Are there any type of birds that you’d like to, or have been actively trying to see?
On a native level, there are quite a few birds that I have been actively looking for, which are the European turtle-dove, the European roller, the great spotted eagle, the sociable and northern lapwings, as well as the three vulture species found here (maybe the fourth if it does a vagrant trip again). Formerly, the pallid harrier and the Eurasian curlew were on the list, but I had been lucky enough to see them this year
With foreign species, it would be the razorbill, the plains-wanderer, upland sandpiper, the wedge-tailed eagle, and the wandering albatross
Yes, I do, but it is global and about 50 years old and I keep revising it at the margins. It is at http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/best_birds.html
and I’ve actively been working on it in planning trips. I’ve seen 38 of my 50 picks, but I still hope to see on the 12 that I’ve not seen.
It is a fun game at any level … I have a list for my County, and my State (in the U.S.) and in the on-line list for the world. Wishing you good luck. DDdM
I’ve been dying to see an Indigo Bunting, but they’ve managed to elude me. I’ve been on the lookout for owls in my area as well; got lucky with a Great Horned Owl and its fledgling this spring but I’d love to see an Eastern Screech or a Snowy come winter.
My current wishlist is to see the ~100 ABA code 1 and 2 species I haven’t, especially Kirtland’s warbler (good excuse to visit that part of the country) and Gray vireo (I live near breeding habitat, but so far struck out).
At the top of my list is the California condor. It is an extremely interesting animal and given its brush with extinction I think it would be a shame not to appreciate it today. Beyond them I would love to see other rare birds like the greater prairie chicken and the whooping crane.
a male Oriolus oriolus…i hear them quite often …a few years ago there must have been a nest close to my flat…whistling with him each morning at 5 am…but i could only see the female for a second…
A good place to look for indigo buntings this time of year & into fall is old fields - they will be feeding on grass seeds and hiding in the forbs. They won’t be in their brilliant blue plumage, but they tend to group up so there’s a higher chance of seeing more than one. Best of luck!
As for my wishlist, I’m trying to fill in gaps for my state list. Currently I’m missing a lot of pelagic species. Northern goshawk and short-eared owl are the only remaining regularly occurring raptors I need for the northeastern US, but they’ve eluded me for years. Canada Jay was on my wish list for a long time but I finally got that last year! Prothonotary warblers breed in parts of New York not too far from where I have done fieldwork but they continue to evade me so that’s become something of a nemesis bird at this point.
A lot of the the ones I’d like to see are extinct.
However, of the living birds, I’d love to see a spoon-billed sandpiper (Calidris pygmaea) up close as they are adorable little doofuses. I work right under their migratory path, but they’re extremely rare and I’m not often in the mangroves and mudflats they prefer.
A Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja), ideally in the midst of a hunt, would be nice.
I’ve been fortunate enough to see a number of cool birds, but not all of them at a time when I had a camera, or a long lens with me.
I’m not a birder, so I’m rarely actively going out specifically for birds, I’m just going out to see what I see, whether it’s a plant, a bird, snake, snail, spider, whatever.
Here in the states, Aplomado Falcon – the last regularly occurring raptor that I haven’t seen. (Or heard – Western Screech Owl and Ferruginous Pygmy Owl are still heard-only.)
My biggest dream is finding and observing a hoopoe. They are very rare in my area and they’re such beautiful birds.
2nd and 3rd are probably the black stork and the common redstart. I’ve had the luck to observe both of them in the past exactly once, but I’d love to see them again. Especially common redstarts seem to avoid me like crazy, I just couldn’t find one at all this year.
Another hope of mine is the black-winged kite. They’re not native to my area at all, but one has somehow gotten lost and ended up just a few km away from me. I’ll see if I can find it tomorrow, wish me luck!
As for foreign species: It’s just a normal backyard bird for many Americans, but the blue jay is definitely on my list. Also I want to hear a loon calling at least once in my life. :D
I love hoopoes. I haven’t photographed them yet but I would see them in spring. I still remember my last sighting of one in April of 2019. Hopefully I can see one again
I recently got a glimpse of one of the local barred owls recently after years of looking, but i’d love to be able to get a photo! I love birds of prey in general, so i’d be very pleased to spot any!
I’m always happy to see any birds but I’ve really grown attached to warblers so really, any warbler.
Right now, I’d really love to see a Cerulean Warbler. I’m trying to figure out where we can go to see one that might be fairly close. Or we might take a trip to see one–not sure. At any rate, that’s one bird I’d really like to see.
I don’t really make lists and in fact I’ve only kept a “life list” the last few years. That’s a shame, too, since I used to spend summers in Yellowstone National Park where I saw a lot of birds but just never kept any kind of notes or lists. Now I wish I had.
At any rate, it’s the Cerulean I’d like to see, but really, any bird will do because I like them all!
The list of birds I haven’t seen but really want to vastly outnumbers those that I have seen. In other words, the global list of avian species outside of the region I live in, ranging from Steller’s Sea Eagles to Bearded Reedlings to Blue-footed Boobies to tropical hummingbirds to cassowaries!
It would be far easier to list those birds that occur in my immediate region which I haven’t seen yet.
