List of birdwatchers

This is a list of the birdwatchers who have either seen a very large number of species or who are notable in their own right but also happen to be birdwatchers.

Large life lists

This is a list of the birdwatchers with the largest lifelists, that is, based on the number of species of birds each of them has/had seen. Depending on the taxonomic viewpoint, there are 10,404 (Clements) or 10,534 (IOC) living bird species recognised.

• Jon Hornbuckle: 9,414 ^[1]
• Claes-Göran Cederlund: 9,169^[2]
• Philip Rostron: 9,126^[1]
• Tom Gullick: 9,096,includes heard only birds^[1][3]
• Hugh Buck: 9,053^[1]
• Hans Jornvall: 8,849^[1]
• Mark Van Beirs: 8,620^[1]
• Bob Bates: 8,549^[1]
• Richard Clifford: 8,518^[1]
• Peter Kaestner: 8,506^[1]
• Joe Thompson: 8,460^[1]
• Martin Edwards: 8,450 ^[1]
• Jonathan Rossouw: 8,789^[1]
• Jürgen Lehnert: 8,413^[1]
• Phoebe Snetsinger: 8,400^[1] (deceased)
• Jean-Marc Thiollay: 8,259^[4]
• Pete Morris: 8,132^[2]
• Pete Winter: more than 7,700 species^[5]
• Björn Anderson: 7,694^[2]
• John Danzenbaker: 7,529^[6]
• John Hardister: 7,350^[2]
• Jonathan Newman: 7,784^[2]
• Jim Clements: 7,200 (deceased)
• Barry Wright: 7,147^[2]
• Angie Cederlund: 7,139^[2]
• Richard Koeppel: over 7,000^[7]
• Bengt-Eric Sjölinder: 6,884^[2]
• Harvey Gilston: 6,800 ^[8]

Birdwatchers famous for achievements in other fields

• Damon Albarn English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer
• Jane Alexander Actress and former Director of the US National Endowment for the Arts
• Simon Armitage British poet, playwright and novelist
• Margaret Atwood Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist
• John James Audubon An early pioneer in nature studies within the US
• Joachim Bessing German writer^[9]
• Bill Bailey English comedian, musician, actor, TV and radio presenter and author
• David Bailey English photographer, regarded as one of the nation's best
• Sean Bean English actor of stage and screen^[10]
• Stephen Breyer United States Supreme Court Justice
• Alan Francis Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke British Chief of the Imperial General Staff during the Second World War
• Jimmy Carter President of the United States
• Fidel Castro President of Cuba
• Agatha Christie Author and playwright
• Kenneth Clarke British Conservative politician
• Jeremy Clarkson English broadcaster, journalist and writer
• Jarvis Cocker English musician and frontman for the band Pulp^[10]
• Wes Craven American film director
• George Crook 19th century U.S. Army General^[11]
• Peter Cushing English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films
• Fyfe Dangerfield English musician and songwriter, best known as the founding member of the indie rock band Guillemots
• Jared Diamond American geographer, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, lecturer, and nonfiction author
• Cameron Diaz American actress and former model^[10]
• Alec Douglas-Home British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister from October 1963 to October 1964
• Bill Drummond South African-born Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer
• Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh Husband of Queen Elizabeth II
• Richard Feynman American theoretical physicist
• Ian Fleming English author, journalist and naval intelligence officer
• Jonathan Franzen American novelist and essayist
• Guy Garvey English singer and guitarist in the band Elbow, presenter for BBC 6 Music and A&R manager of Skinny Dog Records
• Graeme Gibson Canadian novelist
• Jimi Goodwin English bassist, vocalist and guitarist for Doves
• Trudie Goodwin English actress
• Benjamin F. Goss Legislator, officer in the American Civil War
• Crawford Greenewalt president of DuPont
• Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon British Liberal statesman
• Daryl Hannah American actress^[10]
• Ian Harding American actor, Pretty Little Liars, author of Odd Birds
• Michael Heseltine Welsh-British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group
• Mick Jagger English musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known as lead vocalist and founding member of the Rolling Stones^[10]
• Norman Lamont British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston upon Thames
• Meriwether Lewis Explorer
• Phil Liggett Cycling commentator
• Joanna Lumley English actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author^[10]
• Humphrey Lyttelton English jazz musician and broadcaster
• Steve Martin Writer, comedian, musician
• Per Martin-Löf Swedish mathematical scientist
• Ernst Mayr Evolutionary biologist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science
• Sir Paul McCartney English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer
• Rory McGrath British comedian and writer^[10]
• Eric Morecambe English comedian^[10]
• Elliot Morley Former Labour Party politician
• Van Morrison Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician
• Sir Andrew Motion English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009
• Tig Notaro Stand-up comic and actor
• Patrick O'Brian Author
• Bill Oddie Actor, author, comedian, television presenter^[10]
• Neil Peart Canadian musician, drummer/songwriter for Rush_(band)
• Roger Tory Peterson Invented the first user-friendly field guide; noted mainly for his books studying birds and promoting birding
• George Plimpton Author
• Vic Reeves English comedian^[10]
• Debby Reynolds, British veterinary surgeon
• Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira was a Brazilian-Portuguese naturalist
• Theodore Roosevelt President of the United States
• Richard Rorty American philosopher
• Mark Salling Actor and musician
• Alison Steadman English actress
• John Stott Author, theologian and evangelical leader
• Lili Taylor American actress, American Birding Association board member
• Laura Wade British playwright
• James D. Watson Nobel laureate, molecular biologist, and co-discoverer of the structure of DNA
• Samuel West British actor and director
• E. B. White Author

References