Life List

AH, the life of a birder

Traveling far and wide, hopping from habitat to habitat, all in pursuit of one goal: to see as many bird species as possible in a lifetime. This quest is what gives rise to the cherished life list—a record of every bird species a birder has encountered over the years.

With over 10,000 known bird species across the globe, scattered in remote or challenging corners of the planet, completing a life list of all known birds is an almost impossible feat. But isn’t that part of the fun? The endless exploration, the thrill of discovery, and the stories that come with each new sighting?

That’s why Sara and I have our channel: to share our adventures and our story, as we chase after new and exciting birds to add to our own life lists.

Below, you’ll find my life list—Stu’s Life List. It’s pretty similar to Sara’s, but I began documenting my sightings a little earlier, so I’ve managed to add a few species she hasn’t seen (yet!). But don’t worry, she’s catching up quickly.

I’ll work at trying to add extra details to this life list when I can (such as dates and places) and it’s possible that there might be mistakes in here. See below the table for some notes on rules etc…

Total Birds: 437

Acadian Flycatcher
Acorn Woodpecker
Alder Flycatcher
Allen’s Hummingbird
American Avocet
American Bittern
American Black Duck
American Coot
American Crow
American Golden-Plover
American Goldfinch
American Herring Gull
American Kestrel
American Oystercatcher
American Pipit
American Redstart
American Robin
American Three-toed Woodpecker
American Tree Sparrow
American White Pelican
American Wigeon
American Woodcock
Anhinga
Anna’s Hummingbird
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Atlantic Puffin
Baird’s Sandpiper
Bald Eagle
Baltimore Oriole
Band-tailed Pigeon
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Barnacle Goose
Barred Owl
Barrow’s Goldeneye
Bay-breasted Warbler
Belted Kingfisher
Bewick’s Wren
Black Noddy
Black Oystercatcher
Black Phoebe
Black Scoter
Black Skimmer
Black Tern
Black Vulture
Black-and-white Warbler
Black-backed Woodpecker
Black-bellied Plover
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Black-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Magpie
Blackburnian Warbler
Black-capped Chickadee
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black-headed Grosbeak
Black-headed Gull
Black-necked Stilt
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-tailed Gnatcatcher
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Black-whiskered Vireo
Blue Grosbeak
Blue Jay
Blue-and-yellow Macaw
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue-winged Teal
Blue-winged Warbler
Boat-tailed Grackle
Bobolink
Bonaparte’s Gull
Brandt’s Cormorant
Brewer’s Blackbird
Broad-winged Hawk
Brown Booby
Brown Creeper
Brown Noddy
Brown Pelican
Brown Thrasher
Brown-crested Flycatcher
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Bufflehead
Bullock’s Oriole
Burrowing Owl
Bushtit
Cackling Goose
Cactus Wren
California Gull
California Quail
California Scrub-Jay
California Thrasher
California Towhee
Canada Goose
Canada Jay
Canada Warbler
Canvasback
Cape May Warbler
Carolina Chickadee
Carolina Wren
Carrion Crow
Caspian Tern
Cassin’s Kingbird
Cave Swallow
Cedar Waxwing
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Chimney Swift
Chipping Sparrow
Cinnamon Teal
Clapper Rail
Clark’s Grebe
Clay-colored Sparrow
Cliff Swallow
Coal Tit
Common Buzzard
Common Chaffinch
Common Gallinule
Common Goldeneye
Common Grackle
Common Ground Dove
Common Kingfisher
Common Loon
Common Merganser
Common Myna
Common Pochard
Common Raven
Common Redshank
Common Sandpiper
Common Shelduck
Common Snipe
Common Swift
Common Tern
Common Wood-Pigeon
Common Yellowthroat
Cooper’s Hawk
Costa’s Hummingbird
Dark-eyed Junco
Dickcissel
Double-crested Cormorant
Downy Woodpecker
Dunlin
Dunnock
Eared Grebe
Eastern Bluebird
Eastern Kingbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Screech-Owl
Eastern Towhee
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Eurasian Blackbird
Eurasian Blue Tit
Eurasian Bullfinch
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Eurasian Coot
Eurasian Curlew
Eurasian Jackdaw
Eurasian Jay
Eurasian Kestrel
Eurasian Magpie
Eurasian Moorhen
Eurasian Nuthatch
Eurasian Oystercatcher
Eurasian Treecreeper
Eurasian Wigeon
Eurasian Wren
European Goldfinch
European Greenfinch
European Herring Gull
European Robin
European Starling
European Stonechat
Evening Grosbeak
Field Sparrow
Fieldfare
Fish Crow
Florida Scrub-Jay
Forster’s Tern
Fox Sparrow
Fulvous Whistling-Duck
Gadwall
Gambel’s Quail
Glossy Ibis
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Golden-winged Warbler
Grasshopper Sparrow
Gray Catbird
Gray Heron
Gray Kingbird
Gray-headed Swamphen
Graylag Goose
Great Black-backed Gull
Great Blue Heron
Great Cormorant
Great Crested Flycatcher
Great Crested Grebe
Great Egret
Great Gray Owl
Great Horned Owl
Great Shearwater
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit
Greater Roadrunner
Greater Scaup
Greater White-fronted Goose
Greater Yellowlegs
Great-tailed Grackle
Green Heron
Green-winged Teal
Hairy Woodpecker
Harlequin Duck
Harris’s Sparrow
Heermann’s Gull
Hermit Thrush
Hooded Merganser
Hooded Oriole
Horned Grebe
Horned Lark
House Finch
House Sparrow
Hudsonian Godwit
Hutton’s Vireo
Iceland Gull
Indigo Bunting
Killdeer
King Eider
Lapland Longspur
Lark Sparrow
Laughing Gull
Lawrence’s Goldfinch
Least Bittern
Least Flycatcher
Least Sandpiper
Least Tern
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Lesser Goldfinch
Lesser Scaup
Lesser Yellowlegs
Lilac-crowned Amazon
Limpkin
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Little Blue Heron
Little Egret
Little Grebe
Loggerhead Shrike
Long-billed Curlew
Long-billed Dowitcher
Long-eared Owl
Long-tailed Duck
Long-tailed Tit
Lucy’s Warbler
Magnificent Frigatebird
Magnolia Warbler
Mallard
Marbled Godwit
Marsh Wren
Masked Booby
Meadow Pipit
Merlin
Mistle Thrush
Monk Parakeet
Mottled Duck
Mountain Chickadee
Mourning Dove
Mourning Warbler
Muscovy Duck
Mute Swan
Nanday Parakeet
Nashville Warbler
Neotropic Cormorant
Northern Bobwhite
Northern Cardinal
Northern Flicker
Northern Harrier
Northern House Wren
Northern Lapwing
Northern Mockingbird
Northern Parula
Northern Pintail
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Northern Shoveler
Northern Shrike
Northern Waterthrush
Northern Wheatear
Nuttall’s Woodpecker
Oak Titmouse
Orange-crowned Warbler
Orchard Oriole
Osprey
Ovenbird
Pacific Wren
Painted Bunting
Palm Warbler
Pectoral Sandpiper
Peregrine Falcon
Philadelphia Vireo
Pied Avocet
Pied-billed Grebe
Pigeon Guillemot
Pileated Woodpecker
Pine Siskin
Pine Warbler
Piping Plover
Prairie Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Purple Finch
Purple Gallinule
Purple Martin
Purple Sandpiper
Pygmy Nuthatch
Red Crossbill
Red Knot
Red Phalarope
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Reddish Egret
Red-eyed Vireo
Redhead
Red-headed Woodpecker
Red-necked Grebe
Redpoll
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-throated Loon
Red-winged Blackbird
Reed Bunting
Ring-billed Gull
Ring-necked Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Rock Pigeon
Roseate Spoonbill
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Rose-ringed Parakeet
Ross’s Goose
Rough-legged Hawk
Royal Tern
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Ruddy Duck
Ruddy Turnstone
Ruff
Ruffed Grouse
Rusty Blackbird
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Sanderling
Sandhill Crane
Sandwich Tern
Savannah Sparrow
Scarlet Tanager
Seaside Sparrow
Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Short-billed Dowitcher
Short-eared Owl
Snail Kite
Snow Bunting
Snow Goose
Snowy Egret
Snowy Owl
Solitary Sandpiper
Song Sparrow
Sooty Tern
Sora
Spotted Sandpiper
Spotted Towhee
Spruce Grouse
Steller’s Jay
Summer Tanager
Surf Scoter
Swainson’s Thrush
Swallow-tailed Kite
Swamp Sparrow
Tennessee Warbler
Townsend’s Solitaire
Tree Swallow
Tricolored Heron
Trumpeter Swan
Tufted Duck
Tufted Titmouse
Tundra Swan
Turkey Vulture
Upland Sandpiper
Veery
Verdin
Vesper Sparrow
Violet-green Swallow
Virginia Rail
Warbling Vireo
Water Rail
Western Bluebird
Western Cattle-Egret
Western Flycatcher
Western Grebe
Western Gull
Western Kingbird
Western Meadowlark
Western Tanager
Western Wood-Pewee
Whimbrel
White Ibis
White Wagtail
White-breasted Nuthatch
White-crowned Pigeon
White-crowned Sparrow
White-eyed Vireo
White-tailed Kite
White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Swift
White-winged Crossbill
White-winged Dove
White-winged Scoter
Wild Turkey
Willet
Willow Flycatcher
Wilson’s Plover
Wilson’s Snipe
Wilson’s Warbler
Winter Wren
Wood Duck
Wood Stork
Wood Thrush
Worm-eating Warbler
Wrentit
Yellow Warbler
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed Magpie
Yellow-crowned Night Heron
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Vireo
Yellow-throated Warbler

Last Updated Jan 11th 2025

Quick Notes:

  • Bird must be wild and naturalised.
  • List began in 2008 when I began recording sightings.
  • Common Names are from eBird (North American names, US English spellings).
  • Delisted birds are not shown (Eg. Hoary Redpoll)


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