Birding Pawnee

Colorado has more to offer than just mountains. In fact, about one third of Colorado's land area is shortgrass prairie. This rapidly disappearing ecosystem is best experienced in Pawnee National Grassland, a 193,000 acre expanse of protected open space in northeastern Colorado. Here we will search for some of Colorado's most iconic grassland bird species: Mountain Plover, Chestnut-collared and Thick-billed Longspur, Long-billed Curlew, Cassin's, Grasshopper, and Brewer's Sparrow, Ferruginous and Swainson's Hawk, and the Colorado state bird, the Lark Bunting. Visits to Crow Valley and Pawnee Buttes will provide opportunities for migrant passerines and raptors, respectively.