2022 Halftime Report

Global Bird Bonanza

Townsend’s Solitaire in Canada. Photo by Scott Watson/Macaulay Library.

Never doubt our capacity to do amazing things together—in two short days people worldwide have showed up for the birds. Keep up the impressive work! Here is what we have accomplished so far as a global community.

Halftime Highlights

  • 6,152 unique bird species observed
  • 173 participating countries
  • 114,901 complete checklists
  • 135,321 sightings saved with Merlin Bird ID

These numbers are from approximately 12 a.m. EST, Sunday, February 20. For a fun visualization, you can watch as new sightings roll in via our live submissions map.

Enter Your Sightings

General Trends

Snowy Owl in Connecticut, United States. Photo by Jesse LeBlanc/Macaulay Library.

Birdwatchers across North America are out in large numbers sharing their joy of birds with us. Many have enjoyed witnessing the irruption of Snowy Owls this year, with sightings as far south as Maryland along the Eastern Seaboard of the U.S. These puffy white wonders breed on the arctic tundra and are wintering farther south than usual, delighting admirers during this weekend’s count.

Race for the Most Species

The last two days have seen a tight race between Colombia, India, Brazil, and Ecuador for reporting the largest number of species. Colombia overtook India late in the day on Saturday with more than 1000 reported species. But, the sheer number of checklists from India has been incredible with more than 11,000 so far. See full GBBC participation stats here.

Which country will end up with the most species?

We had early bird sightings from Thailand, India, New Zealand, and Australia including a Red-wattled Lapwing, Spotted Owlet, the endangered Kea, and the colorful Variegated Fairywren.

Great Photos from Around the World

Swallow-tailed Hummingbird in Brazil. Photo by Fernando Calmon/Macaulay Library.

In two days, photographers have uploaded more than 36,000 images with their checklists. 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.

Share Bird and People Photos