Birding Without Borders

This spring migration I did my own very small version of listing, trying to get as many birds in Manhattan as I could in April and May. This made me eager to read a couple of books about better birders trying for bigger lists.

Noah Strycker tried for a Global Big Year in 2015, trying to see as many birds as he possibly could all around the world. Most books of this genre describe a breakneck pace of birders trying to spot as many rarities as possible in order to up their numbers. But, Strycker's attitude towards his own pursuit was refreshing:

“The world is the only scale that doesn't reward rarity hunts. I liked the idea that, by thinking globally and birding locally, I was helping to reinvent the Big Year as a way to appreciate the most common birds in their proper habitats.”

This book is a great addition to the genre.

Noah Strycker sets out to break the record for the number of bird species one person has seen in a year as he travels around the world—Antarctica, South America, North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. In each hot spot he visits, he has a local guide to take him to the best locations and to help identify the birds he sees. Of course, even with the best of plans, things go wrong, and it's the come-to-fruition of the best of plans and the blips along the way that make for the charm of this adventure story.

Though I'm not a birdwatcher, birds are interesting, and so are the people who pursue them whether as a scientific career or as a hobby (though the latter has often led to the former), hence why I picked up this book. I've read Strycker's other book, The Thing With Feathers, and since that was a lovely read I was pretty sure this latest book of his would prove a treat.

And I was indeed right about that guess, as it turns out: Strycker's narrative voice is still a pleasure to read, and the story of his journey around the world makes for a wonderful vicarious experience - especially when he talks about the people he met (or didn't get to meet, in some cases) along the way. That's what makes this book such a pleasure, I think, even for someone who isn't a birdwatcher: Strycker puts emphasis on the people, not the birds, always stating that the trip, and therefore the book, would not be possible without the help of his fellow enthusiasts. He's always emphasising how birdwatching brings people together, forming communities of like-minded individuals who happily go out of their way to help one of their own. Makes you wish the world worked like that all the time.