[jurek]

I am just reading "The Big Twitch" and was thinking about the author's opinion that birding cannot be easily made interesting for non-birders unlike eg. sport. Also, that only a handful of people have freedom, stamina and funds to spend a full year of their life watching birds.

So, The Big Year will never be a regular thing, but maybe the Big Day will?

Then I started wondering - what were the best Big Day results? Worldwide, in North America and Britain?

[Jonny721]

Take a look here:

http://the-biggest-day.com/

[Richard Klim]

Jurek, here are the Big Day records listed in the ABA Big Day & ABA List Report - using Clements taxonomy.
[But many of the non-ABA area counts have few entries, leaving much scope for larger counts.]

ALBERTA 218 
BRITISH COLUMBIA 202 
MANITOBA 214 
NEW BRUNSWICK 138 
NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR 117 
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES 64 
NOVA SCOTIA 145 
NUNAVUT 36 
ONTARIO 200 
PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND 141 
QUÉBEC 175 
SASKATCHEWAN 202 
YUKON TERRITORIES 82

ALABAMA 202 
ALASKA 119 (125 using aircraft)
ARIZONA 199 
ARKANSAS 168 
CALIFORNIA 231 (243 using aircraft)
COLORADO 204 
CONNECTICUT 186 
DELAWARE 199 
WASHINGTON, D.C. 134 
FLORIDA 185 
GEORGIA 193 
HAWAII 63 (81 using aircraft)
IDAHO 183 
ILLINOIS 184 
INDIANA 193 
IOWA 204 
KANSAS 225 
KENTUCKY 187 
LOUISIANA 215 
MAINE 178 
MARYLAND 206 
MASSACHUSETTS 185 
MICHIGAN 203 
MINNESOTA 204 
MISSISSIPPI 175 
MISSOURI 208 
MONTANA 192 
NEBRASKA 203 
NEVADA 162 
NEW HAMPSHIRE 170 
NEW JERSEY 229 
NEW MEXICO 202 
NEW YORK 202 
NORTH CAROLINA 184 
NORTH DAKOTA 168 
OHIO 205 
OKLAHOMA 182 
OREGON 219 
PENNSYLVANIA 178 
RHODE ISLAND 159 
SOUTH CAROLINA 179 
SOUTH DAKOTA 175 
TENNESSEE 174 
TEXAS 264 
UTAH 202 
VERMONT 177 
VIRGINIA 178 
WASHINGTON 201 
WEST VIRGINIA 146 
WISCONSIN 230 
WYOMING 180 

Antarctica 24 
Antigua 68
Argentina 149 
Aruba 72 
Australia 249 
Austria 108 
Bahamas 80 
Bahrain 81 
Barbuda 47 
Belize 202 
Bermuda 72 
Bhutan 96 
Bolivia 160 
Botswana 107 
Brazil 180 
Brunei 124 
Bulgaria 97 
Cambodia 69
Cameroon 135 
Cayman Islands 64
Chile 83 
Colombia 144
Comoros Islands 20 
Costa Rica 308 
Croatia 78 
Cuba 112 
Cyprus 103 
Djibouti 95 
Dominica 47 
Dominican Republic 66 
Ecuador 181 
Egypt 80 
El Salvador 44 
England 147 
Estonia 109 
Ethiopia 189 
France 181 
Gabon 73 
Galapagos 47 
Gambia 127 
Germany 122 
Grand Cayman Islands 74 
Greece 77 
Grenada 36 
Guadeloupe 29 
Guyana 150 
Guatemala 225 
Honduras 149 
Hungary 144 
Iceland 50 
India 166 
Indonesia 105 
Ireland 122 
Italy 87 
Ivory Coast 73 
Jamaica 109 
Japan 148 
Kenya 290 
Loyalty Islands (Lifou) 24
Madagascar 58 
Malaysia 94 
Mali 76 
Marianas Islands 23
Marshall Islands 16 
Martinique 30 
Mexico 229 
Morocco 108 
Namibia 217 
Nepal 158 
Netherlands 190 
New Caledonia 40 
Nicaragua 71 
Niger 57 
Nigeria 76 
Northern Ireland 133 
Oman 117 
Panama 300 
Papua New Guinea 215 
Paraguay 180 
Peru 331 
Portugal 113 
Poland 108 
Puerto Rico 94 
Qatar 43 
Rwanda 41 
St. Kitts 33 
St. Lucia 53 
St. Vincent 39 
Sao Tome 44 
Saudi Arabia 112 
Sechelles 33 
Senegal 105 
Singapore 129 
Solomon Islands 49 
South Africa 247 
South Korea 42 
Spain 97 
Sri Lanka 95 
Sudan 54 
Suriname 173 
Switzerland 125 
Tanzania 146 
Thailand 180 
Trinidad 177 
Tobago 113 
Turkey 129 
Uganda 260 
Uruguay 65 
U.S. Virgin Islands 64 
Vanuatu 33 
Venezuela 192 
Vietnam 116 
Yemen 110 
Zambia 288 
Zaire 135 
Zimbabwe 196

[chris butterworth]

Hmmm. The concept of "Big Days" in different countries has got me thinking ( not usually a good idea ). Whats the chance of a Birdforum Big Day? See how many birds members can see, globally, on a designated day? There again perhaps the whole idea is something best left to late Saturday night after a session in the pub!

Chris

[MJB]

Originally Posted by jurek

I am just reading "The Big Twitch" and was thinking about the author's opinion that birding cannot be easily made interesting for non-birders unlike eg. sport. Also, that only a handful of people have freedom, stamina and funds to spend a full year of their life watching birds. So, The Big Year will never be a regular thing, but maybe the Big Day will?

Perhaps Sean Dooley was just being modest - I know several non-birders who have read The Big Twitch and found it interesting, but then Sean writes very well. Is it that birders who adopt 'birder-speak' in company and its equivalent on forums can't enthuse about their interest to non-birders in everyday terms?

Sean certainly has that ability, being articulate and expressive on just about any subject, which leads me to fly yet another kite - how many compulsve twitchers have other, equally compelling interests, but which incur less anxiety?
MJB
PS Couldn't manage a 'Big Year', but having saved up, managed a 'Sizeable Six Months' in Oz last year, but birding was only a part of the adventure...

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Originally Posted by chris butterworth

Hmmm. The concept of "Big Days" in different countries has got me thinking ( not usually a good idea ). Whats the chance of a Birdforum Big Day? See how many birds members can see, globally, on a designated day? There again perhaps the whole idea is something best left to late Saturday night after a session in the pub!

Chris

I really like that idea.

Some of those national day lists are a bit low. The Spanish one shouldn't take much beating!

[Simon Wates]

Originally Posted by Andrew Whitehouse

I really like that idea.

Some of those national day lists are a bit low. The Spanish one shouldn't take much beating!

Yes, I have had over 100 in a day "just" in Doñana. Also, 2 others and myself managed 126 in Portugal back in 1999. We haven't tried since.

What is the source of the Portuguese figures?

[Richard Klim]

Originally Posted by Simon Wates

Yes, I have had over 100 in a day "just" in Doñana. Also, 2 others and myself managed 126 in Portugal back in 1999. We haven't tried since.
What is the source of the Portuguese figures?

Many of the non-ABA area 'records' are indeed ridiculously low (or non-existent!), reflecting very few submissions in most cases.

Portugal:

• 113 - 14 Oct 1996 - M Bolton, C Beale, M Roberts, G Rawcliffe
• 108 - 24 Feb 1996 - G Elias, C C Moore
• 104 - 02 Aug 1996 - G Elias, J Braga

[Simon Wates]

Thanks Richard but I still can't see where the Portuguese figures are from

[Richard Klim]

Originally Posted by Simon Wates

Thanks Richard but I still can't see where the Portuguese figures are from

They're just reports (very few for most non-ABA areas) submitted to ABA by the observers: www.aba.org/bigday/bigdayform.php.

[Simon Wates]

Thanks - I see now.

[Mike C]

some friends and I managed 149 for Cheshire and Wirral in a day (midnight to nearly midnight) a few years ago, it would never make a spectator sport though.....

[csanchez7]

Hard to believe the record for Ecuador is only 181 -- very, very easy to beat.

Carlos

[Andrew Whitehouse]

Originally Posted by csanchez7

Hard to believe the record for Ecuador is only 181 -- very, very easy to beat.

Carlos

I think a member of this forum had around 200 in a day in Ecuador earlier this year, including heard species.

[chris butterworth]

I was wondering about the rather low total - like a lot of others. I checked the recording form and it only applies to ABA members. Whem you take into consideration the actual number of members that don't submit then it's not that surprising.

Chris

[Richard Klim]

Originally Posted by chris butterworth

I was wondering about the rather low total - like a lot of others. I checked the recording form and it only applies to ABA members.

Good point, Chris. Therefore many of the non-ABA area subsmissions probably just reflect the random overseas vacation experiences of North American birders, rather than meaningful national records.

[COLOMBIA Birding]

Originally Posted by Richard Klim

Jurek, here are the Big Day records listed in the ABA Big Day & ABA List Report - using Clements taxonomy.
[But many of the non-ABA area counts have few entries, leaving much scope for larger counts.]

Colombia 144

I remember a 149 species day in Rio Claro, Magdalena Valley of Colombia back in 2005; we were just some friends birding (and swimming in the river!) and not really looking for a big-day... guess you can easily go over 200 in a day here...

[jurek]

I agree these "records" for Europe are ridiculously low. In many countries average 10x10 km atlas field has more breeding species.

For Poland I remember some blokes saying they had 185 on one very good spring day.

Certainly Chris, this would be a cool competition. One problem is that you cannot discuss on the international forum one day at the pub - remember the time zones!

[Motmot]

Afaik the iberian record is 217 species in 24h, possibly being the european record. Tramuntana birding team Spring 2007.

[Xenospiza]

In contrast, the number for the Netherlands is near the real record... The Dutch record (without some category C birds) is 187.

Estonia's record must be at least 194 (that's the number I can find).

[Simon Wates]

Originally Posted by Motmot

Afaik the iberian record is 217 species in 24h, possibly being the european record. Tramuntana birding team Spring 2007.

That's so much! In NE Spain?

[ovenbird43]

Originally Posted by Andrew Whitehouse

I think a member of this forum had around 200 in a day in Ecuador earlier this year, including heard species.

Yes, my technician and I did a Big Day at Tiputini Biodiversity Station and ended up with 233. Even that could easily be beat by visiting multiple sites, especially in the Andes- we did ours all on foot.

[ovenbird43]

Originally Posted by MJB

Sean certainly has that ability, being articulate and expressive on just about any subject, which leads me to fly yet another kite - how many compulsve twitchers have other, equally compelling interests, but which incur less anxiety?
MJB

Such as running a marathon in all 50 states? Distance running for me is generally anxiety-free, although it can be frustrating if I "dip" a race and have to postpone it due to illness or injury. And when I signed up for the Leadville Trail Marathon in Colorado (climbs from 10,000 ft to 13,000 ft, then back down), in the days leading to the marathon I began to wonder what possessed me to choose that particular race, and tossed and turned the night before worrying that I wouldn't be able to finish.

[Birding Peru]

Just went through the combined Tambopata and Puerto Maldonado checklist and i get 375 species that can be stakes out, or easily detectable by voice or sight. With over à week to recce and also visiting Cuzco and Lima sites the same day, I don't want to be cocky, but I think we have a fair chance to beat 342 species on The Biggest Day on Sep 28. See The-Biggest-Day.com for more info and to follow our way there.

saludos

Gunnar

[chris butterworth]

The best part of 350 in a day? Hard core birding.e