Big Day and Big Year: Friendly Competitions for Senior Birders

After a first season of casual birding, many retirees crave a friendly goal. The birding world has built a long tradition of low-key competitions that fit a retirement schedule and a senior pace. The two most popular are the Big Day and the Big Year. Both are personal challenges, run on the honor system, tracked in eBird, and celebrated by local clubs. Neither requires speed, athleticism, or a 5 a.m. start. A retired birder can run a county Big Day on a folding chair if the chair sits in a great spot.

A Big Day is the count of bird species seen in a single 24-hour period in a defined area. The classic Big Day is a state or county effort, but many seniors run a backyard Big Day from sunrise to sunset on the same 1-acre lot. A typical eastern US backyard yields 30 to 50 species on a May Big Day with good migration. A retiree who plans the route, brings snacks, and reads the daily forecast can hit 60 to 80 species in a county Big Day with a single carpool. The most famous Big Day is the World Series of Birding in New Jersey each May, where teams cover the entire state in 24 hours.

A Big Year is the count of species seen in a single calendar year in a defined area. ABA Big Years cover the entire American Birding Association area, which is North America north of the Mexican border. State Big Years and county Big Years are more common and far more accessible. A retiree can run a personal county Big Year by visiting 6 to 10 hotspots each month and aiming for a season total. The 2020 book The Big Year by Mark Obmascik and the 2011 movie of the same name introduced millions of older Americans to the hobby through the story of three competitors chasing the ABA total.

eBird makes both formats easy. Every checklist submitted to eBird counts toward the personal year-list and toward state and county rankings. The eBird Top 100 page at ebird.org shows live rankings of birders by species count in a state or county. Many retirees check the page once a week and use it as a friendly motivator. Some county rankings have a handful of very active birders, and a new senior birder can crack the top 10 in a small county in a single year.

The World Series of Birding deserves a separate mention for seniors. The event runs in mid-May from Cape May, New Jersey, and has a Senior category for teams with an average age of 60 or older. The event is friendly, well-organized, raises money for bird conservation, and welcomes first-time teams. A four-person Senior team that completes a 24-hour route in coastal New Jersey often logs 130 to 170 species. Many retirees describe the event as the best single weekend of their birding life. Other regional events include the Texas Birding Classic, the Florida Birding Classic, and the Great Texas Birding Classic, each with senior divisions. Sources include the World Series of Birding site at njaudubon.org, the Texas Birding Classic at tpwd.texas.gov, ebird.org Top 100, and audubon.org/conservation/birdathon.