The High Line Canal is a popular place for people to gather and get moving, but it is more than just a hotspot for humans! Birds are a common sight along the Canal trail, with so many recordings that eBird has listed 31 birding hotspots along the Canal.
- What is an eBird hotspot?
- eBird is a community science app and website that anyone can use to record the birds they see and hear. More than 800,000 people use eBird all around the world. Anyone can look for birds (called ‘birding’) anywhere, but some locations have more birds than others. When many recordings of a bird species occur in one location over time, that location becomes known as a ‘hotspot’. You can explore a map of all your local hotspots on eBird’s website. There are hundreds in the Denver metro area!
- How many hotspots?
- Many of Colorado’s parks and open spaces have multiple hotspots, including the High Line Canal. There are 31 recognized hotspots along the Canal trail from Waterton Canyon in the south to Green Valley Ranch in the north. This is close to the number of hotspots found within Chatfield State Park and about twice as many as within Cherry Creek State Park or Rocky Mountain National Arsenal. That’s a lot of birding spots! At 71 miles long, the Canal winds through several habitat types and connects to many local parks and open spaces. This creates a wildlife corridor that birds and other animals can use to move through urban areas.
- Want to go birding?
- Anyone can contribute data to eBird to help monitor bird populations – all you need is the eBird app on a smartphone. You can head out to a hotspot or stay in your backyard to count the birds you can identify by sight or sound. If you want to go birding with friends, you can join birding walks with several organizations in the Denver area, including the High Line Canal Conservancy! Keep an eye on our calendar or Community Walks page throughout the year to see when our next birding adventure will be.
