the birding event of the year for Colorado birders!
Each year attendees experience a different part of Colorado and see new birds and habitats with field trips led by local experts.
- See new birds on daily field trips
- Learn about new research on Colorado birds in the scientific session
- Attend social events and meet local ornithologists and birders
- Celebrate another year of birding, education, and research on Colorado's birds with an evening banquet that includes a special guest speaker
- Special events for students
This is a great opportunity to meet new friends, renew old friendships, and learn about birds in an informal atmosphere.
Avid birders at the Lamar 2024 convention. Photo by Owen Robertson.
Mountain Plover. Photo by Peter Burke.
Check out new optics, pick up local art, learn more at the vendor booths. Photo by Chip Clouse.
Jon Dunn was the keynote speaker at the 2014 CFO banquet during the convention. Photo by Peter Gent.
Birding at Beckwith Ranch during a Salida convention. Photo by Diana Beatty.
Common Nighthawk. Photo by Diana Beatty.
Birding at the Steamboat Convention. Photo by Diana Beatty.
Convention birders at Grand Mesa during the Montrose Convention. Photo by Diana Beatty.
Jeff Mitton was the keynote speaker during the 2015 Convention. Photo by Peter Burke.
Hognosed Snake. Photo by Diana Beatty.
Western Kingbird. Photo by Diana Beatty.
Getting in a mid-day sit down while still birding! Photo by Peter Burke.
Birding in Pueblo. Photo by Diana Beatty.
Moose seen during the 2017 CFO Convention. Arapahoe NWR. Photo by Peter Burke.
Lark Bunting -- Colorado's State Bird. Photo by Peter Burke.
Dusky Grouse. Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. Photo by Peter Burke.
Birders on a convention field trip checking to see what migrants have ventured into a riparian corridor in southeastern Colorado. Photo by Don Marsh
Participants on the Best of Park County field trip. Photo by Sue Riffe.
Happy birders during a high-alpine field trip at a CFO convention. Photo by Peter Burke.
Getting a closer look during the Lamar 2016 Science Session. Photo by Casey Setash.
Birding Tamarack Ranch during the 2014 Convention. Photo by Peter Gent.
BioBlitz award winners at the 2023 CFO-WFO Convention. Photo by Peter Burke.
CFO Convention 2026
Loveland, CO
The event will be held May 28th-31st, 2026 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Loveland.
Information on how to register and an agenda will be shared closer to the event.
Past conventions
| 2025 | Grand Junction | June 5-8 | DoubleTree Hotel | Amy Seglund | |
| 2024 | Lamar, CO | May 2-5 | Historic Cow Palace | Dallas May & Jonathan Reitz | Conservation Ranching on the May Ranch |
| 2023 | Summit County, CO | July 19-23 | Copper Mountain Ski Resort | Jessie Barry | Merlin - Sharing the Magic of Birds with the World |
| 2022 | Pueblo, CO | May 19-23 | Hampton Inn & Suites - North | Michael Parr | Bird Conservation Across the Americas |
| 2021 | Not held | ||||
| 2020 | Pueblo, CO | Cancelled | |||
| 2019 | Montrose, CO | June 13-17 | Holiday Inn Express & Suites | Nathan Pieplow | Birding by Ear |
| 2018 | Longmont, CO | May 17-20 | Best Western Plaza Hotel | Scott Taylor | Evolutionary Biology in Birds - Black-capped Chickadee Research |
| 2017 | Steamboat Springs, CO | June 1-5 | Colorado Mountain College | Sheri Williamson | Hummingbirds: Small Wonders |
| 2016 | Lamar, CO | May 5-9 | Cow Palace - Rodeway Inn | Garth Spellman | The Past, Present, and Future of Ornithology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science |
| 2015 | Salida, CO | June 4-8 | Gateway Inn & Suites | Jeff Mitton | A Naturalist's Interpretation of Interacting Species |
| 2014 | Sterling, CO | Aug 28 - Sep 1 | Ramada Inn | Jon L. Dunn | Shorebirds in Colorado: When to Expect Them & What to Look For |
| 2013 | Cortez, CO | May 16-19 | Baymont Inn and Suites | John Vanderpoel | Full Chase Mode: Highlights of a 2011 Big Year |
| 2012 | Trinidad, CO | May 17-20 | A. R. Mitchell Museum & Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites | Dr. Brian D. Linkhart | Shedding Light on Climate Change Effects and Migration Patterns in Flammulated Owls |
| 2011 | Grand Junction, CO | May 20-23 | Doubletree Hotel | Jeff Gordon | Ten Birds That Changed Birding |
| 2010 | Fort Collins, CO | May 21-24 | Hilton Inn | Craig Benkman | Ecology and Evolution of the Red Crossbill |
| 2009 | Alamosa, CO | May 22-25 | Inn of the Rio Grande | Ted Floyd | Birding at Night: The Final Frontier |
| 2008 | Canon City, CO | May 16-19 | Quality Inn & Suites | Richard Crossley | Birding: Past, Present, and Future |
| 2007 | Craig, CO | June 8-10 | Holiday Inn | Victor Emmanuel | Birding Planet Earth |
| 2006 | Sterling, CO | May 26-29 | Ramada Inn | Donald Kroodsma | The Singing Life of Birds |
| 2005 | La Junta, CO | May 13-15 | Otereo Junior College | Brian Wheeler | |
| 2004 | Montrose, CO | May 28-31 | Holiday Inn | Paul Lehman | |
| 2003 | Frisco, CO | June 6-8 | Holiday Inn | Van Remsen | |
| 2002 | Durango, CO | May 24-26 | Doubletree Inn | Kenn Kaufmann | |
| 2001 | Pueblo, CO | May 18-20 | Holiday Inn | Tom Schultz | |
| 2000 | Grand Junction, CO | May 26-29 | Holiday Inn | Pete Dunne | |
| 1999 | Fort Collins, CO | May 19-23 | Marriott Hotel | William S. Clark | Raptor Migration Worldwide |
| 1998 | Lamar, CO | May 8-10 | Lamar Community College | Jon Dunn | North American Warblers |
| 1997 | Monte Vista, CO | May 24-26 | Movie Manor Motel | Tony Leukering | Bird Quiz |
| 1996 | Estes Park, CO | June 14-16 | YMCA of the Rockies & Park Village Playhouse | Ken Giesen | |
| 1995 | Grand Junction, CO | May 27-29 | Grand Junction Hilton | Dr. Steven Emslie | Bird Fossils of California Condor |
| 1994 | Trinidad, CO | May 10-12 | Best Western Country Club Inn | Dick Roth | Birding With a Purpose: The Value of Christmas Counts, Migrant and Breeding Bird Surveys as Monitoring Programs |
| 1993 | Craig, CO | May 28-31 | Holiday Inn | Clait Braun | Colorado Grouse |
| 1992 | Denver, CO | Sept 4-7 | Holiday Inn, Denver-Northglen | Karen & John Hollingsworth | The National Wildlife Refuges |
| 1991 | Durango, CO | Aug. 30-Sept. 2 | Red Lion Inn | Susan Allen | Argentina |
| 1990 | Pueblo, CO | May 19-20 | Holiday Inn | Nick Watmough | Birds of Turkey |
| 1989 | Fort Collins, CO | May 19-21 | University Park Holiday Inn | Wendy Shattil & Bob Rozinski | Colorado Birdlife |
| 1988 | Lamar, CO | May 28-30 | Lamar Community College | David Leatherman | Colorado Birds |
| 1987 | Boulder, CO | May 8-10 | National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) & Clarion Hotel | Brian Wheeler | Field Guide to Hawks of North America |
| 1986 | Colorado Springs, CO | May 17-18 | Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind & Holiday Inn Central | Robert Rozinski | The Sandhill Cranes and San Luis Valley |
| 1985 | Sterling, CO | June 8-9 | Northeastern Junior College | John Rawinski | Owls of Colorado |
| 1984 | Grand Junction, CO | May 25-27 | Mesa College | Films from DMNH: Goony, A Legacy to the Loon | |
| 1983 | Denver, CO | May 27-29 | Regis College | Perry Conway | Colorado Scenery: Prairies to Peak Tops |
| 1982 | Gunnison, CO | June 11-13 | Western State College | William Calder | Hummingbirds and Their Secerts |
| 1981 | Estes Park, CO | June 26-28 | YMCA of the Rockies | Bill Ervin | An Introduction the Pawnee National Grasslands: Prairie Images and the Function of Song Flight in Lark Buntings |
| 1980 | Boulder, CO | May 24-26 | Chautauqua Resort | Alfred M. Bailey | Two films |
| 1979 | Colorado Springs, CO | May 26-27 | Colorado College | Lynn Grace | Film: Ternwatch |
| 1978 | Loveland, CO | May 20-21 | Sylvandale Ranch | ||
| 1977 | Grand Junction, CO | May 21-22 | Mesa County Fair Grounds | ||
| 1976 | Fort Collins, CO | June 4-6 | Colorado State University | ||
| 1975 | Colorado Springs, CO | May 17-18 | Colorado College & Village Inn | ||
| 1974 | Pueblo, CO | May 18-19 | Southern Colorado State College & Holiday Inn | ||
| 1973 | Durango, CO | May 19-20 | Strater Hotel | ||
| 1972 | Boulder, CO | May 20-21 | Holiday Inn | ||
| 1971 | Woodland Park, CO | May 22-23 | Manitou Experimental Forest Station | Dr. Pat Currie | Research Being Conducted at the Station |
| 1970 | Fort Collins, CO | June 18-21 | Colorado State University | ||
| 1969 | Denver, CO | May 3-4 | Voyager Hotel | ||
| 1968 | Grand Junction, CO | May 25-26 | Café Caravan | ||
| 1967 | Estes Park, CO | May 25-26 | YMCA Camp | ||
| 1966 | Boulder, CO | May 21-22 | University of Colorado | ||
| 1965 | Colorado Springs, CO | May 15-16 | Colorado College | ||
| 1964 | Fort Collins, CO | May 23 | |||
| 1963 | Denver, CO | May 25-26 | Denver Museum of Natural History & Wellshire Inn | Dr. Alfred M. Bailey | Film: Colorado Wildlife |