phone-icon 1-888-990-5552 email-icon info@rockjumper.com
user-icon
Log in / Register

USA - Colorado: Prairie Chickens, Grouse & More

© Sharp-tailed Grouse by Markus Lilje
USA - Colorado: Prairie Chickens, Grouse & More

USD4,300 - No Spaces Available

Wait List
client-img

Tour Leader: Local Leader

Pricing notes : Please see BirdingDirect link for spaces and updated pricing.

Tour price (Per person): USD4,300 * GBP3,223 * EUR3,789 * AUD6,722

For enquiries & bookings, please following this link:  Birding Direct - United States

This tour is operated by High Lonesome BirdTours in partnership with BirdingDirect.
These are large group tours (up to 16 guests with multiple tour leaders), and will have guests from both Highlonesome as well as BirdingDirect.

Colorado is the best place in the country for finding all the species of Prairie Chicken and Grouse. Its varied topography, ranging from prairie grasslands through high plains to subalpine forests and alpine tundra, supports as many as 500 species of birds; its geographical location astride the Continental Divide provides a mix of eastern, western, northern and southwestern species not easily found together anywhere else.

Our trip will take us from the eastern prairies of Colorado into the high Rocky Mountains, covering about 2000 miles in search of our target species. In order to see many of these species at their leks at dawn, we’ll need to be up and out very early. We expect to find Greater and Lesser Prairie Chickens; Sage, Gunnison, Sharp-tailed and Dusky Grouse and possibly White-tailed Ptarmigan. Other species of interest include Mountain Plover, Three-toed Woodpecker and Williamson’s Sapsucker, Rough-legged Hawk, Black, Brown-capped and Grey-crowned Rosy Finches, Thick-billed and Chestnut-collared Longspurs amongst many others.

 

Top Birds

Great & Lesser Prairie Chicken; Sage, Dusky, Sharp-tailed & Gunnison Grouse; White-tailed Ptarmigan; Chukar Partridge; Rough-legged Hawk; American Dipper; Lewis’s & Three-toed Woodpeckers; Williamson’s Sapsucker; Junpier Titmouse; Pinyon Jay; Black, Grey-crowned & Brown-capped Rosy Finches; Pine Grosbeak; Mountain Chickadee; Mountain Plover; Thick-billed & Chestnut-collared Longspurs.

Top Mammals

Big Horned Sheep, Pronghorn, Coyote, Black Bear; Elk; Moose; Gunnison's, White-tailed & Black-tailed Prairie Dogs.

Habitats Covered

short-grass and long-grass prairie, foothills, mountains, montaine forest

Expected Climate

in the early spring, we can encounter very wintry weather including snow. Temperatures can be as low as -7°C (20°F) in the early morning at some of the leks. Please make sure to bring layers! During the day it can get warm, 15°C (60°F).

Max Group Size

14 with 2 Tour Leaders

Tour Pace & Walking

easy, but many early mornings and long drives

Accommodation

very comfortable hotels; some fine Colorado restaurants.

Ease of Birding

mostly easy with some difficult species

Number of Species Expected

140

Other Attractions

wonderful scenery, mountain views, prairie dog colonies.

Photographic Opportunities

good to excellent

What our clients say about us

Stephan Lorenz
KH, Texas 2021

Stephan is outstanding. His ability to find difficult birds is amazing. Both Stephan and Claudia's personalities make the trip very enjoyable.

Forrest Rowland
PJ, Montana

By selecting the northern part of the NP, we avoided most of the huge traffic jams and could focus on the wildlife; also well-planned were the days outside of the NP. Forrest Rowland is extraordinary: total mastery of the area from the daily routes to the trails and what is where when, to substantive knowledge about the ecology, public policies governing land and water use, all of which is seamlessly integrated throughout the course of the day and week. He's able to handle difficult situations, such as the approach of a bear, to tour members who could be distracting. Days were planned, integrating sufficient down time, and flexible to utilize unique opportunities that arose with the appearance of target species. Each day proved enjoyable, filled with cumulative knowledge gained through good views of species and time to absorb the environmental context.

Stephan Lorenz
BS, Texas 2021

An excellent tour, and Stephan and Claudia were both very knowledgeable guides. I was also very grateful to them for so conscientiously researching the options for the Covid test I needed to travel back to the UK (following the UK Government’s announcement after I had already left for the tour) and ensuring I got the test. All in all a very enjoyable experience and with lots of good birds!

Stephan Lorenz
MM & EM - Texas 2022

Wish we had the hearing and eyesight with the knowledge and youth of the guides.

Stephan Lorenz
WC - USA 2021

Great trip overall. Stephan is a great guide, knows where the birds are and makes sure everyone sees them. Very enjoyable trip.

  • Your details

  • This field is hidden when viewing the form

  • Contact permission

    We would love to send you Newsletters (twice yearly).via Type a message, Promotions/Discounts (weekly), Blog Articles/Image of the Month (monthly) and other content that we think you would find interesting. If you are happy with this then please select your preferences below. If you would like to unsubscribe from previous subscriptions, or leave our mailing list entirely, then please do so by visiting the Preference Centre link at the bottom of these emails.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Tour Route Map

map-direction-img
Download Tour Itinerary