Each year, Terry sets ambitious goals as far as the number of bird species and families he hopes to see, and every year’s goals seem to be higher than the last. It turns out that 2024 was in fact a big birding year for us. Terry (who keeps the more detailed records) totaled 1,817 bird species seen! This is the largest number he’s ever had in one year! It’s 16.5% of all the species in the world.

He actually passed a big personal milestone as well. He saw his 6,500^th lifetime bird species, an Ash-throated Antwren with Karen and guide Marcelo Quipo, after a grueling climb in a four-wheel vehicle to the top of the Amazon foothills in northeastern Peru.  The sighting was especially meaningful to him, because his favorite bird family in the Americas is the Antbird family.  With the conclusion of the trip to Ecuador and Peru, he now has seen 201 of the 237 antbird species.  His next lifer goal is number 7,000 sometime before he turns 80. 

Because we do talk about individual bird species in this newsletter, and sometimes do not have photos of them, we’d like to suggest an easy and free method of learning more about each of them if you’re interested.   Direct your browser to Ebird Explore.  A screen appears requesting your input of the species you are interested in viewing.  Once confirmed, a short account of the species, with photos and videos, voices and a range map appears.  It’s a quick way to appreciate the birds that we identify in our newsletter.