Colorado's State Bird and State Flower

The iconic blue and white columbine has been Colorado's official state flower since 1899.

Colorado's official symbols celebrate mountains and plains. In 1933 the state adopted the lark bunting as its official bird. The iconic blue and white columbine, which grows high in the Rocky Mountains, has been Colorado's state flower since 1899.

Fundamentals

The state of Colorado stretches from the high plains near the Kansas border through some of the tallest mountain peaks in the continental United States to the high desert at the Utah border and its official symbols reflect the state's geographic and geologic variety.

State officials adopted the lark bunting as the official Colorado bird on April 29, 1931, according to the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration. The bird, known scientifically as Calamospiza melanocoryus Stejneger, inhabits the state's eastern plains from April through September.

Perhaps nothing is as immediately identified with Colorado as its state flower, the blue (sometimes called lavender) and white columbine. The mountain wildflower, known scientifically as Aquilegia caerules, became the state flower on April 4, 1899, according to the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration.

Lark Bunting Characteristics

Flocks of lark bunting migrate north from Mexico to Colorado in April, inhabiting the plains regions up to 8,000 feet above sea level and flying south again in September, according to the website "Birdwatching Bliss."

Male lark buntings are black with white wing patches and edging with additional white on the outer tail feathers. The male's coloring changes to a grayish brown in winter, according to the website "Birdwatching Bliss." Males are about 7 inches in length. The slightly smaller females area streaked grayish-brown with some white on the underside.

Males warble a distinctive mating call while performing acrobatic courtship flights, according to the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration.

Lark Bunting Lifestyle

Lark buntings, members of the sparrow family, consume grasshoppers and other insects as well as grass seeds, according to the website "Birdwatching Bliss." They build their nests on the ground, in sheltering vegetation, and produce four to five pale blue spotted eggs that hatch in 12 days. Chicks can fly within eight or nine days.

Threats

Although the lark bunting remains a common bird of the Great Plains, its populations, like those of other grassland species, have declined in recent years as a result of habitat loss and other factors. According to the website "State Symbols USA," lark bunting populations in Colorado have dropped by 2.5 percent per year since 1966.

Columbine Characteristics

Columbines are identifiable by the long "spurs" on their flower petals.

The blue and white columbine, known as the Colorado columbine, gained its name from the Latin word "Columba," which means dove, according to the website "The Flower Expert."

Varieties of columbine flowers grow in North America from Nova Scotia in the East to the Northwest Territories in Canada's west and as far south as Texas, according to the website "The Flower Expert." The distinctive nectar spurs on each flower petal makes the columbine unique among flowers.

Protections

Laws prohibit uprooting columbine on public land and limit picking on private property.

The Colorado columbine was first identified in 1820 when climber Edwin James ascended Pike's Peak in south central Colorado, according to the website "State Symbols USA." Its designation as the official state flower came after a vote of Colorado's school children in 1899. The blue on the petals was said to symbolize the sky; the white represented the snow and the gold stamen signified the burgeoning gold-mining industry at the time.

Colorado further honored the columbine in 1915 when legislators adopted the song "Where the Columbines Grow" as the official state song, according to the website "State Symbols USA."

The columbine's popularity as a garden and bouquet flower led the state General Assembly in 1925 to protect it from destruction or waste, according to the Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration.

Laws prohibit uprooting columbine on public lands and limit gathering buds, blossoms or stems to 25 in a single day. Laws protecting the flower also prohibit picking columbine on private land without the land owner's consent.

Variety

Wild and cultivated columbine flowers grow in a variety of colors, ranging from pale blue and lavender in Colorado to white, yellow, red and shades of pink.

The flower's long stamen and unique shape make it attractive to nectar-feeding birds, including hummingbirds, according to the website "The Flower Expert."

References

• Colorado Department of Personnel and Administration
• Birdwatching Bliss
• The Flower Expert
• State Symbols USA

Resources

• Colorado's State Symbols