A little bird, a Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe), sits atop a Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) as if it were the tree topper on a Christmas tree, trying to ask you, “What is YOUR favorite Christmas tree?”

I’m a very visual person so my choice of Christmas tree depends entirely on how it looks. Soft needles are not a characteristic of the Colorado Blue Spruce. Its needles are sharp and can be painful to deal with but that’s okay with me. It’s my perfect tree for decorating at Christmas. Its color fascinates me. The blue happens because of a wax that is produced on the needles in spring and early summer. That wax may erode thanks to wind, hard rains or hot sun leaving the needles with a more green color. When the tree has its traditional blue-green-gray color it reminds me of looking in a mirror at my own eyes.

It’s native to the central and southern Rocky Mountains in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.

In the wild a Blue Spruce can grow to 135 feet tall and 30 feet wide. One stunning tree that can live more than 200 years. And in the image above, a beautiful part of the tree, a new growth bud.