In the old days when I began birding, before eBird and apps and all the modern bird-finding and bird-identifying technology, 500 North American lifers was considered an impressive number. I made it my lifetime goal to achieve that elite level. It was going to be a challenge until we moved to Colorado in 2016 and I got to pursue Western birds at my leisure.
Thanks to splitting and lumping, the birds I thought were my milestone species no longer appear that way on my list. Here’s how it currently stands as of 06/27/2026.
I began listing on 05/12/79
- 100 — 12/28/79 (230 days — one every 2.5 days)
- 200 — 04/17/81 (476 days — one every 5 days)
- 300 — 04/03/84 (1,082 days — one every 11 days)
- 400 — 05/07/01 (6,243 days — one every 62.5 days)
- 500 — 07/20/18 (6,283 days — one every 63 days)
- 571 (current level) (2,899 days — one every 41 days)