Rare bird resource at CFO

[Tom Wilberding]

Hello birders,

Here is a tip, in case you didn't know. Say you read Steve Mlodinow’s post yesterday afternoon about his great find of a Yellow-billed Loon at Boyd Lake State Park. My reaction was, “Hmm. That sounds like a rare bird. I wonder how rare?

•         Go to cobirds.org
  
•         Click on Colorado Bird Records Committee
  
•         Click on Reports from the data
  
•         Click on Reports by species
  
•         Type in Yellow-billed Loon, and there you have it: only 25 approved records since 1944, the most recent 6/29/2010 in Gunnison County. That’s rare. Click on the camera icons to see photos. Click here.
  

Isn’t that neat? Thanks to volunteer Rachel Hopper, to CFO’s contractor Ann Johnson, and to many other CBRC volunteers over the years for this great resource. You can support this by joining CFO or renewing your membership.

Barb and I enjoyed seeing the YP Loon this morning here on the map: Click here.  Hope it sticks around and you have a chance to see it.

To learn more about a Colorado rarity, I often check the species out at Wikipedia, and also at Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Here is a beautiful little video about the YP Loon on its arctic breeding ground: Click here. What a great bird!

Thanks to Steve and all the generous birders who share their sightings with us at COBirds.

Tom Wilberding
Boulder, CO