family: Phasianidae

Phasianidae includes birds like pheasants and their relatives. These birds live on land. They are usually round and chubby with short wings. Some of them are hunted for sport, and others are raised by people for food.

Grebes

Grebes are small to medium-sized birds that live in freshwater. They are great at swimming and diving. Their special toes help them move in water, but they are clumsy when walking on land.

Western grebe

The grebes found in Colorado include:

Pigeons and doves

Mourning dove

Order: Columbiformes   Family: Columbidae

Pigeons and doves are strong birds with short necks and thin beaks.

Cuckoos

The family Cuculidae has cuckoos, roadrunners, and anis. These birds have thin bodies, long tails, and strong legs. Some cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds' nests.

Nightjars and allies

Nightjars, also called goatsuckers, are medium-sized birds that are active at night. They usually lay their eggs on the ground. They have long wings, short legs, and very short beaks. Most of them have small feet that aren't good for walking and long, pointy wings. Their feathers are soft and blend in with bark or leaves.

Swifts

Order: Apodiformes   Family: Apodidae

Violet-green swallow

Swifts are small birds that live most of their time in the sky. They have short legs and do not like to land on flat ground. They prefer to rest on walls or other upright surfaces. Many swifts have long wings that look like a crescent or boomerang.

Some swifts found in Colorado include:

Hummingbirds

Order: Apodiformes   Family: Trochilidae

Broad-tailed hummingbird

Hummingbirds are tiny birds that can hover in one spot because their wings beat very fast. They are the only birds that can fly backward.

Some hummingbirds found in Colorado include:

Rails, gallinules, and coots

American coot

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Rallidae

The Rallidae family includes birds like rails, crakes, coots, and gallinules. These birds live in wet places near lakes, swamps, or rivers. They hide in tall plants and are hard to see because they are quiet and shy. They have strong legs and long toes for walking on soft ground. Their wings are short and rounded, so they do not fly well.

Some birds in this family found in Colorado include:

Cranes

Sandhill cranes

Order: Gruiformes   Family: Gruidae

Cranes are large birds with long legs and necks. They fly with their necks stretched out, which makes them look different from herons. Many cranes dance in loud and fancy ways when they want to find a mate.

Stilts and avocets

American avocet

The family Recurvirostridae has big birds called avocets and stilts. Avocets have long legs and curved bills. Stilts have very long legs and thin, straight bills.

Two birds in this family live in Colorado:

Plovers and lapwings

Killdeer

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Charadriidae

The Charadriidae family includes plovers, dotterels, and lapwings. These birds are small to medium-sized with compact bodies, short thick necks, and long, usually pointed, wings. They live in open areas around the world, especially near water.

Some birds in this family found in Colorado include:

Sandpipers and allies

Wilson's phalarope

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Scolopacidae

Scolopacidae is a family of small to medium-sized shorebirds. It includes sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers, and phalaropes. Most of these birds eat tiny animals they find in mud or soil. Their different leg and bill lengths help them share the same places to eat without fighting.

Skuas and jaegers

Skuas and jaegers are medium to large birds with gray or brown feathers, often marked with white on their wings. They have long bills with hooked tips and webbed feet with sharp claws. These birds look like big dark gulls but have a special fleshy part above their upper bill called a cere. They are strong and agile fliers.

Auks, murres, and puffins

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Alcidae

The family Alcidae includes auks, murres, and puffins. These birds have short wings and live out on the ocean. They usually only come to land when it's time to have babies.

Gulls, terns, and skimmers

Ring-billed gull

Order: Charadriiformes   Family: Laridae

Laridae is a family of birds that live near water. It includes jaegers, skuas, gulls, terns, kittiwakes, and skimmers. These birds are usually gray or white, sometimes with black marks on their heads or wings. They have strong beaks and webbed feet.

Loons

Loons are birds that live in water. They are about the size of a big duck but are not related to ducks. Loons have gray or black feathers and long, pointy bills. They are good swimmers and can fly, but they are not very good on land because their legs are placed far back on their bodies.

Storks

Storks are large birds with long legs and necks. They have long, strong beaks and wide wings. Storks do not have special feathers to clean themselves, and they cannot make sounds.

Frigatebirds

Frigatebirds are large seabirds that live near warm oceans. They are black or black-and-white with long wings and forked tails. Male frigatebirds have special throat pouches that they can inflate. These birds cannot swim or walk, and they can't take off from flat ground. Because they have big wings for their body size, they can fly for many days without stopping.

Boobies and gannets

Order: Suliformes   Family: Sulidae

The sulids are birds called gannets and boobies. They are medium to large birds that live near the coast. They catch fish by diving into the water.

Anhingas

Anhingas are water birds that look like cormorants. They have long necks and straight beaks. They eat fish and usually swim with only their necks showing above the water.

Cormorants and shags

Order: Suliformes   Family: Phalacrocoracidae

Cormorants are birds that live in water. They often have dark feathers and colored skin on their faces. They have long, thin beaks and webbed feet with four toes.

Pelicans

Pelicans are large water birds with big pouches under their beaks. They are part of the Pelecaniformes group and have four webbed toes.

Two kinds of pelicans live in Colorado:

Herons, egrets, and bitterns

Order: Pelecaniformes   Family: Ardeidae

The family Ardeidae includes herons, egrets, and bitterns. Herons and egrets are medium to large birds that walk in water. They have long necks and legs. Bitterns are usually shorter and harder to see. When herons and egrets fly, they pull their necks in. This is different from other long-necked birds like storks.

Some birds in this family are:

Ibises and spoonbills

The family Threskiornithidae includes ibises and spoonbills. They have long, broad wings. Their bodies are often stretched out, especially their necks and legs. The bill is long, curved for ibises and flat for spoonbills.

New World vultures

Order: Cathartiformes   Family: Cathartidae

New World vultures look similar to Old World vultures but they are not closely related. They evolved to look alike because they both eat animals that have already died. Old World vultures find food by sight, but New World vultures use their strong sense of smell to find animals that have passed away.

Some birds in this group include:

Osprey

The Osprey is part of the Pandionidae family, which has just one kind of bird. These birds eat fish. They have big, strong beaks, strong legs, sharp talons, and very good eyesight.

Hawks, eagles, and kites

Order: Accipitriformes   Family: Accipitridae

Accipitridae is a family of birds that includes hawks, eagles, kites, harriers, and vultures. These birds have strong beaks, powerful legs, sharp claws, and excellent eyesight.

Barn-owls

Barn-owls are medium to large owls. They have big heads and special heart-shaped faces. They also have long, strong legs.

Owls

Owls are special birds that are usually active at night. They have big eyes that face forward, a sharp beak, and a circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk.

Some owls found in Colorado include:

Kingfishers

Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long pointed beaks, short legs, and short tails.

Woodpeckers

Order: Piciformes   Family: Picidae

Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with strong beaks for pecking at trees. They have short legs and stiff tails, and they use their long tongues to catch insects. Some woodpeckers have two toes pointing forward and two backward, while others have only three toes. Many woodpeckers tap loudly on tree trunks with their beaks.

Some woodpeckers found in Colorado include:

Falcons and caracaras

Order: Falconiformes   Family: Falconidae

Falconidae is a family of birds that hunt during the day. They include falcons and caracaras. These birds use their beaks to catch prey, unlike hawks, eagles, and kites, which use their talons.

Some birds in this family found in Colorado include:

Tyrant flycatchers

Tyrant flycatchers are birds found in North and South America. They belong to the order Passeriformes and the family Tyrannidae. These birds look similar to Old World flycatchers but are stronger with thicker beaks. They mostly eat insects and have simple, plain appearances. Unlike some birds, their songs are not very complex.

Vireos, shrike-babblers, and erpornis

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Vireonidae

Vireos are small to medium-sized birds found in North and South America. They often have greenish feathers and look similar to wood warblers but have thicker beaks.

Shrikes

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Laniidae

Shrikes are birds that catch other small animals. They have a hooked beak, like birds that hunt other animals.

Crows, jays, and magpies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Corvidae

The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, treepies, nutcrackers, and ground jays. These birds are usually larger than other Passeriformes.

Tits, chickadees, and titmice

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Paridae

The Paridae family has small, strong woodland birds with short beaks. Some of these birds have crests on their heads. They eat seeds and insects.

Larks

Larks are small birds that live on the ground. They have pretty songs and sometimes fly up in special ways. Most larks look plain, and they eat insects and seeds.

Swallows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Hirundinidae

The Hirundinidae family is good at catching food while flying. They have slim bodies, long pointed wings, and a short bill with a wide opening. Their feet are made for landing on branches, and the front toes are partly joined together.

Long-tailed tits

Long-tailed tits are small birds with tails that are medium to long. They make nests that look like bags from woven material, high up in trees. They eat insects and other kinds of food.

Kinglets

Kinglets are small birds that look like titmice. They are tiny and eat insects. Adult kinglets have colorful crowns on their heads, which is why they are called kinglets.

Waxwings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Bombycillidae

Waxwings are birds with soft, silky feathers. They have special red tips on some of their wing feathers. In the Bohemian and cedar waxwings, these red tips look like sealing wax, which is how they got their name. These birds live in forests in northern areas. In summer, they eat insects. In winter, they eat berries.

Silky-flycatchers

The silky-flycatchers are a small group of birds. They belong to a family found mostly in Central America. One species lives as far north as central California. These birds look like waxwings. They have soft, silky feathers that are usually gray or pale yellow. They also have small crests on their heads.

Nuthatches

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sittidae

Nuthatches are small birds that live in wooded areas. They can climb down trees head first, which most birds cannot do. They have big heads, short tails, and strong beaks and feet.

Treecreepers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Certhiidae

Treecreepers are small birds that live in forests. They are brown on top and white underneath. They have long, thin beaks that curve downward, which they use to find insects in tree bark. Their tails are stiff, like woodpeckers, helping them climb straight up tree trunks.

Gnatcatchers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Polioptilidae

Gnatcatchers are small, delicate birds that look like tiny warblers. They move quickly through the leaves, searching for insects to eat. These birds are usually a soft bluish-gray color and have long, sharp beaks. Many gnatcatchers, especially the males, have special black patterns on their heads and long tails with black and white feathers.

Wrens

Wrens are small birds that often hide but sing loudly. They have short wings and thin, downward-pointing beaks. Some wrens like to hold their tails up. They eat insects.

Mockingbirds and thrashers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Mimidae

The mimids are birds that include thrashers, mockingbirds, and catbirds. These birds are good at singing and can copy many bird sounds and outside noises. They often have gray and brown feathers.

Some birds in this group that live in Colorado are:

Starlings

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Sturnidae

Starlings are small to medium-sized birds with strong feet. They fly well and like to stay together in groups. They live in open areas and eat both insects and fruit. Their feathers are usually dark and have a shiny, metallic look.

Dippers

Dippers are small birds that live near water in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. They bounce or dip their heads while moving in the water, which is how they got their name. These birds can dive and walk along the bottom of water to find food like insect larvae.

Thrushes and allies

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Turdidae

Thrushes are birds mostly found in the Old World. They are often plump with soft feathers. These birds are small to medium-sized and eat insects or other tiny animals, and sometimes plants. Many thrushes are known for their lovely songs.

Some birds in this group found in Colorado include:

Old World sparrows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Passeridae

Old World sparrows are small birds. They are usually small and plump, with brown or gray feathers. They have short tails and strong beaks. These birds mainly eat seeds, but they also eat tiny insects.

One common type is the House sparrow.

Wagtails and pipits

The Motacillidae family has small birds with medium to long tails, like wagtails, longclaws, and pipits. These birds are thin and eat insects while moving on the ground in open spaces.

Some birds in this family that live in Colorado are the American pipit and Sprague's pipit.

Finches, euphonias, and allies

Finches are small birds that eat seeds. They have strong, cone-shaped beaks and often sing beautifully. They fly by flapping their wings and then gliding.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Fringillidae

Longspurs and snow buntings

The Calcariidae are a group of birds that belong to the Passeriformes order and the Calcariidae family. They are often found in open grassy areas.

New World sparrows

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Passerellidae

Until 2017, these birds were grouped with another family called Emberizidae. Many are called sparrows, but they are not related to the sparrows from the Old World, which belong to a different family called Passeridae. Many of these birds have special patterns on their heads.

Yellow-breasted chat

The Yellow-breasted chat is a bird in the Passeriformes order and the Icteriidae family. Before, people thought it was part of the wood-warblers group, but scientists were not sure. In 2017, it was placed in its own family.

Troupials and allies

The icterids are small to medium-sized, colorful birds found in North and South America. They include grackles, blackbirds, and orioles. Many have black feathers with bright yellow, orange, or red colors.

Some birds in this group found in Colorado are:

New World warblers

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Parulidae

Wood warblers are small and colorful birds from the New World. Many live in trees, but some, like the ovenbird and the two waterthrushes, stay near the ground. Most of these birds eat insects.

Cardinals and allies

The cardinals are a group of strong birds that eat seeds. They have thick beaks and are often seen in open woodlands. Male and female cardinals usually look very different from each other.

Order: Passeriformes   Family: Cardinalidae

Images

A male and female Green-winged Teal swimming together in their natural habitat.
A male and female Hooded Merganser duck, a type of waterfowl known for its striking appearance.

Related articles

Passeriformes
U.S. state
Colorado
American Ornithological Society
Clements taxonomy
Charadriiformes

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on List of birds of Colorado, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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