Starbucks Montana mug: Discovery Series

By The Starbucks Cups team · Last checked 2026-11-14 · How we make these pages

Starbucks Discovery Series Montana mug with huckleberries, an eagle, a lake, a campfire and mountains around the word MONTANA — Front view · numbered markers match the list below Show markers

Montana mug: a huckleberry cluster, an eagle, a campfire by a lake, a bookshelf with a Starbucks cup, and on the back a bear, a blue gem, a meadowlark-like bird and cattle.

Series: Discovery Series
Place: Montana, USA
Type: Mug
Released: Not confirmed
Capacity: 14 fl ozStarbucks's Discovery Series launch story calls it the 14-ounce ceramic mug
SKU: Not confirmed

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The shrimp that was meant to feed the salmon

In 1968, Montana's state fisheries managers began releasing a small shrimp into lakes of the Flathead watershed ^[3]. Across the West it was being introduced as food for salmon and trout ^[4]. Downstream in Glacier National Park, bald eagles were already gathering every October at McDonald Creek, drawn by 75,000 to 150,000 spawning kokanee in a three-kilometer stretch of shallow water ^[5]. Along the creek in 1939, 37 eagles were counted ^[5]. By 1969 the number reported was 373 ^[5]. The shrimp moved downstream and reached Flathead Lake in 1981 ^[3]. Lake trout flourished on them and decimated the kokanee fishery, according to a 2012 review of the lake's history ^[6]. The University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station says the collapse eliminated a reliable food source for hundreds of bald eagles and bears ^[4]. The teal eagle diving at the left edge of the Montana mug (2) may be a bald eagle.

The mug does not label its drawings, so connecting this one to the story is our reading.

What's on the mug

1
Huckleberries
A cluster of blue-black berries on a stem with orange leaves fills the top left of the front. They look like huckleberries, which the National Park Service says make up to 15% of the diet of bears in the Glacier area. The same cluster shows again at the right edge of the Side view. The mug doesn't name them.^[1]
2
Eagle
A teal bird of prey with orange-tipped feathers dives at the left edge of the front. It is the same eagle as the one with spread wings on the Side view (element 10), seen from the other end. The drawing doesn't show a white head or tail, so the mug itself doesn't settle the species; the story above reads it as a possible bald eagle.
3
Lake with coloured stones (may recall Lake McDonald)
A blue lake with white wave crests sits right of the lettering. Its shore is lined with small stones in teal, orange, blue and purple, with dark pines and pale mountains behind. The coloured stones may be a nod to Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, whose pebbles the National Park Service cites as an example of the park's colourful rocks, but the mug doesn't name the lake.^[9]
4
Campfire
A campfire with orange flames burns over stacked teal logs at the lower right of the front. The crouching figure (element 5) warms a hand at it.
5
Crouching figure
A crouching person in a dark knit cap, a dark jacket, green trousers and orange boots reaches a hand toward the fire, one knee up. The face is teal and bearded, and the whole figure is in view just left of the handle. The mug doesn't say who it is meant to be.
6
Mountains and pines
Blue hills with snow-capped peaks, orange grass lines and dark and white pine trees run across the bottom left of the front. The mug doesn't name a range.
7
Lettering
MONTANA in orange capitals over a dark green circle.
8
Bookshelf Side view
A tall teal bookcase filled with blue, yellow and dark books stands at the centre of the Side view, with a small sun-ray mark above it. Some covers carry tiny pictures (a mountain, a gear-like shape, a heart, a pine tree), and one shelf holds a white cup with a green round logo that looks like a Starbucks takeaway cup. The mug doesn't say why a bookshelf is here.
9
Open book Side view
An open yellow book with white page edges flies out to the right of the bookcase.
10
Flying eagle Side view
A teal eagle with spread wings swoops down at the right of the Side view, with dark berries behind it at the edge. It is the same eagle as element 2 on the front. A dark book with orange motion streaks hangs below it (element 20).
11
Forest and road Side view
Dark pines, snowy peaks, teal clouds and a yellow winding road with small vehicles fill the left of the Side view. It is the same road and mountain scene that continues onto the Back (elements 16 and 17).
12
Blue flowers (may be bitterroot) Side view
Two large blue flowers with many narrow petals and orange centres sit at the lower left of the Side view. Their petal count and spiky centres resemble the bitterroot, Montana's state flower, which Wikipedia says ranges in colour from whitish to deep pink or lavender, not blue, so this is a guess. They are the same flowers as element 18 on the Back.^[2]^[7]
13
Bear (may be a grizzly) Back view
A tan bear with orange shading stands on a dark and blue rocky outcrop in front of the mountains, looking toward us. It has a raised shoulder hump and short round ears, two features the National Park Service gives for grizzly bears, and the grizzly is Montana's state mammal, so it may be a grizzly. The mug doesn't name it.^[2]^[8]
14
Songbird on a fence (may be a meadowlark) Back view
A small bird with a teal-dark back, an orange-yellow chest with dark spots and a long pointed bill perches on a wooden fence rail at the left. A yellow breast is typical of the western meadowlark, Montana's state bird, but the drawing is stylised and the black chest band is missing, so it may be a different bird.^[2]
15
Two animals that look like cattle Back view
Two heavy dark animals with orange lower legs graze in the lower centre: a large one in side profile with its head down, and a smaller one facing us. With stocky bodies and no hump they look like a cow and a calf. The mug doesn't name them.
16
Car on a yellow road Back view
A small blue car drives along a yellow road that winds up past pines toward the mountains, with a second, smaller car higher up. The same road continues round onto the Side view with more vehicles. The mug doesn't name the road.
17
Layered mountains Back view
Blue and dark ridges with a few snowy tops rise behind the road, layered like paper cut-outs, with pale teal clouds above. The mug doesn't name a range.
18
Blue flowers (may be bitterroot) Back view
Two large blue-violet flowers with narrow petals and orange centres sit in the lower right of the Back. They are the same flowers as element 12 on the Side view, seen from the other side, and, as with element 12, they may be bitterroot.^[2]^[7]
19
Blue gem (may be a sapphire) Back view
A large blue faceted teardrop shape with a white highlight and orange sparkles stands upright to the left of the bear. Montana's official state gemstones are sapphire and Montana moss agate, and the blue may point to sapphire, but the mug doesn't say.^[2]
20
Dark book in the eagle's talons Side view
A dark book with orange pages and orange motion streaks trailing back toward the bookcase hangs below the eagle, as if pulled from the lowest shelves. The mug doesn't explain the scene.

The three photos cover the front, one side and the back. The strip directly behind the handle is out of view.

Collector notes

Montana has both a Discovery mug (this page) and a Been There mug, which has its own page on this site. The two are different designs.
The crouching figure by the campfire is fully in view just left of the handle; only the strip directly behind the handle is out of view.
Quote for existing source 1 (NPS, Bears, Berries, and Bees): "it is estimated that huckleberries comprise up to 15% of their diet."
Source 7 is also used for the meadowlark and sapphire claims; its page lists "Western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)" and "Sapphire" and "Montana moss agate" as state symbols (the quote field holds only the grizzly row).
Quote for source 8 (NPS, Bear Identification), brown/grizzly bears: "Ears are short and round." and "Notice the long claws, prominent shoulder hump, dish-shaped profile, and low rump on this brown bear."
Quote for source 9 (NPS, Glacier geologic formations): "From the pebbles in Lake McDonald to the faces of entire mountains, perhaps the most eye-catching feature of Glacier's geology is its varying colors."

Before you buy

The strip directly behind the handle is out of view in our photos. Montana also has a Been There mug, a separate design with its own page on this site.