Listing & Listers

Not all listers are twitchers…

Many (but by no means all) birders are inveterate list keepers. Some settle for a world life list… a list of all the species of birds they have seen at home and abroad, others will also keep a list of their home country and separate lists for each country they have visited. Still others will keep a list of every state or county and one just for their patch. Others keep year lists; a list of all the species seen in any one year – usually in the home county, state or country.

Some indulge their need for lists in the most bizarre ways such as keeping lists of birds seen in non-birding TV programmes; birds seen from toilet windows or even birds seen whilst caught short! Some have garden lists and patch lists, others keep lists of every individual bird they see on every occasion they go into the field, or look out of their window.

Ovenbird Seiurus aurocapilla – All photos in this text courtesy of ©Dubi Shapiro

Perhaps it is all about competing with other birders – wanting to be champion birder of the world or your own backyard. Maybe, and I think this is more likely the case, it is a form of collecting. From my point of view, it is far better to collect records of sightings than follow the collectors of the Victorian era by collecting specimens of the birds themselves or, and some evil morons still do this, collecting their unborn young, just because eggs are small miracles of form and function!

Blue Jay Cyanocitta cristata

Other birders feel compelled to take photographs of every species they see… I am glad someone does this, as it adds to my enjoyment greatly to see portraits of my favourite birds (well any birds really). It is still only done by a minority of birders (although that ratio continues to climb rapidly) … something non-birders find hard to believe. I have lost count of the number of times when I have revealed my obsession to a non-birder that I have been asked if I take pictures of them. It seems that people who don’t birdwatch assume that there must be some sort of end product or the pursuit cannot be rationally explained. I usually counter by asking them if they take pictures of whatever pastime they indulge in… such as do you take pictures of the little ball falling down the hole after you have hit it with that stick, when I’ve been talking to golfers. Do crossword and Wordle solvers need to take a photograph of every puzzle completed?

In the UK, 400 species seen is regarded as the goal (I’m stuck at 379) and less than this figure means you will not even make the league tables. In most English counties a target of 250 is set for the ambitious (My Home County (Kent) list is 310). We would love to hear from other countries what the target is.

Common Redpoll Acanthis flammea

I do not know what the target is for a world list. I believe that there are now considered to be around 11,000 species and that at least one birder -Peter Kaestner- has notched up 10000+ ticks. Currently, (Jan 2026) he may be on 10,022! The rest of the list is headed by Steve Kornfeld at 9,904, Jürgen Lehnert 9,720, Barry Reed 9,673, followed by Swede Claes-Göran Cederlund on 9,622, the Brit Philip Rostron on 9,607 and Cağan Hakki Şekercioğlu on 9,470.  The late John Hornbuckle notched up 9,600. Next in line is the top female birder Sue Williamson 9,306 At least ten people are past 9000 including Keith Betton and the late Tom Gullick.

Tufted Titmouse Baeolophus bicolor

Phoebe Snetsinger had seen 85% of the world’s birds when she passed. Phoebe had a working list of about 10,270 to aim for. It didn’t matter whether she worked on this list, Clements 9800 or the 1976 Gruson list of 8600, the percentage still came out as 85%. It was of course an incredible achievement and one, which continues to grow as she collects ticks post mortem as various sub-species are elevated.  Unsurprisingly a number of the world listers in the top twenty are full time bird tour guides.

For anyone new to our pastime (obsession) please bear in mind that a long list of species seen is only one motivation for taking up birding, and this is only the case for some birders. Many leading ornithologists do not keep lists of any sort!