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Where do the plant recommendations come from?

USDA PLANTS for native ranges, Doug Tallamy's research and the National Wildlife Federation's Native Plant Finder for ecological value, plus Audubon's Plants for Birds database and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for regional fit.

Are these all native plants?

Yes. Every recommendation is genuinely native to the area associated with your ZIP code.

Why is this bird-driven instead of plant-driven?

Most planners start with your climate zone and give you a generic native plant list. This one starts with the birds you actually want to attract, then filters plants to the ones that support those species.

Plants for Birds in Colorado

Native Colorado plants that genuinely support the birds you want in your yard.

Colorado packs everything from shortgrass prairie to alpine tundra into one state. Lark Buntings — the state bird — fly up from grasslands in waves. Broad-tailed Hummingbirds buzz the spruce-fir zone every summer. And the Rocky Mountains hold breeding Mountain Bluebirds, Brown-capped Rosy-Finches, and a piece of the boreal forest most of the country has lost.

Native Colorado plants do work that turf grass and big-box ornamentals can't. They host the caterpillars and insects that 96% of Colorado songbirds rely on to feed their chicks. Ponderosa pines, quaking aspens, big sagebrush, and the wildflowers of the prairie, foothills, and alpine built the state's bird communities across thousands of feet of elevation change.

Enter your Colorado ZIP code in the tool below. The planner will filter every plant in our database to the ones genuinely native to your part of Colorado — eastern plains, Front Range, San Luis Valley, Western Slope, or high country — and useful for the birds you actually want. Pick the species — Lark Buntings, Mountain Bluebirds, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds, or all of them — and we'll give you a plant list that does the work.

Native Colorado plants that genuinely support birds

A few of the most useful native Colorado plants for birds:

Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) — Foothills tree. Cover for Pygmy Nuthatches and Williamson's Sapsuckers.
Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) — Cavity nest sites; hosts hundreds of caterpillar species.
Plains Cottonwood (Populus deltoides) — Eastern Colorado riparian. Cavity nests for many birds.
Gambel Oak (Quercus gambelii) — Foothills and Western Slope native. Hosts hundreds of caterpillars; acorns for many birds.
Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) — Habitat for Sage Thrashers, Brewer's Sparrows.
Chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) — Native fruit for waxwings, robins, grouse.
Serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) — Spring nectar, summer fruit for waxwings, robins.
Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) — Year-round cover; winter berries for waxwings.
Penstemon (Penstemon strictus) — Favorite of Broad-tailed and Black-chinned Hummingbirds.
Scarlet Gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata) — Brilliant red blooms; magnet for Rufous and Broad-tailed Hummingbirds.
Wax Currant (Ribes cereum) — Spring nectar for hummingbirds; summer fruit for waxwings.
Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa) — Host plant for monarchs.

This is a state-wide overview. For a list tailored to your garden:

Enter your Colorado ZIP and pick the birds you actually want. The planner filters every plant in our database down to the ones native to your part of Colorado and genuinely useful for your birds.

What's your ZIP code?

We'll show you native plants that are genuinely native to your area and rank them by which birds they support.

US ZIP code

Free. No email. We'll filter every plant in the database to those actually native to your state and suited to your USDA zone.

Better With Birds

Shop the birds you love

If you're already this excited about Colorado birds, you're going to like the apparel, prints, and stickers we've designed around them.

Lark Buntings, Mountain Bluebirds, Sandhill Cranes, Broad-tailed Hummingbirds — all illustrated and designed by Jaymi at Better With Birds. Made-to-order, never mass-printed.