Birding Where Rockies Meet Colorado Plateau

Anyone building a life list will find plenty to add here. Good birding here depends less on luck than on timing and knowing which spots to try.

The park's range of habitats and microclimates supports this variety. Elevations in the park span roughly 6,100 feet to 8,400 feet above sea level, and streams running through the area have carved deep canyons that separate the mesas. Those changes in height and terrain give birders several kinds of ground to search.

Wild turkeys returned to the park through a reintroduction in 1991, and they are a familiar sight today. Look for flocks near the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum, on the grounds of Morefield Campground, and beside the road leading into the park.

Wildlife watching goes beyond birds. Mule deer are the animal nearly every visitor meets, usually beside the road on the drive in, and they only vanish in deep winter, when snow sends them south to lower, warmer valleys. Dawn and dusk improve your odds with coyotes, gray foxes, elk, and marmots. Around Morefield Campground, keep an eye out for skunks and scurrying ground squirrels between campsites. Black bears live here too, so store food where they cannot reach it while camping, and never offer food to any animal.