Guides

Guides for birders

Plain answers about life lists and your sightings, for birders and for the people who buy them gifts.

Life lists

What is a life list?
Every bird you've ever seen, and the words birders use for it: lifers, spark birds, year lists. What counts, how to keep one, and a free printable list.
Bird splits and lumps: why your list count changes
A split turns one bird species into two or more; a lump merges them. What recent changes to Herring Gull, Yellow Warbler and Whimbrel do to your list.
A gift for a birder's milestone: the 100th lifer, the 500th and more
How birders mark a 100th or 500th lifer, a Big Year or a first trip abroad, and gifts to match: a day out, a field guide, a framed painting or a book.
How many bird species are in the US and Canada?
1,161 bird species are on the ABA Checklist (v8.19, January 2026) for the US, Canada and Hawaii. What that number includes, and why other sources differ.
How many birds does the average birder see?
No one publishes an average life list. What studies show: 400 keen birders averaged 670 species, and eBird's 100th-ranked US lister had 815 US species.
Life list vs year list: which one should you keep?
A life list is every bird species you've ever seen. A year list is every species you see in one calendar year, and it restarts on January 1. Which to keep?
What is a spark bird?
A spark bird is the bird that got someone hooked on birding. What the term means, where it comes from, what research says, and how to record yours.

How to download your eBird data
Step by step, with pictures: from My eBird to the MyEBirdData.csv file on your computer, and what to do if the email doesn't come.
How to back up your birding records
Keep a safe copy of your sightings: download your eBird and iNaturalist records, keep three copies in two places, refresh them yearly, add a paper copy.
How to turn a paper bird list into a spreadsheet
Type an old notebook or paper bird list into a spreadsheet: the columns to use, old names and dates, making a life list from a log, and saving a CSV copy.
How to print your bird life list
Print a bird life list from eBird's Life List page or a spreadsheet, write it on a free printable or in a journal, or have it bound as a book. Compared.

John Gould: the Victorian bird man and his hummingbirds
John Gould, the Victorian Bird Man: who really drew his 3,000-plus bird plates, how his gold-leaf hummingbirds were made, and where to see the scans free.
John James Audubon and The Birds of America
John James Audubon's paintings in The Birds of America: 435 life-size plates, how they were made, where to see every plate free online, and his legacy.
Louis Agassiz Fuertes, the painter of living birds
Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874–1927), the bird painter many critics rank above Audubon: his life, travels and style, and where to see his paintings today.
Where to find public-domain bird illustrations
The best free sources of vintage bird art, from the Biodiversity Heritage Library to Wikimedia Commons, why old plates are public domain, and 4 traps.
Famous bird painters behind our vintage plates
Famous bird painters Audubon, Gould, Fuertes and Keulemans: who they were, how they worked, and where to see their vintage plates free online.

The Christmas Bird Count: 2026–27 dates and how to join
The 127th Audubon Christmas Bird Count runs Dec 14, 2026 to Jan 5, 2027. How to find a count near you this year, what happens on the day, and how it began.
Retirement gifts for birders: ideas for every budget
Retirement gifts for a birder: time outdoors, a trip, a class, a club, a field guide or a feeder. What to buy, what to let them choose, and what it costs.