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Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Central Flyway

Flying, flapping, flitting, gliding … the skies of Colorado are especially alive twice a year with birds making epic journeys. Songbirds, water fowl, raptors – in spring and autumn, they travel the great Central flyway, one of four major migration routes across North America, with Colorado well positioned as a kind of rest stop for a diverse aviary, like the Whooping Crane, an endangered species, that stands taller than a middle-schooler. And the broad-tailed hummingbird, no bigger than a child’s palm, that's travelled alone for up to 1500 miles. Eagle-eyed Colorado birders keep a lookout for the familiar and the mysterious, like the Black Swift, which often builds its nest behind waterfalls but lives most of its life on the wing, spending the coldest months somewhere in South American skies.

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About Colorado Postcards

Colorado Postcards are snapshots of our colorful state in sound. They give brief insights into our people and places, our flora and fauna, and our past and present, from every corner of Colorado. See more postcards.


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