The Crested Drongo was 1 of the 117 species reported by Madagascar birders (photo by Anya Auerbach). In the United States, an attractive male Hooded Warbler was photographed at Temple University in Philadelphia by Maria Pacheco during the October Big Day. A trio of Blue-and-Yellow Macaws was photographed by Annette Teng in Brazil, where birders reported 1,270 different species of birds they collectively observed October 11th!

Birders from around the world collectively participated in this fall’s October Big Day, which was held Saturday October 11th. This year birders joined in this global celebration of birds and birding to report a total of 7,876 different species of birds! While American birders topped the numbers of birders participating, Colombian birders topped the number of species sighted during this single day of birding that was shared by birders in 200 nations! eBird is the global platform where everyone’s sightings were compiled into a number of interesting October Big Day lists, which provide helpful information for biologists and birders to better understand birds during this period of the year.

The Top 15 nations with the highest species counts were Colombia (1,401), Peru (1,346), Brazil (1,270), Ecuador (1,118), Venezuela (834), Bolivia (804), Argentina (785), Tanzania (778), India (769), Kenya (746), and Costa Rica (721), Mexico (720), United States (701), Panama (650), Australia (581), plus Canada (335)! These are the totals as of Monday afternoon, so they may change slightly until the final count is announced, which could also mean that nations such as Mexico and Kenya could possibly move up in the standings.

It's especially exciting to see how many birds enthusiastic birders tallied during a single day – worldwide and nation by nation, and everyone who participated must take great pride in the fact that the effort was enhanced by your important input. Congratulations and job well done everyone! To glean more information provided in the central October Big Day report, including views of photographs taken by worldwide participants, anyone can refer to October Big Day - eBird