Entries by Noah Strycker

LONGREADS: Bird Man: On birding as an extreme sport…

Though he was attempting to complete the biggest Big Year of all time, Strycker’s goal, beyond tallying a massive list, was to build something larger: to both lean on and to nurture a growing global community, and to show the world that birding matters; that it taps into something larger — something human. He wanted, […]

‘Good Birders Still Don’t Wear White’ is out March 14

Noah has an essay in the new Houghton Mifflin Harcourt anthology, Good Birders Still Don’t Wear White, which comes out March 14, 2017. Titled “Birding the World: Everything Old Is New Again,” it reflects on his experiences birding around the world in 2015. The new book follows on the 2007 original, Good Birders Don’t Wear White, also […]

AUDUBON: Two Guys Just Broke the North American Big Year Record–But How?

When Sandy Komito (the cheery guy played by Owen Wilson in the movie The Big Year) saw 748 species in 1998, many thought his North American birding record would last forever. In fact, Komito’s number stood for 15 years—until Neil Hayward managed to log 749 species during a frenzied transcontinental run. Since then, birders have wondered when […]

LONDON FREE PRESS (CANADA): Birding Takes Flight in New Millennium

Strycker, a 30-year-old full-time birder and bird book author, spent time on all seven continents to amass the historic list. “Maybe the best part was meeting hundreds of local birders around the world and spending time with them in the field. I discovered that birding has become a truly international pursuit. Just as many birds […]

THE INDEPENDENT (UK): Meet Noah Strycker, the World’s Greatest Birdwatcher

In 2015, Noah Strycker travelled to 41 countries on all seven continents, seeing more species in a single year than any birder in history. But when he got back home to Oregon, he learned that his favourite birding spot of all had been occupied by armed, far-right radicals. Tim Walker went there to meet him. […]

ECUADOR TRIP (FEBRUARY 2018): A thousand birds or $1,000 back!

Join Noah and one of Ecuador’s best birders, Edison Buenano, for the ultimate trip to the tropics: A thousand birds in one month! With over 1,600 species, including many endemics, Ecuador is a birder’s paradise, and many of its lodges have been built specifically for birders and photographers. We’ll try our best to hit 1,000, otherwise you get a […]

AUDUBON: The Birds Are Back at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

In the high desert of southeast Oregon, a long winter is over—and, like the Ross’s Geese and Sandhill Cranes that descend on this area each spring, birders are arriving in flocks. On the weekend of April 8–10, several hundred enthusiastic birders inundated the city of Burns, population 2,700, for the 35th annual Harney County Migratory Bird […]

MEN’S JOURNAL MAGAZINE: The Biggest Big Year

On December 31, 2014, as midnight approached, passengers on the Antarctic cruise ship Akademik Ioffe prepared to toast the New Year. Noah Strycker joined fellow shipmates in a hot tub on deck, and took a swig from a bottle of champagne. Then he did what only the wonkiest among us might even consider: He got to […]

KEZI NEWS: Creswell Man Sets New Birding Record

CRESWELL, Ore — A Creswell man is making a global name for himself.  29-year-old Noah Strycker just set a new world record by viewing more than 6,000 birds in a year and equally important as watching the birds — is the attention this story is garnering. Read the full article here.

THINK OUT LOUD: 6 Things We Learned From Record Holding Birder Noah Strycker

Eugene-based birder Noah Strycker just completed his “Big Year.” That’s what birders call an attempt to rack up the largest number of bird species sightings in one year within a certain geographical area. Strycker’s area? The world. He traveled to 41 countries in 2015 and saw or heard 6,042 species of birds. The previous world […]

TALKING NATURALLY PODCAST: Interview with Noah

We’ve three interviews for you this episode. We’re talking with Noah Strycker, the new Big Year world record holder who in 2015 travelled to 41 countries on all seven continents and finished with a remarkable 6042 species on his year list; with the RSPB’s Andre Farrar discussing the recently-released government Hen Harrier Action Plan – […]

KLCC RADIO: Birder Noah Strycker Reflects On His Record-Breaking “Big Year”

I meet Noah Strycker early on a rainy morning at Fern Ridge Reservoir in West Eugene. He says this is the best birding spot in Western Oregon. “In the winter, 10s of thousands of Canada Geese and hundreds of tundra swans roost out here at night and in the morning, they fly out to all the […]

NEW SCIENTIST (DUTCH): Een Jaar Lang Vogels Spotten

Hoeveel vogelsoorten kun je in een jaar spotten? Bioloog en schrijver Noah Strycker ging op reis, zocht het uit en geeft nu het antwoord: je kunt in een jaar tenminste 6042 vogelsoorten spotten. Read the full article here.

VICE NEWS: Birdwatchers Have Their Feathers Ruffled Over Oregon Occupiers

“Occupy Malheur? Strategically, that’s like taking over a rest stop,” Strycker said. “As this episode continues, though, I’m angry. These guys don’t care about anyone’s interest except their own, and they have no idea where they are. Malheur is a special place to Oregonians and to birders. It’s remote, desolate, and starkly beautiful; the kind […]

KLCC RADIO: Eugene Birder Says Militants Have No Right To Be At Malheur

The occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Eastern Oregon is now in its 2nd week. The spot in remote Harney County is a favorite for Eugene area birder and author, Noah Strycker, who just returned from a record-breaking “big year” journey around the world. Read the full article here.

SLATE MAGAZINE: A World Record Big Year for Birds

I doubt anyone had a busier 2015 than Noah Strycker. Beginning in Antarctica on New Year’s Day 2015, the 29-year-old Oregon man crisscrossed 41 countries on all seven continents on his way to shattering the record for most bird species seen in a single year. Of the estimated 10,400 bird species on Earth, Strycker saw 6,042 of […]

EL PAIS NEWSPAPER (SPAIN): El Hombre Que Vio 6.000 Aves Este Año

Noah Strycker, escritor, periodista, fotógrafo y apasionado de las aves, se encuentra ahora mismo en Australia, segun relata en su blog Birding Without Borders. Le abordamos en una entrevista entrecortada por su frenética actividad dentro de una aventura a la que le quedan escasos días para terminar y que está marcada por un reto: ver […]

THE NEW YORK TIMES: Angry Birders

Noah Strycker was in a hotel room in Ethiopia when he saw news that Oregon’s Malheur National Wildlife Refuge had been occupied by an armed group protesting the federal government’s imprisonment of two local ranchers. He had just completed a record-breaking “Big Year” of birding, in which he often spent 18 hours a day, without […]

THE NEW JERSEY RECORD: One Guy Sees More Than 5,800 Birds in a Year

As we look back at the achievements of 2015, let’s tip our binoculars to Noah Strycker, a self-described “28-year-old, full-time bird nerd” who established a new record for the number of bird species in the world seen in one calendar year. Read the full article here.

ABA BLOG: Congratulations, Noah Strycker! 6,000+ Species in 2015

Big Years are inherently dramatic, particularly when the record is there to be broken. In the case of former Birding associate editor Noah Strycker, this last month of his global quest was less about the record he smashed weeks ago and more about the impossible bar he was about to set. Read the full article […]

CAIRNS POST (AUSTRALIA): Birdwatcher Wants To Round Off Big Year With A Cairns Cassowary

Noah Strycker has recorded nearly 6000 species of birds across the world this year, but the one bird he is really holding out for is a cassowary. The professional birdwatcher has traveled across more than 40 countries since January 1 in pursuit of a world record “Big Year”, arriving in Australia via Cairns yesterday. Read the […]

THE BORNEO POST: Mission To Set New World Record Of Most Sighted Birds

KOTA KINABALU: Noah Strycker is no ordinary birder. The writer for the blog ‘Birding Without Borders’ is on a ‘Big Year’ mission to set a new world record of most sighted birds in one year. Big Year is a term used by the birding community to refer to their most eventful year in birding. Read the […]

ORION MAGAZINE: 5 Questions for Noah Strycker, Birdwatcher Extraordinaire

Noah Strycker is an associate editor of Birding magazine, and the author of two books about birds. At the beginning of this year he set out to see 5,000 species of birds before December 31—a feat that no one has ever accomplished. As of October 27, he’s seen 5,014 species. Read the full article here.