Colorado Birding

Coller State Wildlife Area - Mineral County
Aliases:
Ownership: None Listed
Description: This SWA borders the Rio Grande River for a few miles near the Rio Grande County line, and is probably the best place in the county to search for migrant landbirds. A fisherman's road parallels riverside willows for a while just north of the county line, but the best habitat is around the bridge at the second Coller SWA sign (as you drive north). Here you will find small cottonwood stands and willows where you can find House Wren, Cordilleran Flycatcher, Green-tailed Towhee, Warbling Vireo, Yellow Warbler, Song Sparrow and the like. Dippers nest under the bridge. The best woodlot is about a half-mile upstream, on private property, but you can bird it fairly well from outside the fence, on the state land.

You can find a little more riparian habitat (starting to blend with spruce) at the Palisade Campground a few miles upriver. Just northwest of Wagon Wheel Gap there are some cliffs along the road that have White-throated Swift in summer.

Habitat: Mixed Conifer Forest, Stream, Streamside Willow, Lowland Riparian
Elevation:
Directions: Coller SWA stretches along CO 149 from 13.5 miles east of Creede to the Rio Grande/Mineral County line. There are various parking lots for the SWA along CO 149. The bridge mentioned above is on the west/south side of the road two miles west of the Rio Grande County line.
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