Finding Colorado’s state bird was easier than expected

Editor s note This is part of The Know s series Staff Favorites Each week we offer our opinions on the best that Colorado has to offer for dining shopping entertainment outdoor engagements and more We ll also let you in on certain hidden gems Bison elk bighorn sheep marmots beaver and chipmunks are specific of Colorado s the greater part familiar fauna But there are a lot of birds that help give this state its distinctive feel as well Even if you don t know their names you re perhaps familiar with the robins that cover green lawns each spring and the swallows that dive bomb cars at intersections Red-winged blackbirds can be heard trilling at city parks while grey jays sometimes known as camp robbers frequent tent sites in the mountains Broad-tailed hummingbirds return to backyard feeders every spring and bald eagle sightings make for good days In addition to birds there are plenty of mammals at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge in Denver on Dec A growing herd of bison re-introduced at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Photo by Helen H Richardson The Denver Post But only one of our feathered friends one that is less familiar to several people can lay claim to the title of Colorado state bird the lark bunting Described as a chunky thick-billed sparrow that prefers wide open habitats on the eBird website lark buntings are notable for their unmistakable jet-black bodies and bold white wing patches among breeding males They can be located in grasslands especially shortgrass prairies and can range from grassland to desert to agricultural areas All of which sounds clear enough on paper But how to find one I started bird-watching for a school project as a fifth-grader and got much more into it when I was in my early s one of my best friends was a major bird nerd But no matter how countless cool Colorado species I checked off my life list belted kingfisher burrowing owl wood duck golden eagle I hadn t managed to see a lark bunting That s partly because I assumed they were spread out through the Eastern Plains rather than anywhere close to Denver Turns out I just hadn t been looking About three years ago I was on the -mile Wildlife Drive at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge with my son scoping for whatever we could see And although we were looking to the skies the treetops and fenceposts every limited yards groups of birds would rise out of the scrub as our car approached and resettle on the road in front of us They were small hard to see Eventually we stopped and trained our binoculars on them Lark buntings And they were everywhere I learned that they arrive en masse to Rocky Mountain Arsenal in the spring and chosen days it s hard not to see them I had completely revealed our state bird That being reported I wondered wouldn t it have been easier to designate a state bird that people are more familiar with or at least one that is easier to find more colorful or larger Related Articles At Denver s bulk underrated cocktail bar play board games and get a bespoke drink How to get live crawfish delivered to your doorstep in Colorado When a family s love language is food mom s recipes mean the majority of Hidden in the shadow of busy highways this -mile trail is a gem for cyclists runners and walkers Phamaly Theatre Company is keeping inclusivity alive and matter-of-fact The short answer is yes But there are a lot of reasons that didn t happen and frankly it s kind of nice to have a state bird that is a little different than the oft-used cardinal bluebird mockingbird or meadowlark which count a whopping state designations between them The long answer according to an article written for the Denver Masses Library s Special Collections and Archives website is that the lark bunting was championed by Roy M Langdon a tireless Fort Collins educator and president of the Colorado Audubon Society in the s He spent years convincing people that the lark bunting which lives on the Plains rather than in the mountains would be a good representative of the state Furthermore he thought that mountain flora and fauna were overrepresented in Colorado s official symbols and that the state was long overdue for a symbol that represented both the prairie and its accompanying agricultural interests according to the article written by Brian K Trembath He eventually got his way on April when the lark bunting was elevated to state bird Want to see one for yourself Head to the RMANWR and ask at the visitor s center or just take the Wildlife Drive with a pair of binoculars and keep your eyes on the road Subscribe to our weekly newsletter In The Know to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox