You are invited to join in the twelfth annual Birdforum joint list for 1st January. The idea is that those who want to take part provide a list of what they've seen or heard on 1 January and we produce joint lists for areas such as the UK, the USA, Europe, Australia, or wherever we get enough people interested. Plus a global total which will hopefully beat 500 again.
The rules are simple - birds can be seen or heard, as long as the ID is firm. "Cat C" birds (that's UK jargon for introduced species with self-sustaining breeding populations) are OK as long as the bird was from the self-sustaining population. No escapes or captive birds, obviously. Birds must be encountered between midnight and midnight on 1 Jan, local time.
Each year we've done this, we've had some surprising relatively common omissions, so there's scope for everyone to contribute, even if you're only going out for a short walk or even just watching from your window. The aim is to use the wide spread of Birdforum members around the various countries to increase the total by seeing species where they're easy - contributions from different countries are especially helpful.
It's supposed to be a bit of innocent fun, don't change where you're intending to go. Unless you're intending to sit at home, in which case get out there and watch some birds.
Here's a link to last year's thread so you can see how it works. Each year's thread has a link to the previous year in its first post.
Last year we had a global total of 720 (IOC taxonomy), following 517 the year before and 558 in 2022. To be clear, you do NOT need to know IOC species names in order to contribute - there will be plenty of people involved who can help me work out which IOC species your sighting refers to, if it isn't clear.
Last year's regional totals: USA 178, Europe 180 (UK 167, rest of Europe 78), North America 270 (Mexico 120, Barbados 20), East Asia 51, Australasia 141 (Australia 117, New Zealand 26), Africa 107, South-west Asia 5, South America 22
2023 figures: USA 145, Europe 190 (UK 153, rest of Europe 134), East Asia 80, Australia 0, Africa 51, South America 60, Israel 40, Turkey (non-European) 72.
2022 figures: USA 150, Europe 205 (UK 153, rest of Europe 150), East Asia 103, Australia 66, Africa 82, South America 18
2021 figures: USA 174, Europe 191 (UK 143, rest of Europe 138), Africa 166, East Asia 74, Falklands 39, New Zealand 35
2020 figures: USA 116, Europe 196 (UK 170, rest of Europe 129), North America 130 (Canada 14, Barbados 8)
2019 figures: USA 227, Europe 205 (UK 176, Rest of Europe 126), Australia 85, East Asia 84
2018 figures: USA 120, Europe 194 (UK 163, Rest of Europe 115)
2017 figures: USA 172, Europe 197 (UK 156, Rest of Europe 127), East Asia 87, Canada 16 (North America 180)
2016 figures: USA 205, Europe 167 (UK 150, rest of Europe 94), Australia 43.
2015 figures: USA 158, Europe 175 (UK 145, rest of Europe 119), Australia 89.
2014 figures: USA 185, UK 155.
Whatever you see on 1 Jan, please post a list in this thread either of everything you've seen or (easier for me) everything you've seen that you think may not have been reported yet. I'm hoping to be out and about most of the day so if anyone's online during the day and fancies doing some running totals, that would be great. If not, I'll catch up once I'm back online. We'll keep taking contributions for a few days until it dries up, but ONLY if the birds were seen or heard on the 1st.
The rules are simple - birds can be seen or heard, as long as the ID is firm. "Cat C" birds (that's UK jargon for introduced species with self-sustaining breeding populations) are OK as long as the bird was from the self-sustaining population. No escapes or captive birds, obviously. Birds must be encountered between midnight and midnight on 1 Jan, local time.
Each year we've done this, we've had some surprising relatively common omissions, so there's scope for everyone to contribute, even if you're only going out for a short walk or even just watching from your window. The aim is to use the wide spread of Birdforum members around the various countries to increase the total by seeing species where they're easy - contributions from different countries are especially helpful.
It's supposed to be a bit of innocent fun, don't change where you're intending to go. Unless you're intending to sit at home, in which case get out there and watch some birds.
Here's a link to last year's thread so you can see how it works. Each year's thread has a link to the previous year in its first post.
Last year we had a global total of 720 (IOC taxonomy), following 517 the year before and 558 in 2022. To be clear, you do NOT need to know IOC species names in order to contribute - there will be plenty of people involved who can help me work out which IOC species your sighting refers to, if it isn't clear.
Last year's regional totals: USA 178, Europe 180 (UK 167, rest of Europe 78), North America 270 (Mexico 120, Barbados 20), East Asia 51, Australasia 141 (Australia 117, New Zealand 26), Africa 107, South-west Asia 5, South America 22
2023 figures: USA 145, Europe 190 (UK 153, rest of Europe 134), East Asia 80, Australia 0, Africa 51, South America 60, Israel 40, Turkey (non-European) 72.
2022 figures: USA 150, Europe 205 (UK 153, rest of Europe 150), East Asia 103, Australia 66, Africa 82, South America 18
2021 figures: USA 174, Europe 191 (UK 143, rest of Europe 138), Africa 166, East Asia 74, Falklands 39, New Zealand 35
2020 figures: USA 116, Europe 196 (UK 170, rest of Europe 129), North America 130 (Canada 14, Barbados 8)
2019 figures: USA 227, Europe 205 (UK 176, Rest of Europe 126), Australia 85, East Asia 84
2018 figures: USA 120, Europe 194 (UK 163, Rest of Europe 115)
2017 figures: USA 172, Europe 197 (UK 156, Rest of Europe 127), East Asia 87, Canada 16 (North America 180)
2016 figures: USA 205, Europe 167 (UK 150, rest of Europe 94), Australia 43.
2015 figures: USA 158, Europe 175 (UK 145, rest of Europe 119), Australia 89.
2014 figures: USA 185, UK 155.
Whatever you see on 1 Jan, please post a list in this thread either of everything you've seen or (easier for me) everything you've seen that you think may not have been reported yet. I'm hoping to be out and about most of the day so if anyone's online during the day and fancies doing some running totals, that would be great. If not, I'll catch up once I'm back online. We'll keep taking contributions for a few days until it dries up, but ONLY if the birds were seen or heard on the 1st.
