Sulphur-crested Cockatoo will be one of many species on Noah's target list when visiting Australia later in 2015. Photo by Brian Sullivan.
Today, Oregon-based birder and writer Noah Strycker begins a planetary adventure: In 2015, he will try to become the first person to see 5,000 species of birds—about half of the avian species on Earth—in one calendar year! Noah plans to spend the next 365 straight days birding around the globe, with an itinerary covering 34 countries and all seven continents, on one continuous, all-out, worldwide birding trip. He kicks off this New Year in Antarctica, hoping for a strong start with several species of penguins.
Noah is the 28-year-old Associate Editor of Birding magazine and the author of two books about birds. In his quest to topple the current big year record—4,341 bird species set in 2008 by a British couple, Ruth Miller and Alan Davies—he will bird his way up from Antarctica through South America and North America, then hop the pond over to Europe, drop down into Africa, move through Asia, and dip into some tropical islands before heading for the finish line in Australia next December! Along the way, he is sure to generate some pretty good stories.
Noah will use eBird to keep track of his sightings and to help strategize during the year, while connecting with many other birders as he travels. Watch for updates here throughout the year. Meanwhile, you can follow Noah’s exciting day-to-day progress on his blog at audubon.org/noah.
Noah’s reading list includes practically every field guide in existence!