A Steamboat Springs resident for 52 years and a retired middle school science teacher, Winston Walker is among many hummingbird enthusiasts who are paying close attention to the flashy hummers at feeders or in their yards this spring.

The former teacher for 31 years at Steamboat Springs Middle School said “it’s a good thing” that fans of the tiny, aerial-acrobatic hummers are calling attention to some changes in arrival times in Routt County and declines in population to help raise awareness of the overall decline in bird species.

“We are noticing it more with hummingbird birds because they are such a fun thing to watch with their beautiful colors and hover flight,” Walker said. “That’s probably the most interesting, amazing little bird to watch. If we are concerned about the hummingbirds, which everyone is fascinated by even if they are not considered a birder, … then we should all be concerned about the lesser birds that aren’t so attractively adorned.”

According to the State of the Birds 2025 national report released this spring, one-third of U.S. birds need conservation action.

“Research shows that we’ve lost 3 billion birds since 1970, and the vast majority of them were migratory,” according to the National Audubon Society. “Climate change is one of the biggest threats to birds and people alike, with two-thirds of North American bird species at increasing risk of extinction due to our warming planet.”

Yampa Valley residents often see hummingbirds arrive in early May with the locally nesting broad-tailed species, and then residents see the more pugnacious rufous hummingbirds show up in July as part of a long migration pattern.

Sharp-eyed regional bird watchers can see four types of hummingbirds, said Routt County resident and biologist Jeremiah Psiropoulos, formerly with the U.S. Forest Service and founder of Antigone Wildlife Tours. His family ranch north of Hayden provides good bird habitat to see black-chinned, rufous, broad-tailed and calliope hummingbirds.

“Our ranch is great for hummingbirds because we have excellent nesting habitat, are at the appropriate elevation at 6,800 feet, are surrounded by large ranches with little development and provide feeders,” Psiropoulos said.

Although the ranch has been a perennial haven for hummingbirds, “I don’t doubt that some species of hummingbird are in decline, and the causes are likely due to the usual culprits, decreases in insects, habitat loss and fragmentation, and climate change,” Psiropoulos said.

Steamboat Springs resident Liza Rossi, statewide bird conservation coordinator for Colorado Parks & Wildlife, works with many of the state’s avian species of greatest conservation need. 

“People have been noticing hummingbirds for quite some time because they are charismatic and people like to feed them,” Rossi said. “That said, hopefully folks are being more bear-aware in Steamboat and not feeding the birds. However, at a much broader scale, the three hummingbirds added to Colorado’s Species of Greatest Conservation Need have declining trends based on different data sources.”

Rossi said of the hummingbirds seen in northwestern Colorado, the feisty rufous may be most concerning for decline. The rufous previously was listed by CPW as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in 2015 and will remain on the list for 2025.

“The rufous is listed as a tipping point species on the 2025 State of the Birds Tipping Point list, and there is also a conservation plan for the rufous hummingbird,” Rossi said. “The rufous hummingbird is a migratory species in Colorado, spending late summer here after breeding further to the north.”

CPW added both broad-tailed and calliope hummingbirds to the Species of Greatest Conservation Need this year. The broad-tailed hummingbirds breed in northwestern Colorado, while the rufous and calliope hummingbirds migrate through Colorado.

“Most birds, overall, are declining, and in general the overarching theme is habitat loss,” Rossi explained. “There are lots of interacting cumulative impacts from habitat loss and loss of native nectar sources, pesticides and herbicides, cat predation, change in climate affecting food resources, but also leading to potential mismatch of migration and food resources, and severe cold storms at inopportune times during migration.”

The coalition Western Hummingbird Partnership in Boulder is working to educate and assist by establishing “a proficient and enduring program for hummingbird conservation.” The program, found at WesternHummingbird.org, is working through scientific monitoring, research, educational outreach, and habitat restoration and enhancement.

Rossi pointed to examples of other birds in decline in northwestern Colorado that are listed on the Species of Greatest Conservation Need dashboard such as black swift, orange-crowned kinglet, Clark’s nutcracker, prairie falcon and mountain bluebird. Psiropoulos noted Pinyon jay and the greater sage grouse are in decline locally.

On the bright side, Psiropoulos pointed to some bird species that are doing well in the Yampa Valley including Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, greater sandhill cranes and bald eagles.

CPW is working closely with the Colorado Natural Heritage Program on the development of the updated 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan, or SWAP, with more information online at Engagecpw.org/state-wildlife-action-plan. The State Wildlife Action Plans, completed every 10 years, guide the conservation of a state’s most vulnerable species and their habitats.

According to the North American Bird Conservation Initiative, about one-third of all American bird species are of high or moderate concern due to low populations, declining trend or other threats. This year’s edition of the State of the Birds, which provides status assessment of the health of the nation’s bird populations, showed 229 species should be prioritized in conservation planning to protect existing populations and build toward population recovery.

The new State of the Birds report lists 42 Red Alert Tipping Point Species have lost more than 50% of their populations within the past 50 years, with more information at Stateofthebirds.org/2025.

Multiple hummingbird fans who live in Steamboat related anecdotal stories about seeing fewer hummingbirds. Steamboat resident Lisa Williams has tracked the arrival of broad-tailed hummingbirds to her feeders since 2003, with arrival from late April to early May depending on the weather.

In past years Williams counted 65 to 80 hummingbirds feeding on her porch. She has seen her need for hummingbird feeders drop from 12 large feeders that stayed busy in 2018 to only two feeders the past few years.

“I had forgotten how impressive the numbers of hummers were,” Williams recalled of previous years. “When the hummingbirds were really busy, we often would have 12 birds at several of the large feeders because the females would share a perch together.”

Rossi with CPW said several people have reached out to her this year and the past couple of years noting they are seeing fewer hummingbirds.

“Sadly, it does seem like we do not have as many flying around this year,” Rossi said. “Unfortunately, the data trends … also indicate that there are likely fewer hummingbirds to be found in northwest Colorado.”

This story is from SteamboatPilot.com.