The 10th Pikes Peak Birding & Nature Festival

As the Pikes Peak Birding and Nature Festival heads into 2025, birders can look forward to another amazing array of bird species. The festival motto is “prairie to peak” and it lives up to that billing.

Spring migration along Colorado’s Front Range is often full of surprises and the festival weekend is peak migration time. The Pikes Peak region has much to offer, with the short-grass prairie rising to meet the forested foothills and deep canyons of the southern Front Range, and rich, riparian forests providing for countless birds, insects, and other wildlife.

Over the course of the first eight festivals, the field trips have seen, heard, and identified an amazing 268 species of birds. To put that into perspective, during one weekend each May, festival participants have recorded just over half (actually 51%) of the 520 species of birds ever recorded in all of Colorado throughout the year! In 2024 there were 200 species recorded, 74.6% of our 268 nine-year total, and the festival checklist grew by 4 species; Marbled Godwit, Snow Goose, Clark’s Nutcracker, and Chihuahuan Raven. We have seen 31 warbler species to date!

All-time Festival rarities include White Ibis, Summer Tanager, Hepatic Tanager, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Flammulated Owl, Canada Jay, Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, and Field Sparrow. But please remember these species are rare for the Front Range and are not seen each year.

A May visit to the Pikes Peak Birding & Nature Festival can be very special for visitors and locals alike. We have recorded 10 out of 12 woodpecker species which regularly occur in Colorado. And there have been over 15 species of flycatchers and shorebirds, 20 species of sparrows, and that one lone White Ibis.

Please join us in 2025, and maybe you will be the one to spot our 269th festival species!

The 2025 Pikes Peak Birding & Nature Festival schedule is below. You must register for both the festival and the individual activity to attend. If you show up without registering for both, you will be turned away.

We recommend you select all of your choices on this website and then visit the registration site. We will update this page to show what is full as often as we can.

Name tags and pre-ordered T-shirts must be picked up prior to your first field trip. Pick-up this year is at either Fountain Creek Nature Center or Bear Creek Nature Center.

Schedule:

Saturday, May 17
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S1      6:00a-Noon          Rainbow Gulch, Bird Hike (15)
S2      6:00a-Noon          Chico Basin Ranch, Bird Walk & Bird Banding Demo (15)
S3      6:00a-Noon           Horse Creek Ranch, Bird Hike (15)
S4      6:00a-1:00p          Cheyenne Mountain State Park, Ovenbird/Hermit Thrush Hike (15)
S5      6:00a-1:00p          Brett Gray Ranch, Bird Hike (12)
S6      6:30a-Noon          Clear Spring Ranch, Bird Walk (15)
S7      6:30a-Noon          Corral Bluffs Open Space, Bird Hike (15)
S8     7:00a-9:30a          Rock Ledge Ranch, Bird Walk (15)
S9      7:00a-11:00a       Fountain Valley School, Bird Walk (15)
S10   7:00a-10:00a       Adams Open Space, Bird Walk (15)
S11    7:00a-10:00a      Kettle Creek Lakes, Bird Walk (15)
S12   7:00a-11:00a       Fountain Creek Nature Center, Big Sit (20)
S13   7:00a-11:00a       Kohl’s to the Mule Farm, Fountain Creek Bird Walk (15)
S14   7:30a-10:00a       The Glen, Bird Walk (15)
S15   7:30a-11:00a       Monument Valley Park, Bird Walk (15)
S16   7:30a-11:30a       Fountain Creek Regional Park, Bird Walk (15)
S17   8:00a-11:00a       Manitou Lake Recreation Area, Bird Hike (15)
S18   8:30a-10:30a       Garden of the Gods, Swifts, Falcons & Geology Walk (15)
S19   8:30a-1:00p          Aiken Canyon Preserve, Mountain Lion Hike – Select S19 during registration and you will be automatically be added to the prerequisite, S20   9:00a-11:00a       Paint Mines Interpretive Park, “Past & Present Tour” (15)

Sem10 (12)
Sem12 1:30p-2:30p     “The Life of a Gray Wolf,” Fountain Creek Nature Center (30)
Sem13  3:00p-4:30p    “Raptor Identification,” Fountain Creek Nature Center (60)

W4   12:00p-2:00p       Bluebirds – Make a Bluebird Nest Box, Bear Creek Nature Center (15)
W5     2:30p-4:00p        “eBird – A Tool for All Birders: Tips & Tricks from Trip Reports to Vacation Planning,” Colorado Parks & Wildlife Classroom (60)
Vir3    1:00p-2:30p       “Spring ID Challenges,” (100) – Virtual

5:00pm-7:00pm          
Birds, Brews & Bites – Bear Creek Regional Park Pavilions
Mile High Bug Club
PPSC Wild Things
Festival Artwork Silent Auction
Sponsor & Partner Tables
Free Food & Drinks, Live Music
Door prizes and more!