2021 Halftime Report
The Valentine’s Day Verdict Is In—The World Loves Birds!
We are two days into the count with approximately 48 hours left to go (depending on your time zone!) Keep up the impressive work. We are poised to surpass our 2020 numbers thanks to your contributions!
Halftime Highlights
- 5,279 unique bird species observed
- 157 participating countries
- 133,500 complete checklists
- 254,854 sightings saved with Merlin Bird ID
These numbers were as of 12 a.m. EST, Sunday, February 14th. For a fun visualization, you can watch as new sightings roll in via our live submissions map.
General Trends
Perhaps the biggest trend for birdwatchers in North America is the extreme cold affecting much of the middle and eastern parts of the continent. Nevertheless, birds are out and about and thousands of stalwart birdwatchers have been out, too. In the U.S. and Canada, this winter has been a big one for irruptive species including Pine Siskins, Purple Finches, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Evening Grosbeaks, and Common Redpolls. All are coming south from their boreal haunts and delighting admirers during this weekend’s count.
Big Checklist Numbers
The United States turns out with more than 90,000 checklists in just two days! While that number will be hard to catch, second place is still open with impressive checklist numbers in India and Canada with more than 10,000 checklists each so far. Check out full GBBC participation stats here.
We had early sightings from India, New Zealand, and Australia including a Red-wattled Lapwing from Tamil Nadu, an Australian Owlet-nightjar and a South Island Oystercatcher.
Colombia and India are vying for the most bird species reported in their respective countries. There’s also been strong representation from other Latin America countries, such as Mexico, Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador, and Argentina. Thailand holds the 10th spot for most reported birds!
Great Photos From Around the World
In two days, photographers have uploaded more than 32,000 photos along with eBird checklists to our Macaulay Library. Some of the photos are spectacular—browse the full collection of GBBC bird photo submissions via our eBird/Macaulay Library archive. You can also see a selection of highlights in our Facebook album.