UPDATE from the field. With less than 11 hours to go, Team Sapsucker is converging on Tucson for our route that will take us from Mt. Lemmon to the Salton Sea to the Tijuana River Valley south of San Diego. We have found a lot of birds while scouting — now we are trying to determine which species are just too far. Check Facebook for updates from now through the day. And PLEASE, support the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and eBird by making a pledge here.
The annual Big Day fundraiser is hugely important to eBird and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. For the past three years Team Sapsucker has visited Texas to chase the North American Big Day record. We were thrilled to break (and then tie) the record with 264 species in each of the first two years and a mind-blowing 294 in 2014, on a perfect run in a perfect year. We honestly don’t believe we can do any better in Texas, so instead we decided to focus this year’s Big Day on the one other area we think might give Texas a run-for-its-money. Most Big Days in North America make one assumption that we plan to challenge this year–see if you can figure out what it is! As far as we know, this one constraint has limited almost all Big Days before, but by breaking free we’ll be trying the one other route in the United States that might offer a chance at 300 species in a day. Finding that many species would require another perfect combination of conditions–intense scouting, good weather, luck with traffic, and lots of help from friends.
This route should offer:
- Good chances at 4 cormorant and 4 gnatcatcher species. Not many places in the world can offer that!
- Six, and possibly 7 wren species. If we get seven, a few team members will get a new species for our United States lists!
- 5 species of birds with the last name “thrasher”
- A route on which we will be disappointed if we find fewer than 7 hummingbirds, 7 doves, 10 owls, 3 nightjars, and 17 flycatchers
- This odd mix–Northern Cardinal, Western Scrub-Jay, Eastern Meadowlark, California Quail, Wrentit, Cordilleran Flycatcher
We can’t wait for this year’s Big Day, as we always have a great time birding during our scouting week, connecting with friends, and sharing what we are seeing. But this week is also a critical fundraiser that allow us to expand eBird to new areas. As you have before, we hope you’ll consider supporting Team Sapsucker and the eBird Project by making a pledge here.
To find out exactly where we will be going, please sign up for our new monthly eBird News newsletter. This includes the latest news and developments from eBird and is our best way to keep in touch. Our April issue will include a feature on the new Big Day route we are planning on trying out this year.
Team Sapsucker ready to try a new route. From left: Chris Wood, Jessie Barry, Brian Sullivan, Andy Farnsworth, Tim Lenz, Marshall Iliff.