Bird-Song Challenge

Greetings!

It’s quite silly that I’m nervous to publish this page, but I wanted it out there as a way to truly commit to the challenge.

So here’s goes:

I’m trying to see all of the birds listed in the song Birding by the Swet Shop Boys (if you haven’t heard it, I’d highly recommend giving it a listen).

There. It’s out there.

I’ve been a fan of SSB for several years now, and I was in a shopping mall when I got a notification they’d released a new EP. I 100% seriously gave a little scream when I saw the word “Birding” as one of the titles.

I downloaded that EP so fast, iTunes didn’t know what hit it.

I’ve been working at this challenge for about a year now, but I’m ready to be held accountable for it.

Below is the complete list of birds I need to see (in order of the song).

So far, I have 25/43. Only 18 to go!  As of 18 May 2020, I now have 28/43!

I’ll update this page as I see new species.

  1. Brown Pelican
  2. Swallow-tailed Gull
  3. Boat-tailed Grackle
  4. Tricolored Heron
  5. Blue Jay
  6. Ring-necked Pheasant
  7. White-rumped Sandpiper
  8. Flame-colored Tanager – lifer seen on 22 May 2020!
  9. Blue-winged Teal
  10. Green-winged Teal
  11. Curve-billed Thrasher
  12. Gray-cheeked Thrush
  13. Plain-capped Starthroat
  14. Redhead
  15. Red-throated Loon
  16. Yellow-billed Loon
  17. Pacific Loon  – lifer seen on 28 February 2020!
  18. Common Loon
  19. Arctic Loon
  20. Nightingale
  21. Atlantic Puffin
  22. Montezuma Quail – lifer seen on 22 May 2020!
  23. Virginia Rail
  24. California Black Rail
  25. Black-footed Albatross
  26. Cassin’s Auklet
  27. American Bittern
  28. Brewer’s Blackbird
  29. Mountain Bluebird
  30. Brown Booby  – lifer seen on 28 February 2020!
  31. Indigo Bunting
  32. Bushtit – lifer seen on 11 November 2019!
  33. Canvasback
  34. Northern Cardinal
  35. Grey Catbird
  36. Chickadee (chickadee)
  37. American Coot
  38. Cormorant
  39. Cowbird
  40. American Crow
  41. Common Ground Dove – lifer seen on 19 May 2020!
  42. Eurasian Collard Dove
  43. Dowitcher

Happy Birding! (and wish me luck)