Big Year Excitement!

Do you know what all of the birds in this picture have in common?

Big Year Birds

Left to right: Rufous-necked Wood-Rail; Eurasian Wigeon; Red Knot; Barrow's Goldeneye; Anna's Hummingbird; and Bar-tailed Godwit.

You're not likely to find them all in the same spot, that's for sure! But these species were all seen in North America this year by Neil Hayward, a birder doing a North American Big Year. As of this afternoon, Hayward has seen a total 744 species in 2013, with 3 additional "provisional" species. That puts him in a very good position to break the record set by Sandy Komito, who saw 745 (+3 "provisional") species in 1998.

Komito had serious competition from two other birders during that big year. The adventures of all three became the basis for a popular book and the big screen film "The Big Year" starring Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black. Hayward is maintaining a very entertaining blog of his year at Accidental Big Year 2013.

Have a look -- the next two weeks will probably see him zipping from state to state and he could very well blow the record out of the water!

Comments

Jays and Kestrels on February 23, 2014 at 5:16 PM wrote:
Amazing! I wish to do a big year. :)
Spurwing Plover on July 8, 2022 at 5:57 AM wrote:
The Bar Tailed Godwit spends is Summers with the Ptarmigan and Winters with the Kiwis

Leave a comment

Comments with links or HTML will be deleted. Your comment will be published pending approval.
Your email address will not be published
You can unsubscribe from these communications at any time. For more information on how to unsubscribe, our privacy practices, and how we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy. By clicking submit below, you consent to allow Birdorable to store and process the personal information submitted above to provide you the content requested.

10 Years of Birdorable Bonanzas! 2018 Starts Friday!

Back in November 2016, we celebrated the 10th year of Birdorable by kicking off our 8th annual Birdorable Bonanza. This Friday, November 23, we're kicking off our 10th Bonanza! Each year we reveal a new batch of birds in a burst -- our Birdorable Bonanza....

Did you know? Fecal sacs

Birds don't wear diapers. But in some songbirds, babies expel their waste in a membrane-filled sac, which is then removed from the nest by a parent. Fecal...

Introducing the Birdorable Red Junglefowl: The Ancestor of the Domestic Chicken

Today’s new Birdorable is one of four species of junglefowl in the world. It’s the Red Junglefowl, and the 750th bird species on Birdorable! The Red Junglefowl is an exotic tropical species with a familiar look, due to it being a primary ancestor of...

2020 Bonanza Birds #1-4: North American Finches

Today we start our 2020 Birdorable Bonanza with a bang! Actually… make that an IRRUPTION! We’re kicking off 29 days of new birds by dropping four finches in this “finch invasion” winter season. A bright spot in 2020, many birders are...