During this year's Global Big Day, May 9th turned out to be another exceptional record-breaking celebration of spring among birders! Although the final count is not yet complete, as of Tuesday afternoon as we went to press, no less than 8,043 different species of birds were reported worldwide on eBird! As usual, Colombian birders led the species counts with 1,568, and American birders recorded 745 species, which ranks 11th among the 203 nations and regions with reporting birders. Canadian birders were 24th in total species recorded with 409 species, but ranked second in numbers of birders participating, with American birders ranked first in participants.
The greatest diversity of birds in the world is found in South America where the Andes Mountains meet the Amazon River Basin, which is reflected by the highest species totals reported by birders in Colombia (1,568), Peru (1,441), Brazil (1,204), Ecuador (1,073), Venezuela (891), and Bolivia (822). On the other side of the globe, birders in India found 840 species, followed by Kenya (822), Panama (790), and Mexico ranked 10th (762).
Among the top countries ranked by the number of participants, American birders ranked first by far, followed by Canada, Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, and Argentina round out the Top 10. You can review all the interesting information and statistics provided by the Global Big Day by simply checking into eBird at Global Big Day - eBird. This exciting annual project is conducted by eBird, which is produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We at The Birding Wire share our heartfelt congratulations and thanks to everyone who participated in this exciting record-breaking birding event!