cobirds colorado rare bird: October 2026

Tuesday, 20 October 2026

[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 10/20/26

Today is what an October banding day is supposed to be.......a bunch of White-crowneds, a bigger bunch of Juncos, the first of season American Tree Sparrow, a Shrike and a Fox Sparrow. And three different groups of visitors, ages from about 3 to over 80, to enjoy it all!!

Here's the full breakdown of today's 40 new birds:

Northern Shrike 1

Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1

Hermit Thrush 3

American Tree Sparrow 1

Fox Sparrow 1

Song Sparrow 1

White-crowned Sparrow, Gambel's 12

White-crowned Sparrow, Mountain 1

Dark-eyed Junco, Slate-colored 8

Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon 10

Dark-eyed Junco, White-winged 1

Three more days this season - we will take the station down after banding on Friday. There are visitor sessions at 8 a.m. all three days - register here.

Meredith McBurney

Bander, Barr Lake Station

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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Monday, 19 October 2026

[cobirds] Brown Pelican at Otter Pond, Montrose

This evening I stopped by Otter Pond in Montrose to look for an American White Pelican, I heard was at the pond. Instead, I found an adult Brown Pelican. I spoke to a couple who live near the pond, and they told me that it had been around for about a week. Unfortunately, I only had my phone for photos. Here is the checklist: eBird Checklist - 19 Oct 2026 - Otter Pond area - 2 species

Good birding,

Don Marsh

Ridgway, CO

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (19 Oct 2026) 10 Raptors

Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park
Golden, Greater Denver, Colorado, USA

To see hourly weather data and details of migrant raptors, look up this watch at hawkcount.org. This is a new raptor migration site identified and designated in mid-September 2024. This is Colorado's 1st fall hawk watch site, and the second hawk watch in Colorado. To get to the site which is along Lookout Mountain Rd. in Golden, enter either Windy Saddle Park or Mount Zion into Google Maps on your favorite navigation app, or enter the coordinates 39.7368,-105.2454. From the parking lot ascend the stone steps to the watch site. EVERYONE IS WELCOME TO THE HAWK WATCH TO ENJOY THE SPECTACLE OF RAPTOR MIGRATION, EVEN IF YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IDENTIFYING RAPTORS IN FLIGHT. We will help you to learn Raptor ID if you are interested. See https://groups.google.com/g/cobirds/c/Oznn4uc6MBk

Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 19, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	21	269
Osprey	0	3	29
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	0	7	25
Sharp-shinned Hawk	1	24	43
Cooper's Hawk	3	85	265
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	7	109
Red-tailed Hawk	5	148	623
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	0	1	2
Golden Eagle	0	8	22
American Kestrel	0	14	143
Merlin	0	2	6
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	1	8
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	9	19
Total:	10	338	1771

Observation start time:	08:15:00
Observation end time:	13:15:00
Total observation time:	5 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
Five hikers asked questions about whether I was bird watching, and I explained what I was doing. A couple asked me what I was looking through my scope and I told them I was looking at 2 distant GE too far to see with the naked eye. They were amazed I could see it and identify it. I was able to show a different couple the GE going down CCC and told them it had a 7 ft wingspan, and they were amazed as it looked so small way below us. I asked them to estimate the distance between the watch and South Table Mountain and they said 1 mile. I told them it was actually 3 miles and they were dumbfounded at their inability to assess the correct distance. Another hiker asked me what I was capturing, presumably looking at my scope. Capturing? I asked, then realized he thought it was a camera, and explained. Another hiker was interested in where we send our data, and I helped her find Hawkcount on her phone, and how could she could see daily counts at different hawk watches.

Weather:
There was a strong subsidence inversion layer over Denver. Initially there was no brown cloud, but as the haze cleared from Denver it spread to the East and North forming a brown cloud by 10:00 a.m. MDT which got wider and lighter with the hours. The inversion creates a cap for thermal height and the haziness lifts over Denver creating a vacuum into which wind from the Eastern plains rushes and continues up Mount Zion as a ridge lift from the ESE, which was only mild today, has the Denver haziness never completely cleared. The Soaring Forecast from the NWS had poor lift at only 5 feet/second and height of thermals by 2:30 p.m. was expected to be only 4,777 ft above ground level and 2000 ft above the watch, so at a lower height before that time. Because of this there was only a small flight today.

Raptor Observations:
The first hawks in flight were 2 local RT low in the Kestrel Channel. The first migrant was only by 10:04 a.m. MDT which was a juvenile RT which was seen over North Table Mountain, progressively rose to about 20� above the ground level and migrated to the SE. A migrant RT flew very close to one of the antenna on Lookout Mountain rousing another RT and a CORA which chased the RT into the trees, a few minutes later I saw it rise and continue on its migration. Non-migrant raptors: GE 2 far to the at 11:34 a.m. and an adult GE at 1:11 a.m. missing a single mid-secondary feather and a left 8th primary due to molt on the left wing, flying down Clear Creek Canyon and I saw it again at 1:33 p.m. to the NE recognizing it because of its molt pattern. RT 4.

Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders 3 at 12:30 p.m. had no lift and by 1:00 p.m. had only moderate lift, consistent with the Soaring Forecast that I've noticed good correlation with. Monarch butterfly 1. https://ebird.org/checklist/S403879924

Predictions:
Mostly sunny, with a high near 72. Light wind from the northeast at 3-6 mph. The winds at the height the hawks would migrate at is expected to be light and mainly from the NE.

Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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Sunday, 18 October 2026

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (18 Oct 2026) 30 Raptors

Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 18, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	21	269
Osprey	0	3	29
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	0	7	25
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	23	42
Cooper's Hawk	7	82	262
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	7	109
Red-tailed Hawk	18	143	618
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	0	1	2
Golden Eagle	1	8	22
American Kestrel	0	14	143
Merlin	1	2	6
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	1	8
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	8	18
Total:	30	328	1761

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	16:00:00
Total observation time:	8 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Eliane Walters, Liza Antony

Visitors:
Eliane Walters who came for the DFO Mount Zion Hawk Watch trip we led 2 weeks ago came with her wife Jules Burke who couldn't make the DFO trip, and with her parents-in-law, came for an hour to the watch, binoculars in hand. She found a few hawks. Jukes found us 2 adults GE to the NE which after circling around for a while, flew one behind the other arrow straight toward the SW, one of them then perched on the westernmost antenna on Lookout Mountain while the other soared awhile, then did a roller coaster pattern of territorial flight, then landed right next to the other one. 15 minutes later they were found to the NE, then to the North. Many hikers had many questions of us about hawk migration that we answered. 2 young men chatted with us for half an hour, and another one for the same length of time. We recommended the Merlin app to many, to those who had the app already we recommended getting binoculars and joining a local bird club. One man asked if we had seen any Sasquatch. Yes. How many, 5? Yes. Probably a family unit. I replied Yes they were all fighting so it must have been a family unit.

Weather:
Only a mild haze around Denver which cleared up by the 11:00 hour MDT, winds starting from the WSW changing as usual to ESE, 40% cloud cover to begin with, progressively increasing to 85%, all cirrus more to the West to begin with but spreading Eastward to give us a good backdrop to see hawks against. Even at 4:00 p.m. MDT there were strong thermals for I could see a paraglider and a hang glider circling and rising in one of them to the NE. I stayed until 5:00 p.m. MDT in order to check out whether with the drop in temperature after 3:00 p.m. there would be any low raptors migrating, especially against the very good cloud cover I could scan with binoculars against, and the answer was very few, unless they were flying higher than I could see with binoculars, even with cirrus clouds which are at 20,000-40,000 ft high. There does not seem to be any late afternoon and evening AK flights as documented at Dinosaur Ridge Hawk Watch in spring.

Raptor Observations:
It took until 9:43 a.m. until the 1st raptor, an SS adult which came by at eye level and very close through Clear Creek Canyon just north of the watch. A taiga Merlin at 2:59 p.m. was seen to the NE easily, it flew 30 ft from me and only a little higher, flew South to Lookout Mountain, turned around, passed me again, gradually rose to the West until it was not visible to the naked eye before flying SW. Most of the migrant action was over Lookout Mountain, Lift and thermals being poor today, so they were using mainly ridge lift off Lookout Mountain. Non-migrant raptors: GE 6 adults. One of them late evening I saw close, to the NW, it then stooped at an RT low in the Kestrel Channel, chased it, then flew North over Golden, some minutes later it was high to the NE, gained height and migrated to the SW. RT 5.

Non-raptor Observations:
Around 19 paragliders and 1 hang glider, the first 2 tandem ones at 11:30 a.m. had only moderate lift, while the ones an hour later flew really high. The Soaring Forecast of the NWS had lift only at 3 ft per second and the height of thermals by 2:45 p.m. was predicted to be only 3797 ft AGL. https://ebird.org/checklist/S403611239

Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 70. Light and variable wind becoming west around 6 mph. The winds aloft predicted by Earth.nullschool.net are from the SE>East.

Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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[cobirds] Western Gull & two longspur species, Dillon Reservoir, Summit

Hi all,

I made a quick trip up to Summit County yesterday and found Dillon Reservoir to be exceptionally birdy. The Blue River Inlet (PUSA spot) was especially good, featuring a Lesser Black-backed Gull, a WESTERN GULL (presumably the Chaffee County bird that's now relocated), and several THICK-BILLED LONGSPURS and CHESTNUT-COLLARED LONGSPURS on the exposed lakebed. These appear to be the first longspur reports of any species from Summit County, but the habitat is certainly excellent right now.

Documentation here: eBird Checklist - 17 Oct 2026 - Dillon Reservoir--Blue River Inlet area - 16 species (+1 other taxa)

Good birding,

Jack Bushong

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[cobirds] Western Gull & two longspur species, Dillon Reservoir, Summit

Hi all,

Documentation here: eBird Checklist - 17 Oct 2026 - Dillon Reservoir--Blue River Inlet area - 16 species (+1 other taxa)

Good birding,

Jack Bushong

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[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 10/18/26

I'm filling in for Meredith today, on what was a fairly typical mid-October day at the Barr Lake banding station. We did have a 10am burst of about 20 White-crowned Sparrows (all Gambel's and nearly all young) that bumped up our numbers for the day. We had two returns from prior seasons, a Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow from 2023 and a Song Sparrow from 2022. We also saw and heard 2 Evening Grosbeaks way above our nets in the cottonwood canopy; we didn't catch them but they would be a first for the station if they come down low into our nets in the upcoming final week.

Here's the totals for our 29 newly banded birds (+ 2 returns) on the day:

White-crowned Sparrow (Gambel's) - 25 + 1 return

Song Sparrow - 1 return

Lincoln's Sparrow - 1

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon) - 2

Dark-eyed Junco (Unspecified, but mostly appeared Cassiar) - 1

We are open Tuesday through our final day on Friday, October 23rd, weather permitting. Most weekday mornings there is a visitor session from 8 to 9 a.m. Reservations are needed; here is the link. Come visit during our final week of banding!

Colin Woolley

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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Saturday, 17 October 2026

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (17 Oct 2026) 31 Raptors

Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 17, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	21	269
Osprey	0	3	29
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	0	7	25
Sharp-shinned Hawk	4	21	40
Cooper's Hawk	10	75	255
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	7	109
Red-tailed Hawk	15	125	600
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	1	1	2
Golden Eagle	1	7	21
American Kestrel	0	14	143
Merlin	0	1	5
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	1	8
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	7	17
Total:	31	298	1731

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	13:00:00
Total observation time:	5 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:	Lauren Friesen, Liza Antony

Visitors:
When we were discussing local geology as to the organic origin of the 2 Table Mountains, paleontology such as the K-T (now renamed K-Pg) which was first described in 1941 at the south end of South Table Mountain, the extinction of the dinosaurs and proofs adduced by Walter and Luis Alvarez 40 years later of the asteroid impact, that a T-Rex tooth was found in the late 1800s 40 years before the animal was so of course no one knew what it was, the first Stegosaurus fossil was found at Dinosaur Ridge, I saw a number of hikers listening in. Two hikers asked questions about what we were looking at, and we explained what a hawk watch is, that there are about 76 active hawk watches this fall from Canada through the US, through Central America, to South America, most manned by volunteers like us, reporting to the Hawk Migration Association HMA website at hawkcount.org, that researchers can use our data to decide whether certain species are increasing or decreasing and to decide on conservation measures.

Weather:
Mild haze around Denver and beyond to the East which finally cleared up by the 12:00 MDT hour though the brown cloud persisted far to the NE.

Raptor Observations:
A beautiful adult Ferruginous Hawk at 9:24 a.m. easily visible to the naked eye kited over North Table Mountain for a long time giving us excellent views, and for us to indicate all the identification features. An adult GE migrated at 12:58 p.m. The majority of hawks migrated over the North and South Table Mountains, through Clear Creek Canyon, through the Kestrel Channel, and some over the Eastern end of Lookout Mountain, but almost none over the mid and West end of Lookout Mountain. Today we had a DFO hawk watching trip with 9 participants who proved the old adage that the more observers at a hawk watch the greater the number of hawks found. Two young men Kolya and Vincenzo sat facing Clear Creek Canyon to the north and found us a few accipiters way below the watch we would never have found on our own, given our tendency to look to the east where most of the raptors are. Lauren Friesen was very helpful finding and identifying a number of hawks. She was on one of our winter raptor DFO trips last winter making detailed notes of everything we told them about the hawks we saw. We had recommended Hawks in Flight, Hawks From Every Angle, and Hawks at a Distance which she got, we had also recommended that she go to Dinosaur Ridge last spring where she volunteered improving her ID skills. The others were instrumental in finding us hawks as well. They especially appreciated seeing SS followed by CH. I told them that that was the most difficult ID for hawkwatchers especially in the western US uwhere CH tend to be smaller than Eastern CH so their flight style overlaps with that of SS. Non-migrant raptors: RT 3. TV 2.

Non-raptor Observations:
Paragliders began only at 1:15 p.m. and got excellent lift. The Soaring Forecast of the NWS had lift in thermals at 7.5 ft/second with height of thermals 6621 ft AGL by 1:35 p.m. Monarch butterfly 1. https://ebird.org/checklist/S403236928

Predictions:
Mostly sunny, with a high near 71. West wind 5 to 9 mph becoming east in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph. The winds aloft are predicted to come mainly from the NE.

Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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[cobirds] Bird identification needed

I think this may be a juvenile Grosbeak I just spotted at my feeder, but I am not sure. Can someone help identify it?

Pauli Smith

Highlandlake/Mead, Weld County, CO

[cobirds] Bird Conservancy of the Rockies - Barr Lake Banding Report, 10/16 & 17/26

We were hoping that numbers might pick up a bit after two days of rainy weather, but no. Both Friday and Saturday it has been quite cold early (requiring us to open late both mornings) and then sunny and unseasonably warm by closing time.

Only 16 new birds on Friday:

Hermit Thrush 2

Yellow-rumped Warbler, Audubon's 1

Spotted Towhee 1

Swamp Sparrow 1 (FOS)

Song Sparrow 1

White Crowned Sparrow, Gambel's 5

Dark-eyed Junco, Oregon 5

And only 2 birds banded today, Saturday, plus one return:

Song Sparrow 1

White-crowned Sparrow, Gambel's 1

White-crowned Sparrow, Mountain 1 return, banded 2023

We are in our last week - Open tomorrow (Sunday), then closed Monday and open Tuesday through Friday, when we will take the station down. Weather permitting. There are visitor sessions most of these mornings; reservations are needed; here is the link.

Meredith McBurney

Bander, Barr Lake Station

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

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Friday, 16 October 2026

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (16 Oct 2026) 26 Raptors

Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 16, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	21	269
Osprey	3	3	29
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	0	7	25
Sharp-shinned Hawk	7	17	36
Cooper's Hawk	7	65	245
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	1	8	110
Red-tailed Hawk	5	109	584
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	1
Golden Eagle	0	6	20
American Kestrel	2	14	143
Merlin	0	1	5
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	1	8
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	1	7	17
Total:	26	267	1700

Observation start time:	08:45:00
Observation end time:	15:00:00
Total observation time:	6.25 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
A hiker birder with binoculars and a paper list said he remembered me from a month ago. 3 birders from Westminster not with binoculars asked me a number of questions when I explained I was counting migrating raptors. One of them asserted that Red Tails don't migrate. I explained that they do and are replaced by others from the north so she thinks they don't. She also asserted that Ospreys were probably long gone, knowing that females leave as soon as the chicks are fledged. I told her I had seen one today. She said she had a Cooper's Hawk in her yard. Another asked me how many hours I counted a day and how long I was going to count until. I replied we will continue until the migration of raptors ends, I said I have counted until the end of the year as well as into the first 3 days in January in New York at the I-84 Overlook Hawk Watch.

Weather:
High pressure zone over Denver with the usual subsidence inversion layer causing haziness over Denver with a perfectly blue sky all day. The brown cloud was seen between the North and the Northeast along the horizon, but persisting to the NE even when Denver became clear by the 1:00 MDT hour. Winds as usual started in the SW and changed to the ESE. The winds aloft were from the SW. Lots of new snow on the 14ers to the West from the cold front a few days ago.

Raptor Observations:
First migrant was a CH at 10:09 a.m. MDT. Most of the migratory action was low along the Table Mountains and along the Kestrel Channel and only on the East end of Lookout Mountain while usually we have migrants over the middle to the West end of the mountain as well. Non-migrant raptors: GE 3, CH 1, RT 4. Monarch butterfly 1. Sandhill Crane 22 over Green Mountain, STJA 1, RECR 1, HAWO 1, BBMA 4, TOSO 1,,GHJU 1, CORA 10, AMCR 1, NOFL 1.

Non-raptor Observations:
11 paragliders, the ones starting at 12:30 PM had no lift, by 1:30 had moderate left and by 2:00 p.m. were high. The Soaring Forecast of the NWS predicted lift at 5 ft per second, height of thermals at 5,614 ft by 12:30 p.m., caused by the subsidence inversion layer.

Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 76. West wind 5 to 7 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.

Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]

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Re: [cobirds] ABDU's at Monument Library Pond Flagged as "Exotic Escapee"

These ducks have been around the pond since last spring and I keep going back and forth on it. I have some photos and have a few of the "experts" take a look, too.

General concesus is that they are some sort of hybrid. Thus, I've not reported them on Ebird.

Smallish sized, all darker in color than the resident mallards. Just not quite fitting the look of a "true" ABDU.

On Fri, Oct 16, 2026, 12:08 PM behn...@gmail.com <behnfield@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Tyler!
I get it and appreciate the clarification.

Tom Behnfield

Lakewood, CO

behnfield@gmail.com

On Friday, October 16, 2026 at 12:02:25 PM UTC-6 Tyler Stewart wrote:

All of these sightings will be getting moved to the "Exotic Escapee" status in the very near future. These birds were determined to not be of natural origins based on existing range and occurrence data, number of individuals present here, and the fact that they are occurring in a pond known to house exotics/farm ducks. I'm not aware of where they came from, but it would take a large amount of evidence to prove they are wild just based on the above. That's why they are being transitioned over to "Exotic Escapee"

Tyler Stewart

Colorado Springs

El Paso County

On Fri, Oct 16, 2026, 11:52 AM behn...@gmail.com <behn...@gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings all,

I and others have recently reported American Black Ducks at the Monument Library Pond. I don't profess to know about categories that include "Exotic Escapee" and I'm curios why this occurrence seems to be the only one out of a good number of other previous reports in Colorado that are not flagged as Exotic Escapee. They have recently appeared in "Species Map," where they did not occur as recently as a week ago. I did not expect that that would be so based upon my reading on the various categories.

Is someone aware of who released them or what farm they escaped from? Once again, I don't claim to know, and I'm not a reviewer, I'm just curious.

Thanks to all of those who contribute to this forum as well as the Colorado birding community in general.

Tom Behnfield

Lakewood, CO

behn...@gmail.com

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Re: [cobirds] ABDU's at Monument Library Pond Flagged as "Exotic Escapee"

All of these sightings will be getting moved to the "Exotic Escapee" status in the very near future. These birds were determined to not be of natural origins based on existing range and occurrence data, number of individuals present here, and the fact that they are occurring in a pond known to house exotics/farm ducks. I'm not aware of where they came from, but it would take a large amount of evidence to prove they are wild just based on the above. That's why they are being transitioned over to "Exotic Escapee"

Tyler Stewart

Colorado Springs

El Paso County

On Fri, Oct 16, 2026, 11:52 AM behn...@gmail.com <behnfield@gmail.com> wrote:

Greetings all,

I and others have recently reported American Black Ducks at the Monument Library Pond. I don't profess to know about categories that include "Exotic Escapee" and I'm curios why this occurrence seems to be the only one out of a good number of other previous reports in Colorado that are not flagged as Exotic Escapee. They have recently appeared in "Species Map," where they did not occur as recently as a week ago. I did not expect that that would be so based upon my reading on the various categories.

Is someone aware of who released them or what farm they escaped from? Once again, I don't claim to know, and I'm not a reviewer, I'm just curious.

Thanks to all of those who contribute to this forum as well as the Colorado birding community in general.

Tom Behnfield

Lakewood, CO

behnfield@gmail.com

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[cobirds] ABDU's at Monument Library Pond Flagged as "Exotic Escapee"

Greetings all,

I and others have recently reported American Black Ducks at the Monument Library Pond. I don't profess to know about categories that include "Exotic Escapee" and I'm curios why this occurrence seems to be the only one out of a good number of other previous reports in Colorado that are not flagged as Exotic Escapee. They have recently appeared in "Species Map," where they did not occur as recently as a week ago. I did not expect that that would be so based upon my reading on the various categories.

Is someone aware of who released them or what farm they escaped from? Once again, I don't claim to know, and I'm not a reviewer, I'm just curious.

Thanks to all of those who contribute to this forum as well as the Colorado birding community in general.

Tom Behnfield

Lakewood, CO

behnfield@gmail.com

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[cobirds] Re: Bird I.D.

Likely a White-breasted Nuthatch

Tom Behnfield

Lakewood, CO

On Friday, October 16, 2026 at 7:02:32 AM UTC-6 Kit Basom wrote:

A friend (not a birder) texted me from Flagstaff yesterday, excited that she had just identified a "wheat crusted nut patch!" I assume her phone's voice recognition system is to blame.

—Kit

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[cobirds] Bird I.D.

A friend (not a birder) texted me from Flagstaff yesterday, excited that she had just identified a "wheat crusted nut patch!" I assume her phone's voice recognition system is to blame.

—Kit

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Thursday, 15 October 2026

[cobirds] Mount Zion Hawk Watch at Windy Saddle Park (15 Oct 2026) 1 Raptors

Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 15, 2026
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	0	21	269
Osprey	0	0	26
Bald Eagle	0	2	7
Northern Harrier	0	7	25
Sharp-shinned Hawk	0	10	29
Cooper's Hawk	0	58	238
American Goshawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	0	7	109
Red-tailed Hawk	1	104	579
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Swainson's Hawk	0	5	194
Ferruginous Hawk	0	0	1
Golden Eagle	0	6	20
American Kestrel	0	12	141
Merlin	0	1	5
Peregrine Falcon	0	0	1
Prairie Falcon	0	0	2
Mississippi Kite	0	0	0
Unknown Accipitrine	0	1	4
Unknown Buteo	0	1	8
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	6	16
Total:	1	241	1674

Observation start time:	11:15:00
Observation end time:	14:00:00
Total observation time:	2.75 hours
Official Counter	Ajit Antony
Observers:

Visitors:
A couple asked me if I were hawk watching, which is more than most visitors know. He said his sister is involved with a hawk watch, and she turned out to be Janet Peters the coordinator of the Dinosaur Ridge Spring Hawk Watch in Golden, Colorado. I said she is a dynamo, I know her well and I have worked with her at Dinosaur Ridge, and that she was excellent getting different organizations to donate money to the hawk watch. Another couple told me that I 'chose a good place to sightsee.' I explained what I was doing. Another hiker wanted to know what I was looking for and when I told him he wanted to know if it was a specific species of hawk. I explained that we can potentially see 17 species here, migrating.

Weather:
4 a strong cold front went through between Tuesday night and Wednesday morning but it drizzled all day yesterday and into late this morning. I checked the forecast for the percentage risk of rain and checked the CDOT highway webcams and came up to the watch by 12:15 p.m. MDT. There were strong Level 4-5 winds coming from the north which is an unusual direction for us here in fall without rain or snow accompanying, so I was curious whether hawks would use the 19 mph tailwinds aloft streaming straight down from Canada to fly today. We all know that the first or second day after a cold front goes through is the best for migrant hawks, but I didn't know whether they would fly here today or not. With the strong winds I was sure that only large strong hawks would migrate.

Raptor Observations:
The first local RT was seen at 12:39 MDT and there were 6 local RT soaring high using the ridge lift over Lookout Mountain. Only 1 RT migrated. I had good cloud cover all over to be able to check the entire sky and be sure that there were no other migrants. Non-hawk watches may wonder whether I had missed any hswks flying over the clouds, but generally hawks fly below the clouds because that's where the lift is. The heavily overcast sky and the wet ground after the rain prevented any good thermals from forming. The Soaring forecast predicted zero lift, and height of thermals of only 4,419 ft above ground level by 2:00 p.m. MDT. This probably explains the lack of migrants. A GE to the NE.

Non-raptor Observations:
Common Raven 14

Predictions:
Sunny, with a high near 57. Light and variable wind becoming east around 6 mph. The winds aloft at a height the hawks would migrate at is expected to be light from the SE.

Report submitted by Ajit Antony (aiantony@earthlink.net)
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[cobirds] Re: Is this a Cassin's kingbird?

This bird was at mountaindale cabins & rv resort which is on the southern edge of El Paso county and partly in Fremont county.

Bill

On Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at 8:21:32 AM UTC-6 Bill Kosar wrote:

I saw this bird in the summer about 3 years ago and could not get a very good picture of it. It was high up in the Ponderosa's on a campground west of 115 near Florence.

Thanks for any comments, I am not sure of what county I was in.

Bill Kosar El Paso county

bill_...@msn.com

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[cobirds] Yearbirder now in Microsoft Store

Hi folks,

Yearbirder, the free app I developed to help you analyze your eBird sightings and organize your bird photos and recordings, is now available in the Microsoft Store.

This has two benefits for Windows users. For your security, Microsoft reviews and signs every app in the Store, so Yearbirder now installs without the security warnings you may have seen before. The Store also updates the app automatically whenever I release a new version. If those warnings prevented you from trying Yearbirder before, this is an easier and safer way to install it. The Store listing is at: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9PKH7PL7F5G2

If you already run Yearbirder on Windows and want to switch to the Store version, please uninstall the old one first so you do not end up with two copies on your computer. The Store version opens your existing Yearbirder media catalog, photos and recordings, so you will not lose any data, but it starts with fresh settings — you will need to re-open your eBird data file and re-enter your eBird API key if you use one. If you would rather not use the Microsoft Store, you can keep downloading the app from https://www.yearbirder.org/download.

Mac users should also download from https://www.yearbirder.org/download. Those versions are signed with my Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple for your security. The current version is 2.20.

I hope people find Yearbirder useful. My download stats show more than 100 downloads so far, and I suspect most of those came from COBirds readers.

If you use Yearbirder, please email me with what you like and any improvements you might suggest.

Good birding,

Richard Trinkner

Boulder

PS: Getting Yearbirder into the Microsoft Store has been a pretty long journey and learning curve for me. If having the app in the Store is helpful, please let me know!

Wednesday, 14 October 2026

Re: [cobirds] Couch's Kingbird Feather Conditions - Arapahoe

Yes, same here. Thank you, Colin.

Will be interesting / revelatory to see if the bird persists here through the cold and rain weather -- and the forecast frost on Friday morning.

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

On Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 7:33:29 PM UTC-6 Nathan Pieplow wrote:

Thanks, Colin. This is precisely the analysis I hoped someone would provide!

Nathan Pieplow

Boulder

On Tue, Oct 13, 2026 at 4:29 PM 'Colin Woolley' via Colorado Birds <cob...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

This looks like what we'd call a second-year bird (hatched in 2025 and now in its 2nd calendar year). Young kingbirds will often undergo an eccentric pre-formative molt, meaning they replace outer primaries and inner secondaries in their first fall. This is fairly unusual (but the norm for kingbirds) as for most species, young birds won't replace any flight feathers in their first fall. However, the eccentric molt pattern will start somewhere in the middle of the primaries and proceed outward, while also starting in the middle of the secondaries and proceed inwards, such that juvenile flight feathers (inner primaries and outer secondaries) are still retained through the first cycle. In this bird we see that the molt started with p1 and is going outward, and has made it as far as p8, with p9-p10 still retained but likely to drop soon. The secondaries have also started to molt, beginning with s1. This is the standard pre-basic molt pattern seen in adult birds, and not the eccentric pre-formative we'd see in a young bird. The cool part here is, because the outer p9-10 are clearly juvenile based on shape, we can say that this bird is undergoing its 2nd pre-basic molt (i.e. starting its 2nd cycle). If the p9-10 had already dropped and started growing in anew, we wouldn't be able to tell a second-year from any bird that could be older. This also means that this kingbird didn't molt outer primaries during its pre-formative molt last fall, which according to the Pyle Guide is not as common but may be seen more often in COKI in particular compared to other kingbirds. That also explains why the p9-10 are so very worn out; they are juvenile feathers and perhaps 16+ months old at this point and have more wear and tear than any feather this bird will have the rest of its life. Here's a diagram based on this photo from eBird.

Having so many photos of this individual bird in the Macauley Library is great, and shows how valuable this resource is for studying molt. Keep taking pictures of messy, molty birds!

Colin Woolley

Wheat Ridge

On Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 2:02:04 PM UTC-6 Buzz Schaumberg wrote:

Thank you.

Sent from the all new Aol app for iOS

Buzz Schaumberg

On Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 12:57 PM, Paul Malinowski <pilla...@gmail.com> wrote:

Interesting link, Nathan. Thank you. Here's a photo I got Friday showing the distinct orange crown patch on her.

Paul Malinowski

Littleton, CO

On Mon, Oct 12, 2026 at 6:05 PM Nathan Pieplow <npie...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all,

I got a spread-wing photo of the Couch's Kingbird that shows not all the flight feathers are worn:

https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/666136706

The outermost two primaries, P10 and P9, are very worn, but the next few are fresh. Comparing their shapes with those at https://www.birds.cornell.edu/crows/kingbirdsX.htm makes it clear that the Colorado Couch's must be a female. I suspect it is a juvenile female, based on molt pattern, primary shapes, and the bare patches in the underwing visible in Paul Malinowski's photo, but I am not great at ageing birds by molt, so I'd love to hear other opinions. Juveniles are not supposed to have the orange crown patch which many people (not me) reported seeing.

Nathan Pieplow

Boulder

On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM David Suddjian <dsud...@gmail.com> wrote:

Jared, This BIRD BOMBS episode I'm Molting! offers a good primer on feather molt in our birds.

David

On Sat, Oct 10, 2026 at 7:30 AM Paul Malinowski <pilla...@gmail.com> wrote:

Jared, I noticed that too this afternoon. Look at the bare spots in this photo as well as the worn feathers.

Paul Malinowski

Littleton, CO

On Fri, Oct 9, 2026 at 6:49 PM Jared Del Rosso <jared.d...@gmail.com> wrote:

I enjoy reading Birds of the World, but I don't understand plumages, molts, and the terminology used to describe them. So it's hard for me to understand what the Couch's Kingbird currently at Marjorie Perry Nature Preserve in Arapahoe County should look like. But the bird, who I visited for the first time this afternoon, looks to be really worn to me. Could someone out there who both has access to Birds of the World and understands the terms of molting, offer some perspective on this?

Here's a couple photos from this afternoon that show what I mean.

- Jared Del Rosso

Centennial, CO

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