At our cabin in Pebble Creek Valley north of Silverthorne, located at 9,450 feet in elevation, we have several platform feeders for winter birds. Common visitors are mostly black and white and gray — the chickadees (mountain or black-capped) and the nuthatches (mostly white-breasted or pygmy). The two kinds of woodpeckers (hairy or smaller downy) are striking with their bold black and white markings, with the males enhanced by red patches on the backs of their heads. We also see the little brown and white pine siskins, with some yellow wing bars on males. More colorful visitors include the brilliant Steller’s jays, the pine grosbeaks and less often, gray-crowned rosy-finches, which invariably arrive in large flocks.

On a snowy weekend recently, these colorful birds offered a wonderful contrast to the white snow, pale-greenish aspen trunks, snow-laden pine trees and the gray sky. We saw the usual 2 to 3 each of our typical species, but we also counted large numbers of some birds, including about 10 pine grosbeaks, more than 20 little pine siskins and more than 60 gray-crowned rosy-finches at one time at the feeders. We put out sunflower seeds many times during that day.

The gray-crowned rosy-finch (leucosticte tephrocotis) is one of my favorites, in part because we do not see it often but when we do, we are thrilled. Rosy-finches are small, about 6 inches with gray and black heads, a body that is mostly brown and pink tints on the undersides of wings and belly. They spend much of their time up in the tundra, but in winter descend to lower elevations to feed. Appearing in hordes of 50 or more, they descend to the feeders, grab seeds and then fly up to perch in the aspen trees.

The pine grosbeaks (pinicola enucleator) are found year-round in our aspen/coniferous environment. They are large fluffy birds, about 9 inches long or the size of robins, and have long tails, round heads and short, curved beaks. While they have a grayish color overall, with black and white wing bars, males are distinguished by bold reddish color on heads and necks, while females have pale yellowish color on their head. Their call is a distinct chirp and they tend to travel in small flocks, feeding on berries and other plant matter in winter. Unlike the rosy-finches, our grosbeaks remain at the feeder, sit in the midst of the sunflower seeds and eat seeds and spit out shells from the sides of their beaks like little machines. In contrast to this grosbeak feeding behavior, the woodpeckers take individual seeds, fly to a nearby tree, insert the seed in a hole and poke it open.

The most colorful bird that dominates the scene is the Steller’s jay (cyanocitta stelleri), found year-round in the western U.S., a close relative of the common blue jay of the eastern United States. Stellar’s jays are large birds, about the size of a crow, with a raucous call. Stellar’s jays have an iridescent indigo blue body with black head and shoulders and a black crest, with distinctive white lines on the forehead. Steller’s jay is named for the German naturalist George Wilhelm Steller, who first described it in Alaska in 1741. They are great mimics with vocalizations including a harsh call that mimics that of hawks. Steller’s Jays are bold, inquisitive, intelligent and opportunists; they often perch on trees, then arrive to take advantage of food on a table in addition to seeds on a feeder.

The variety of shapes, colors and behaviors of our avian visitors, in addition to the numbers of some of them, really brighten the winter landscape.

“Get Wild” publishes on Fridays in the Summit Daily News. Joan Betz is a retired professor of biology and a member of the Eagle-Summit Wilderness Alliance Board.