Where Colorado migrants go.

Where ya' going?

We're currently in the throes of Colorado fall migration. Most of our beloved spring arrivals are now winging their way to non-breeding grounds farther south. (In many cases, it's way farther south.) So, your go-to birding hot spots are probably a bit moribund. Yet, the avian highways leading to Central and South America are full of action. So, are you interested in learning where some of your favorite avian friends are heading? Great! Then buckle up. 

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Swainson's Hawk 

Every year, this glorious raptor chooses Colorado to breed during spring and summer. It comes from the pampas (plains) of Argentina. That's a one-way trip of approximately 5,500 miles. Round trip is more than 11,000 miles. Swainson's Hawks are heading back right now on their epic voyage. Sadly, their biggest predators are humans. Between habitat loss and farmers' shotguns, they run a very dangerous annual gauntlet. Yet they persist.

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Broad-tailed Hummingbird

This green gem (with males flashing a red gorget on their throats) breeds selectively throughout the Front Range of Colorado and beyond. During fall it takes off for the mountains of western Mexico, El Salvador and Costa Rica. Reaching the latter is a one way trip of approximately 3,200 miles. Broad-tails increase their weight by about 40% (mainly fat) to fuel their journey. With their wings beating about 50 times per second and a heart rate of up to 1,260 per minute during flight, they'll definitely need it.

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Black-necked Stilt

A cousin of the American Avocet, the Black-necked Stilt is a central Front-Range fixture during breeding season, roaming along rivers, creeks, run-off and all things wetland in search of tiny fish, snails and invertebrates. Many Black-necked Stilts migrate the relatively short distance to central and southern Mexico come fall. Others make the far longer trek to Argentine, southern Chile and large swathes of eastern Brazil. At its farthest point, it's a one-way journey of approximately 6,500 miles.

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Yellow Warbler

Come spring and summer breeding season, it seems like this gregarious little warbler is everywhere along Colorado's Front Range. It's hard not to hear its sweet sweet sweet so-so sweet call whether your walking through aspen groves, along cottonwood-lined streams or the tangled thickets of local parks. But during fall, Yellow Warblers are one of the first of its family to journey south. And what a journey it is! Yellow Warblers make their non-breeding grounds as far away as Columbia, Venezuela and even northwestern Brazil - a one-way trip of between 4,000 and 4,500 for this diminutive but tough little bird.

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Arctic Tern

Will we see Arctic Terns in Colorado? No. Is their migration passage completely astounding? Yes. In summer, the Arctic Tern breeds high above the Arctic Circle. When it's time to migrate, this pelagic bird make an epic 25,000 mile voyage to its non-breeding ground...in Antarctica! The oldest recorded Arctic Tern was 34 years old. If it made a migratory round trip each year of its life, then it would have traveled 1,700,000 miles - the equivalent to more than three trips to the moon and back. 

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