The 2023 Pikes Peak Birding & Nature Festival featured bird is the Turkey Vulture.

The 2023 festival T-shirt art has been created from an oil painting by festival artist, Chris Alvarez. Chris is a local birder and is the director of the Alvarez Art School at the Alvarez Gallery & Art School.  

Chris’s artwork graces the back of the 2023 festival T-shirt, with the Pikes Peak Birding & Nature Festival logo on the front. 

The 2023 festival T-shirt must be ordered by Sunday, 30 April through the festival registration form online. No T-shirt orders can be accepted after this date.

At Saturday evening’s “Birds, Brews & Bites” event, Chris’s framed, original artwork “Sylvia” is being auctioned as a fundraiser for the 2024 Festival. The framed (16 in. x 20 in.) oil painting will be available for viewing throughout the festival at the Fountain Creek Nature Center. Chris will also have a table.

Turkey Vultures, Cathartes aura, are scavengers which mean they only eat carrion. They can be found throughout Colorado in the spring and summer but they migrate south in the winter and fall. They don’t build nests, but will lay their eggs on the ground in a protected area. With a wingspan between five and six feet, they are can be seen soaring looking for food.  

The 2023 T-shirt is black with the festival artwork on the back and the festival logo on the front.  

This year we will also be selling khaki toned, baseball caps featuring the Pikes Peak Birding and Nature Festival logo! There is a limited quantity so please make sure to order yours during registration for $15.