
North American Big Year 2016: The Final Countdown
There’s less than a month left in the year, and the competition for which birder can see the most species in North America—or, rather, the American Birding Association Area, which includes the 49 continental United States, Canada, the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, and offshore waters—during 2016 is heating up even as it winds down. In July, two birders—John Weigel and Olaf Danielson—separately broke the top record of 749 species, set by Neil Hayward in 2013. As December advances, both birders are approaching 800 birds. And several other birders trail close behind while setting personal records.
Who will take the top prize? Between John and Olaf, it really is too close to predict—just a few good birding days could mean the title. We’ve officially reached the North American Big Year final countdown. We'll be updating this page regularly with any news, so check back to follow along with Audubon.
John:
780
species
Olaf:
776
species
0
days to go
Updates
Today, the American Birding Association announced the final tally for the big year. During 2016, John managed to see a staggering 780 bird species. (He topped out his list with a Graylag Goose, Red-footed Booby, and Whooper Swan in his final week.) Olaf followed close behind, with 776 birds, followed by Laura Keene with 759 birds, and Christian Hagerlocher with 750 birds. Congratulations to all four birders who broke the previous big year record of 749 birds!
N.B.: The final tallies will likely change. Each birder has a set of “provisional” species, which aren’t on the ABA’s checklist—yet. Once these species (the Pine Flycatcher, Common Shelduck, and Common Vireo) are reviewed and added to the checklist in the coming months, the final species counts will change, but the rankings will remain the same.
December 21: The Race Gets Even Tighter
There’s only nine days to go, and Olaf is still adding to his list. In Portland this week, he finally saw a Brambling—and managed to get photographic evidence. The small brown bird with a black head is common in Europe and Asia, and occasionally strays down to the U.S. West Coast from Alaska during migration. That puts Olaf only one bird behind John as they enter the final stretch.
December 16: Olaf Snags One More, Now Two Behind
What suspense! With only half the month left, Olaf updated his blog yesterday to say that he found a Rustic Bunting in Neah Bay, Washington last week. He headed there specifically for the bunting, and despite cold and snowy conditions, managed to find it within an hour of arriving. The bird brings Olaf's total to 774 and puts him only two behind Weigel, whose blog has been quiet most of the month. Could Weigel be saving up for a big update? We'll see.
December 9: Olaf Pulls Within Three
The top two birders are keeping apace and tracking down the same species in quick succession. Last night, Olaf reported a La Sagra’s Flycatcher in Key Biscayne, Florida, closing John’s lead to three species. He also added a Common Shelduck, which he spotted in Quebec, to his provisional list. (Provisional birds are those that require approval from the American Birding Association before counting towards a big year total. Audubon does not include provisional species in its official counts. Read the complete rules here.) What’s more, both species—La Sagra’s Flycatcher and Common Shelduck—were recently seen by John in the same locations. Olaf is on John’s tail, with only 22 days to go.
Meet the Contenders
John Weigel: 780 species
as of December 31
John Weigel, an American living in Australia, is the current record holder for the Australia's Big Year Down Under, having seen 770 bird species in 2014. He blogs about his Big Year at Birding for Devils, so named to create awareness about the plight of Tasmanian Devils and raise money for a breeding facility for the endangered marsupials.
Olaf Danielson: 776 species
as of December 31
Bradley McDonald, who goes by the pen name Olaf Danielson, lives in South Dakota with his family. His daughter has joined him on many of his birding adventures this year, which he documents on his blog The Bad Weather Big Year. His Big Year is dedicated to his grandmother, who introduced him to birding when he was a child growing up in northwest Wisconsin.
While John and Olaf have commanding leads, two other birders are also having stellar Big Years. Photographer Laura Keene from Ohio has now broken the previous record with 759 species sighted this year (as of December 31), making her the second woman to break 700. And Christian Hagenlocher, who blogs at The Birding Project, has seen 750 species (as of December 31), making him the youngest birder to pass 700 species in the North American Big Year.
The Big List
John and Olaf's species lists are remarkably similar. Scroll through their combined list below, with those birds unique to John in blue and those birds unique to Olaf in green.
Abert's Towhee | Emperor Goose | Pinyon Jay |
Acadian Flycatcher | Eurasian Collared-Dove | Piping Plover |
Acorn Woodpecker | Eurasian Skylark | Plain Chachalaca |
Alder Flycatcher | Eurasian Tree Sparrow | Plain-capped Starthroat |
Aleutian Tern | Eurasian Wigeon | Plumbeous Vireo |
Allen's Hummingbird | European Starling | Pomarine Jaeger |
Altamira Oriole | Evening Grosbeak | Prairie Falcon |
Amazon Kingfisher | Eyebrowed Thrush | Prairie Warbler |
American Avocet | Far Eastern Curlew | Prothonotary Warbler |
American Bittern | Fea's Petrel | Purple Finch |
American Black Duck | Ferruginous Hawk | Purple Gallinule |
American Coot | Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl | Purple Martin |
American Crow | Field Sparrow | Purple Sandpiper |
American Dipper | Fieldfare | Pygmy Nuthatch |
American Flamingo | Fish Crow | Pyrrhuloxia |
American Golden-Plover | Five-striped Sparrow | Razorbill |
American Goldfinch | Flame-colored Tanager | Red Crossbill |
American Kestrel | Flammulated Owl | Red Knot |
American Oystercatcher | Flesh-footed Shearwater | Red Phalarope |
American Pipit | Florida Scrub-Jay | Red-bellied Woodpecker |
American Redstart | Fork-tailed Flycatcher | Red-billed Pigeon |
American Robin | Fork-tailed Storm-Petrel | Red-billed Tropicbird |
American Three-toed Woodpecker | Forster's Tern | Red-breasted Merganser |
American Tree Sparrow | Fox Sparrow | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
American White Pelican | Franklin's Gull | Red-breasted Sapsucker |
American Wigeon | Fulvous Whistling-Duck | Red-cockaded Woodpecker |
American Woodcock | Gadwall | Red-crowned Parrot |
Ancient Murrelet | Gambel's Quail | Red-eyed Vireo |
Anhinga | Garganey | Red-faced Cormorant |
Anna's Hummingbird | Gila Woodpecker | Red-faced Warbler |
Antillean Nighthawk | Gilded Flicker | Red-flanked Bluetail |
Aplomado Falcon | Glaucous Gull | Red-footed Booby |
Arctic Loon | Glaucous-winged Gull | Red-headed Woodpecker |
Arctic Tern | Glossy Ibis | Red-legged Kittiwake |
Arctic Warbler | Golden Eagle | Red-naped Sapsucker |
Arizona Woodpecker | Golden-cheeked Warbler | Red-necked Grebe |
Ash-throated Flycatcher | Golden-crowned Kinglet | Red-necked Phalarope |
Ashy Storm-Petrel | Golden-crowned Sparrow | Red-necked Stint |
Atlantic Puffin | Golden-crowned Warbler | Red-shouldered Hawk |
Audubon's Oriole | Golden-fronted Woodpecker | Red-tailed Hawk |
Audubon's Shearwater | Golden-winged Warbler | Red-throated Loon |
Bachman's Sparrow | Grace's Warbler | Red-throated Pipit |
Bahama Mockingbird | Grasshopper Sparrow | Red-whiskered Bulbul |
Baird's Sandpiper | Gray Catbird | Red-winged Blackbird |
Baird's Sparrow | Gray Flycatcher | Reddish Egret |
Bald Eagle | Gray Hawk | Redhead |
Baltimore Oriole | Gray Jay | Redwing |
Band-rumped Storm-Petrel | Gray Kingbird | Rhinoceros Auklet |
Band-tailed Pigeon | Gray Partridge | Ridgway's Rail |
Bank Swallow | Gray Vireo | Ring-billed Gull |
Bar-tailed Godwit | Gray-cheeked Thrush | Ring-necked Duck |
Barn Owl | Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch | Ring-necked Pheasant |
Barn Swallow | Gray-headed Chickadee | Ringed Kingfisher |
Barnacle Goose | Gray-headed Swamphen | Rock Pigeon |
Barred Owl | Gray-tailed Tattler | Rock Ptarmigan |
Barrow's Goldeneye | Great Black-backed Gull | Rock Sandpiper |
Bay-breasted Warbler | Great Blue Heron | Rock Wren |
Bell's Sparrow | Great Cormorant | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
Bell's Vireo | Great Crested Flycatcher | Rose-throated Becard |
Belted Kingfisher | Great Egret | Roseate Spoonbill |
Bendire's Thrasher | Great Gray Owl | Roseate Tern |
Berylline Hummingbird | Great Horned Owl | Ross's Goose |
Bewick's Wren | Great Kiskadee | Ross's Gull |
Bicknell's Thrush | Great Knot | Rosy-faced Lovebird |
Black Guillemot | Great Shearwater | Rough-legged Hawk |
Black Noddy | Great Skua | Royal Tern |
Black Oystercatcher | Great-tailed Grackle | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
Black Phoebe | Greater Pewee | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
Black Rail | Greater Prairie-Chicken | Ruddy Duck |
Black Rosy-Finch | Greater Roadrunner | Ruddy Ground-Dove |
Black Scoter | Greater Sage-Grouse | Ruddy Turnstone |
Black Skimmer | Greater Scaup | Ruff |
Black Storm-Petrel | Greater White-fronted Goose | Ruffed Grouse |
Black Swift | Greater Yellowlegs | Rufous Hummingbird |
Black Tern | Green Heron | Rufous-backed Robin |
Black Turnstone | Green Jay | Rufous-capped Warbler |
Black Vulture | Green Kingfisher | Rufous-crowned Sparrow |
Black-and-white Warbler | Green Parakeet | Rufous-winged Sparrow |
Black-backed Woodpecker | Green-tailed Towhee | Rustic Bunting |
Black-bellied Plover | Green-winged Teal | Rusty Blackbird |
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck | Groove-billed Ani | Sabine's Gull |
Black-billed Cuckoo | Gull-billed Tern | Sage Thrasher |
Black-billed Magpie | Gunnison Sage-Grouse | Sagebrush Sparrow |
Black-capped Chickadee | Gyrfalcon | Saltmarsh Sparrow |
Black-capped Gnatcatcher | Hairy Woodpecker | Sanderling |
Black-capped Petrel | Hammond's Flycatcher | Sandhill Crane |
Black-capped Vireo | Harlequin Duck | Sandwich Tern |
Black-chinned Hummingbird | Harris's Hawk | Savannah Sparrow |
Black-chinned Sparrow | Harris's Sparrow | Say's Phoebe |
Black-crested Titmouse | Hawaiian Petrel | Scaled Quail |
Black-crowned Night-Heron | Hawfinch | Scaly-breasted Munia |
Black-faced Grassquit | Heermann's Gull | Scarlet Tanager |
Black-footed Albatross | Henslow's Sparrow | Scissor-tailed Flycatcher |
Black-headed Grosbeak | Hepatic Tanager | Scott's Oriole |
Black-headed Gull | Hermit Thrush | Scripps's Murrelet |
Black-legged Kittiwake | Hermit Warbler | Seaside Sparrow |
Black-necked Stilt | Herring Gull | Sedge Wren |
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher | Himalayan Snowcock | Semipalmated Plover |
Black-tailed Gull | Hoary Redpoll | Semipalmated Sandpiper |
Black-throated Blue Warbler | Hooded Merganser | Sharp-shinned Hawk |
Black-throated Gray Warbler | Hooded Oriole | Sharp-tailed Grouse |
Black-throated Green Warbler | Hooded Warbler | Sharp-tailed Sandpiper |
Black-throated Sparrow | Hook-billed Kite | Shiny Cowbird |
Black-vented Shearwater | Horned Grebe | Short-billed Dowitcher |
Black-whiskered Vireo | Horned Lark | Short-eared Owl |
Blackburnian Warbler | Horned Puffin | Short-tailed Albatross |
Blackpoll Warbler | House Finch | Short-tailed Hawk |
Blue Bunting | House Sparrow | Short-tailed Shearwater |
Blue Grosbeak | House Wren | Siberian Accentor |
Blue Jay | Hudsonian Godwit | Siberian Rubythroat |
Blue-footed Booby | Hutton's Vireo | Sinaloa Wren |
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher | Iceland Gull | Slate-throated Redstart |
Blue-headed Vireo | Inca Dove | Slaty-backed Gull |
Blue-throated Hummingbird | Indigo Bunting | Smew |
Blue-winged Teal | Island Scrub-Jay | Smith's Longspur |
Blue-winged Warbler | Ivory Gull | Smooth-billed Ani |
Bluethroat | Jack Snipe | Snail Kite |
Boat-tailed Grackle | Juniper Titmouse | Snow Bunting |
Bobolink | Kelp Gull | Snow Goose |
Bohemian Waxwing | Kentucky Warbler | Snowy Egret |
Bonaparte's Gull | Killdeer | Snowy Owl |
Boreal Chickadee | King Eider | Snowy Plover |
Boreal Owl | King Rail | Solitary Sandpiper |
Botteri's Sparrow | Kirtland's Warbler | Song Sparrow |
Brambling | Kittlitz's Murrelet | Sooty Grouse |
Brandt's Cormorant | La Sagra's Flycatcher | Sooty Shearwater |
Brant | Ladder-backed Woodpecker | Sooty Tern |
Brewer's Blackbird | Lapland Longspur | Sora |
Brewer's Sparrow | Lark Bunting | South Polar Skua |
Bridled Tern | Lark Sparrow | Spectacled Eider |
Bridled Titmouse | Laughing Gull | Spot-breasted Oriole |
Bristle-thighed Curlew | Lawrence's Goldfinch | Spotted Dove |
Broad-billed Hummingbird | Laysan Albatross | Spotted Owl |
Broad-tailed Hummingbird | Lazuli Bunting | Spotted Sandpiper |
Broad-winged Hawk | Le Conte's Sparrow | Spotted Towhee |
Bronzed Cowbird | Le Conte's Thrasher | Sprague's Pipit |
Brown Booby | Leach's Storm-Petrel | Spruce Grouse |
Brown Creeper | Least Auklet | Steller's Eider |
Brown Noddy | Least Bittern | Steller's Jay |
Brown Pelican | Least Flycatcher | Stilt Sandpiper |
Brown Thrasher | Least Grebe | Streak-backed Oriole |
Brown-capped Rosy-Finch | Least Sandpiper | Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher |
Brown-crested Flycatcher | Least Storm-Petrel | Summer Tanager |
Brown-headed Cowbird | Least Tern | Surf Scoter |
Brown-headed Nuthatch | Lesser Black-backed Gull | Surfbird |
Buff-bellied Hummingbird | Lesser Goldfinch | Swainson's Hawk |
Buff-breasted Flycatcher | Lesser Nighthawk | Swainson's Thrush |
Buff-breasted Sandpiper | Lesser Prairie-Chicken | Swainson's Warbler |
Buff-collared Nightjar | Lesser Sand-Plover | Swallow-tailed Kite |
Bufflehead | Lesser Scaup | Swamp Sparrow |
Buller's Shearwater | Lesser Yellowlegs | Tennessee Warbler |
Bullock's Oriole | Lewis's Woodpecker | Terek Sandpiper |
Burrowing Owl | Limpkin | Thayer's Gull |
Bushtit | Lincoln's Sparrow | Thick-billed Kingbird |
Cackling Goose | Little Blue Heron | Thick-billed Murre |
Cactus Wren | Little Egret | Thick-billed Vireo |
California Condor | Little Gull | Townsend's Solitaire |
California Gnatcatcher | Little Stint | Townsend's Warbler |
California Gull | Loggerhead Shrike | Tree Swallow |
California Quail | Long-billed Curlew | Tricolored Blackbird |
California Scrub-Jay | Long-billed Dowitcher | Tricolored Heron |
California Thrasher | Long-billed Thrasher | Trindade Petrel |
California Towhee | Long-eared Owl | Tropical Kingbird |
Calliope Hummingbird | Long-tailed Duck | Tropical Parula |
Canada Goose | Long-tailed Jaeger | Trumpeter Swan |
Canada Warbler | Long-toed Stint | Tufted Duck |
Canvasback | Louisiana Waterthrush | Tufted Flycatcher |
Canyon Towhee | Lucifer Hummingbird | Tufted Puffin |
Canyon Wren | Lucy's Warbler | Tufted Titmouse |
Cape May Warbler | MacGillivray's Warbler | Tundra Swan |
Carolina Chickadee | Magnificent Frigatebird | Turkey Vulture |
Carolina Wren | Magnificent Hummingbird | Upland Sandpiper |
Caspian Tern | Magnolia Warbler | Varied Bunting |
Cassin's Auklet | Mallard | Varied Thrush |
Cassin's Finch | Mangrove Cuckoo | Variegated Flycatcher |
Cassin's Kingbird | Manx Shearwater | Vaux's Swift |
Cassin's Sparrow | Marbled Godwit | Veery |
Cassin's Vireo | Marbled Murrelet | Verdin |
Cattle Egret | Marsh Sandpiper | Vermilion Flycatcher |
Cave Swallow | Marsh Wren | Vesper Sparrow |
Cedar Waxwing | Masked Booby | Violet-crowned Hummingbird |
Cerulean Warbler | McCown's Longspur | Violet-green Swallow |
Chestnut-backed Chickadee | McKay's Bunting | Virginia Rail |
Chestnut-collared Longspur | Merlin | Virginia's Warbler |
Chestnut-sided Warbler | Mew Gull | Wandering Tattler |
Chihuahuan Raven | Mexican Chickadee | Warbling Vireo |
Chimney Swift | Mexican Jay | Western Bluebird |
Chipping Sparrow | Mexican Violetear | Western Grebe |
Chuck-will's-widow | Mexican Whip-poor-will | Western Gull |
Chukar | Mississippi Kite | Western Kingbird |
Cinnamon Teal | Monk Parakeet | Western Meadowlark |
Clapper Rail | Montezuma Quail | Western Sandpiper |
Clark's Grebe | Mottled Duck | Western Screech-Owl |
Clark's Nutcracker | Mottled Petrel | Western Spindalis |
Clay-colored Sparrow | Mountain Bluebird | Western Tanager |
Clay-colored Thrush | Mountain Chickadee | Western Wood-Pewee |
Cliff Swallow | Mountain Plover | Whimbrel |
Colima Warbler | Mountain Quail | Whiskered Auklet |
Common Black Hawk | Mourning Dove | Whiskered Screech-Owl |
Common Chiffchaff | Mourning Warbler | White Ibis |
Common Crane | Murphy's Petrel | White Wagtail |
Common Eider | Muscovy Duck | White-breasted Nuthatch |
Common Gallinule | Mute Swan | White-collared Seedeater |
Common Goldeneye | Nanday Parakeet | White-crowned Pigeon |
Common Grackle | Nashville Warbler | White-crowned Sparrow |
Common Greenshank | Nelson's Sparrow | White-eared Hummingbird |
Common Ground-Dove | Neotropic Cormorant | White-eyed Vireo |
Common Loon | Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet | White-faced Ibis |
Common Merganser | Northern Bobwhite | White-headed Woodpecker |
Common Murre | Northern Cardinal | White-rumped Sandpiper |
Common Myna | Northern Flicker | White-tailed Hawk |
Common Nighthawk | Northern Fulmar | White-tailed Kite |
Common Pauraque | Northern Gannet | White-tailed Ptarmigan |
Common Pochard | Northern Goshawk | White-tailed Tropicbird |
Common Poorwill | Northern Harrier | White-throated Sparrow |
Common Raven | Northern Hawk Owl | White-throated Swift |
Common Redpoll | Northern Jacana | White-throated Thrush |
Common Ringed Plover | Northern Mockingbird | White-tipped Dove |
Common Sandpiper | Northern Parula | White-winged Crossbill |
Common Scoter | Northern Pintail | White-winged Dove |
Common Snipe | Northern Pygmy-Owl | White-winged Parakeet |
Common Tern | Northern Rough-winged Swallow | White-winged Scoter |
Common Yellowthroat | Northern Saw-whet Owl | Whooping Crane |
Connecticut Warbler | Northern Shoveler | Wild Turkey |
Cook's Petrel | Northern Shrike | Willet |
Cooper's Hawk | Northern Waterthrush | Williamson's Sapsucker |
Cordilleran Flycatcher | Northern Wheatear | Willow Flycatcher |
Cory's Shearwater | Northwestern Crow | Willow Ptarmigan |
Costa's Hummingbird | Nuttall's Woodpecker | Wilson's Phalarope |
Couch's Kingbird | Nutting's Flycatcher | Wilson's Plover |
Craveri's Murrelet | Oak Titmouse | Wilson's Snipe |
Crested Auklet | Olive Sparrow | Wilson's Storm-Petrel |
Crested Caracara | Olive Warbler | Wilson's Warbler |
Crimson-collared Grosbeak | Olive-sided Flycatcher | Winter Wren |
Crissal Thrasher | Orange-crowned Warbler | Wood Duck |
Curlew Sandpiper | Orchard Oriole | Wood Sandpiper |
Curve-billed Thrasher | Osprey | Wood Stork |
Dark-eyed Junco | Ovenbird | Wood Thrush |
Dickcissel | Pacific Golden-Plover | Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay |
Double-crested Cormorant | Pacific Loon | Worm-eating Warbler |
Dovekie | Pacific Wren | Wrentit |
Downy Woodpecker | Pacific-slope Flycatcher | Yellow Grosbeak |
Dunlin | Painted Bunting | Yellow Rail |
Dusky Flycatcher | Painted Redstart | Yellow Warbler |
Dusky Grouse | Palm Warbler | Yellow-bellied Flycatcher |
Dusky Warbler | Parakeet Auklet | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
Dusky-capped Flycatcher | Parasitic Jaeger | Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
Eared Grebe | Pectoral Sandpiper | Yellow-billed Loon |
Eastern Bluebird | Pelagic Cormorant | Yellow-billed Magpie |
Eastern Kingbird | Peregrine Falcon | Yellow-breasted Chat |
Eastern Meadowlark | Phainopepla | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron |
Eastern Phoebe | Philadelphia Vireo | Yellow-eyed Junco |
Eastern Screech-Owl | Pied-billed Grebe | Yellow-footed Gull |
Eastern Towhee | Pigeon Guillemot | Yellow-green Vireo |
Eastern Whip-poor-will | Pileated Woodpecker | Yellow-headed Blackbird |
Eastern Wood-Pewee | Pin-tailed Snipe | Yellow-legged Gull |
Eastern Yellow Wagtail | Pine Bunting | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
Egyptian Goose | Pine Grosbeak | Yellow-throated Vireo |
Elegant Tern | Pine Siskin | Yellow-throated Warbler |
Elegant Trogon | Pine Warbler | Zenaida Dove |
Elf Owl | Pink-footed Goose | Zone-tailed Hawk |
Pink-footed Shearwater |
Bird Sightings by State
The map below shows in which U.S. states John Weigel and Olaf Danielson sighted birds for their North American Big Year. Hover over each state for species counts for each birder. John's favorite states are colored blue; Olaf's are colored green; and those they share are colored teal.
Canadian sightings are not featured. Olaf spotted 57 birds in Canada (British Columbia, Newfoundland, and Quebec); John spotted 35 there (British Columbia and Newfoundland).
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