#227. "Fourteener" Bird
I didn't expect to find many birds above the tree line in the mountains (over 11,000 ft), but there were occasional small, gray birds at 14,000 feet on both Pike's Peak and Mount Evans, Colorado.
American Pipits spend the summer on the barren peaks and are in the lower elevations during the spring and fall. There are three subspecies/varieties of American Pipits, and they vary a bit in their appearance. This is a Rocky Mountain variety of American Pipit (Anthus rubescens alticola), in its breeding plumage. In flight, the white edges of its tail are quite prominent.
Life Bird Photograph #227.
#227. "Fourteener" Bird
I didn't expect to find many birds above the tree line in the mountains (over 11,000 ft), but there were occasional small, gray birds at 14,000 feet on both Pike's Peak and Mount Evans, Colorado.
American Pipits spend the summer on the barren peaks and are in the lower elevations during the spring and fall. There are three subspecies/varieties of American Pipits, and they vary a bit in their appearance. This is a Rocky Mountain variety of American Pipit (Anthus rubescens alticola), in its breeding plumage. In flight, the white edges of its tail are quite prominent.
Life Bird Photograph #227.