Colorado State Bird: The Lark Bunting

Colorado chose its state bird in 1931, and the choice was a statement about the land itself. The Lark Bunting (Calamospiza melanocorys) is a bird of wide-open sky and shortgrass prairie — exactly the landscape that defines the eastern third of the state. In breeding plumage, the male is striking and easy to remember: jet black with a bold white wing patch that flashes in flight. Nothing else in Colorado’s grasslands looks quite like it.

This is a bird you won’t find at a feeder. The Lark Bunting lives in open country — the short, dry grasslands of the eastern plains where the land stretches flat toward Kansas and Nebraska. It arrives in Colorado in late April or early May, fills the spring air with its rolling song, and then largely disappears again by early fall, heading south to winter in the desert grasslands of the Southwest and Mexico.

Your best chance to see one is during the breeding season, roughly May through July, anywhere along the eastern plains from the Pawnee National Grassland north of Fort Collins down through Pueblo and La Junta. Early mornings when males are actively singing and displaying are your most productive window. The All 50 State Birds guide breaks down which state birds visit feeders and which ones you need to go find.

Jump to What You Need

• Quick Facts
• Identification
• Habitat & Range in Colorado
• Behavior
• Diet
• Where to Find It in Colorado
• Seasonal Behavior
• Nesting
• Fun Facts
• Conservation
• FAQ

Quick Facts

Identification

The breeding male Lark Bunting is one of Colorado’s most distinctive birds once you know it. The body is all black, and the wings carry a large, bright white patch that’s visible from a distance — especially in flight, when the bird often rises and hovers briefly while singing. There’s nothing subtle about it.

Females and non-breeding males are much harder to spot. They’re streaky brown overall, pale below with brownish streaking on the breast, and have the same white wing patch — though less vivid than on breeding males. They can be confused with other grassland sparrows, but the wing patch and larger body size set them apart once you’re looking for it.

Best ID trick: In breeding season, ignore the sparrow-sized brown birds and watch for the black one with white wings. In fall, look for the wing patch on the streaky birds — it shows as pale buffy-white rather than the brilliant white of spring, but it’s still there. Size helps too: Lark Buntings are noticeably chunkier than most grassland sparrows.

Sound and movement: The male’s song is one of the more varied in Colorado’s grasslands — a series of whistles, trills, and buzzy notes strung together in a rolling, musical sequence. It carries well across open terrain. Males often sing in flight, rising from a fence post or grass clump and hovering briefly while delivering the song, then dropping back down. On the ground, they move in a deliberate walk and feed in loose flocks outside of breeding season.

Habitat & Range in Colorado

Lark Buntings are almost entirely confined to the eastern plains in Colorado. They need open grassland — the shorter and more open the better — and avoid areas with dense shrubs or tall vegetation. The shortgrass prairie east of the Front Range, from the Wyoming border south through the Arkansas River valley, is where the vast majority of Colorado’s breeding population lives.

They tolerate the flat, semi-arid landscape that most people drive through without stopping: fence lines, dry creek edges, wheat field margins, and native grassland tracts. Agricultural areas don’t drive them away as long as there’s open ground nearby. The Pawnee National Grassland in Weld County and the Comanche National Grassland in Otero and Las Animas counties are reliable strongholds.

Lark Buntings don’t visit urban or suburban yards regardless of setup. The habitat requirement is too specific — they need wide-open grassland, not a neighborhood green space. If you live along the Front Range or in the mountains, seeing one requires a drive east.

Behavior

Outside of nesting season, Lark Buntings are social birds that move in flocks — sometimes large ones. During spring migration you can encounter groups of dozens or even hundreds moving through the eastern plains in loose, rolling waves, pausing to feed on the ground before lifting off together. Watching a flock in flight, with males flashing white against brown females, is one of the more visually striking sights in Colorado birding.

During breeding season, males become territorial and conspicuous. The song flight — rising from a perch, hovering on shallow wingbeats while singing a long, rolling sequence of notes, then drifting back down — is the signature display of a spring morning on the plains. One male can hold your attention for several minutes at a time. After breeding wraps up in late summer, that conspicuousness disappears almost overnight, and the birds become much harder to locate as they quietly assemble for departure.

Diet

Lark Buntings eat primarily seeds and insects, with the balance shifting by season. During summer breeding months, insects make up a large portion of the diet, especially for feeding nestlings — grasshoppers, beetles, and other invertebrates found on and near the ground. Seeds become more central in late summer and fall, with grass seeds and weed seeds forming the bulk of what they eat as they prepare for migration.

They feed almost entirely on the ground, moving steadily through short grass, picking at seeds and chasing down insects. You’re unlikely to see them in shrubs or trees. The foraging style is methodical and unhurried, and they’ll often work an area slowly before moving on. In winter on their southern grounds, they join mixed sparrow flocks and feed communally in weedy fields and dry grassland.

Where to Find It in Colorado

The Lark Bunting does not come to feeders. Your strategy is getting east of the Front Range during the right season and finding the right habitat.

The two best locations are both within the National Grassland system. Pawnee National Grassland (Weld County, roughly 30 miles east of Fort Collins) and Comanche National Grassland (Otero and Las Animas counties, near La Junta and Springfield) are the most consistently productive spots in the state. Both offer open prairie habitat where breeding populations reliably hold territory. County roads through either grassland, driven slowly in the morning, will often produce singing males on fence posts or in song flight. Any farm road through open shortgrass prairie in Weld, Washington, Yuma, Kit Carson, Kiowa, or Baca counties can also be productive.

The best window is late May through late June — males are in full breeding plumage, actively singing, and conspicuous. By mid-July, breeding activity begins to wind down and birds become quieter. August through early September is possible but much harder; the birds are present but low-profile. They’re largely gone from Colorado by October.

Go early. The first two hours after sunrise are when males sing most actively. Listen for the rolling, musical song from fence posts or rising in display flight above the grass — once you hear it, you’ll have no trouble locating the singer.

Seasonal Behavior

Winter: Lark Buntings are not present in Colorado in winter. They spend the cold months in the desert grasslands and scrub of the Southwest — northern Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. Colorado birders who want to see this bird between October and April need to travel south.

Spring: The first birds typically arrive in late April or early May, with numbers building through mid-May. Males arrive in full black-and-white breeding plumage and begin establishing territories quickly. Spring migration can bring impressive numbers through the eastern plains before the birds settle onto breeding territories. This is the season when the species is most conspicuous — males singing from every fence post and rising in display flight across the prairie. For anyone making a special trip, late May is the peak.

Summer: Breeding is concentrated from late May through July. Nests are on the ground, often concealed in short grass. By late July, breeding activity has largely finished, and adults become much quieter and harder to locate even in good habitat. Juveniles and molting adults move through open grassland in loose groups. The transition from conspicuous breeding bird to invisible post-breeding bird happens surprisingly fast.

Fall: Most Lark Buntings have departed Colorado by September, with stragglers occasionally lingering into early October. Fall birds are in dull, streaky plumage — females and juveniles particularly so — and travel in flocks that may include other grassland sparrows. A flock of mixed sparrows in a weedy field in Weld or Lincoln County in September is worth checking for Lark Buntings moving through.

Nesting

Lark Buntings nest on the ground, tucking the nest into a depression at the base of a grass clump or under a small forb. The site is often on the side of a slight slope or small ridge that provides some concealment. Nests are cup-shaped, made from dry grass stems and plant fiber, and lined with finer materials. Males sometimes construct a loose canopy of grass over the nest opening, which is an unusual behavior among grassland birds.

Unlike most songbirds, Lark Bunting males participate actively in incubation — both parents take turns sitting on the eggs, which is uncommon in the sparrow family. Fledglings leave the nest before they can fly well, moving through the grass near the nest site for several days before becoming independent.

Nest location: Ground-level, concealed at base of grass clump or low vegetation Materials: Dry grass, plant stems, fine plant fiber Eggs per clutch: 4–5 Broods per year: 1–2 Incubation: 12 days Nestling period: 8–9 days before young leave the nest

Fun Facts

The only finch that turns black for summer. The Lark Bunting belongs to the sparrow and finch family (Passerellidae), but it’s the only member in which males transform from streaky brown in winter to jet black in breeding season. Most finches wear their breeding colors year-round — the Lark Bunting is built differently.

Males share nest duty. In most songbird species, incubation falls almost entirely to the female. Lark Bunting males sit on the eggs regularly, an unusual behavior for a grassland bird and a fact that’s easy to observe if you’re patient near an active nest.

The 1931 designation came from schoolchildren. Colorado’s state bird was chosen through a vote organized by the Colorado Federation of Women’s Clubs, with input from the state’s schoolchildren. The Lark Bunting won in part because it was seen as distinctly Coloradan — a bird of the open plains that wasn’t shared by neighboring states.

Flocks can shift color as they move. When a large mixed flock of males and females flushes and banks in flight, the alternating flash of black-and-white males against brown females creates a rippling visual effect. It’s one of the more unusual sights in North American birding and part of why spring on the eastern plains is worth the drive.

Its population fluctuates dramatically year to year. Unlike most resident birds, Lark Bunting numbers on Colorado’s breeding grounds can swing by 50% or more from one year to the next, driven largely by precipitation and grass conditions on both their breeding and wintering grounds. A wet spring typically means a strong breeding season; a drought year can dramatically reduce local numbers.

Conservation

The Lark Bunting is classified as Least Concern globally, but its population trend tells a more complicated story. Long-term data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey shows a significant decline across the Great Plains over the past several decades — estimated at more than 60% since the 1960s. That scale of decline has led some conservation organizations to flag it as a species of concern despite its current status.

The primary driver is habitat loss. Shortgrass prairie is one of the most converted ecosystems in North America. Agriculture, energy development, and the general fragmentation of open grassland have reduced and isolated the patches of native prairie the Lark Bunting requires for breeding. Climate variability also plays a role: this is a species that needs reliable grass cover in both Colorado and its Sonoran and Chihuahuan winter grounds, and drought affects both simultaneously.

What backyard birders can do is limited but not nothing. Supporting grassland conservation organizations that work on the Great Plains is the most direct way to help. Visiting the Pawnee and Comanche National Grasslands also contributes economically to the case for maintaining those areas. And reporting sightings through eBird helps researchers track where populations are holding and where they’re declining — data that directly informs conservation decisions.

Status: Least Concern Population trend: Decreasing

Frequently Asked Questions

More Colorado Birding

Colorado has a lot more to offer beyond the state bird. If you’re curious what’s showing up at feeders along the Front Range or in the foothills, or looking for what to look for in the field across the state, these pages have you covered.

👉 Colorado Backyard Birds 👉 Colorado Birding Resources 👉 All 50 U.S. State Birds

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