Pawnee Grassland Prairie Dog Towns and Raptor Watching

Black-tailed prairie dogs live in sprawling underground colonies, or towns, where they emerge to feed, groom, and stand sentry, barking sharp warnings that ripple across the town when danger nears. Their tunnels and clipped grass reshape the prairie, and they are a keystone species, meaning a great many other animals depend on them and on the habitat they create.

Because the towns concentrate so much life, they are the best place to watch the grassland's drama unfold. Hawks and eagles hunt the colonies, coyotes patrol their edges, and other creatures move in to use the burrows. Watching a town at dawn, alive with movement and calls, is a window into how the whole shortgrass ecosystem fits together, all of it triggered by these busy little rodents.

One of the treasures of the prairie dog towns is the burrowing owl, a small, long-legged owl that, unusually for an owl, nests underground in abandoned prairie dog burrows and is often active by day. Spotting one standing at the mouth of a burrow, bobbing and watching, is a highlight for many visitors, and the owls depend directly on the prairie dogs whose towns they borrow.

The wider grassland is a birding paradise, home to specialties like the mountain plover, lark bunting, longspurs, and a chorus of meadowlarks singing from the fence posts. It draws birders from across the country hoping to add prairie species to their lists, and even casual watchers will notice how much birdlife fills this seemingly empty landscape.

The Pawnee grassland is one of the finest places in Colorado to watch birds of prey. Hawks of several kinds, including the big ferruginous hawk of the plains, hunt over the grass and prairie dog towns, prairie falcons cut across the sky, and golden and bald eagles appear, especially in the colder months when eagles gather where prey is plentiful.

The raptors are drawn by the same abundance that makes the towns lively, and a patient watcher scanning the fence posts, power poles, and open sky is likely to be rewarded. Winter can be especially good for eagles and rough-legged hawks that move down from the north, turning a quiet drive into a running tally of hunting birds.

The grassland is famous for a self-guided birding auto tour, a loop of back roads laid out to lead visitors through the best of the prairie's habitats and birding spots. Driving it slowly, stopping often to scan and listen, is the classic way to experience the area, and it captures both the birdlife and the vast, quiet character of the plains.

Spring and early summer are the peak of the birding, when migrants pour through and grassland species are singing and nesting. Fall brings hawk movement and cooler, comfortable days. Winter is stark and cold but excellent for eagles and northern raptors, while summer middays turn hot and still, so dawn and dusk are the times to be out watching.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.