When I first visited Colorado, down from Wyoming for a credit union conference thing 6 years ago, While I was out on lunch break sitting in the trees around the building, I spotted my first magpie.
I had never seen a North American bird with this kind of tail feathers. Magpies are not native to Kansas, as far as I know, and I am pretty sure if they were I would have seen one growing up. So my first thought was that this strange black and white bird with tail feathers as long as its body was a tropical species that was either extremely lost or had escaped from a bird collector or zoo.
I kept asking my coworkers and family what I had seen, though, and eventually I described the bird well enough for someone to tell me what it was.
I think they’re beautiful birds, and I love the way they look when they’re flying with those long tails. Here’s a photo of one that posed nicely for me down in RMNP.
