A few days ago, an author contacted us with an interesting question regarding birds in Colorado. For once, Charlie, Corey, and I all felt unqualified to accurately address the inquiry. So, I offered two solutions, the easy one and the fun one. The easy solution would have been to connect the author with some skilled CO birders. The fun way, on the other hand, would be to open the question up to our readers to tap into a veritable universe of birding brilliance. Guess what she chose…

I’m writing a children’s novel set in Colorado in May. An older character spots a rare bird near a river (I’m imagining a setting similar to the Platte River right after it exits the foothills into the plains). A few days later, the young main character goes to the same spot along the river and pishes in hopes of sighting the rare bird. The bird does appear again.

What type of bird would be believable in this situation?

Any suggestions?

Written by Mike
Mike is a leading authority in the field of standardized test preparation, but he's also a traveler who fully expects to see every bird in the world. Besides founding 10,000 Birds in 2003, Mike has also created a number of other entertaining but now extirpated nature blog resources, particularly the Nature Blog Network and I and the Bird.