A Big Year is an unofficial contest among Birders to see as many species of birds in geographical area in a single calendar year. Big Years can cover a County, State, a Country, a Continent or even the entire world.

Ethan and Ingrid are experienced birders from the coast of Maine, both retired and have been planning their Big Year adventure since 2018.

They will be to crisscrossing the country, anticipating what birds will be where and when. Follow their progress by visiting BigYearBirding.com and clicking the “Subscribe” button.

While Big Year rules only require a Birder to identify a species by sight or sound (the good old fashion honor system), we endeavor document each species by  photograph or sound recording.   This is difficult as birds are seen for fleeting moments; deep in a tangle of tree branches; while driving or at a great distance through a spotting scope.  In other cases, one is seeing several new species at a time and only one can be photographed.

On this page you’ll see every bird on in our Lower 48 Big Year list along with the date and location we found it and the date and location of a validation photograph or recording.  

We are currently rebuilding this Gallery Page . . . the old version became too big and their became performance and maintenance issues.  Please be patient while we rebuild it.

Follow our 2024 Big Year on our Blog.
Time Left in Our 2024 Big Year

Species to Date: 708