Tips For Starting and Keeping a Bird Life List

People who get into birdwatching as a hobby, often struggle with when and how to keep a life list. The longer they wait to start keeping track of the birds they have seen, the more frustrating it can be to get started. Here are some tips for keeping up with the birds you have seen.
Mark McKellar is a wildlife biologist with over 35 years of bird study experience. He has a degree in Fish and Wildlife Sciences from North Carolina State University and has worked for the Department of the Army, the Wildlife Departments of North Carolina and Missouri. He ran nature centers for many years in Missouri and Pennsylvania before buying the Backyard Bird Center in the Northland area of Kansas City. Mark has led hundreds of bird hikes both locally and abroad. He has taught classes about birds and other wildlife to groups of all ages and brings that knowledge to the customers of his retail business every day. More information about Mark at backyardbirdcenter.com/about-...
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[@0000TheGent]

I appreciate all your videos. One of my favorite channels. I record everything; what I see in the wild, zoos, and my Dad's farm (multiple chicken species). As well as where I bird. I'm still using an old Molskine journal. When I'm stuck in the RV on rainy days, I tune in to your channel!

[@MarksBackyardBirds]

Thanks so much. Sorry for the slow reply.

[@stevenjohnson9514]

Thanks Mark! I didn't even know about Birder's Diary. I am downloading it today. Right up my alley.

[@JC.Journey]

Hi Mark, thanks for sharing such detailed information about lifelists. We are nature nerds, and have been birdwatchers for many, many years - looking to better organize my list beyond the chicken scratch in my field guide. This was super helpful, thanks! Happy Birding! -Jody

[@MarksBackyardBirds]

Excellent! Always rewarding to help out fellow nature nerds.

[@FollowThomas]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts about how to keep a lifelist. I go an easy way. I let ebird keep all my bird lists. Thanks

[@MarksBackyardBirds]

That is a great method for dedicated Ebird users. Especially if you start out using it from the beginning.

[@nathanwebb4836]

I've written down my own life list and I've seen 258 different species because I've lived in a few different states when I was younger. I only count birds in the wild and not birds I've seen in the zoo or a pet store. I always enjoy seeing the painted bunting and Baltimore oriole during the spring in south Alabama where I currently live.

[@MarksBackyardBirds]

That is awesome. The life list is personal thing and it helps preserve great memories.

[@that1bunny821]

I have a small question.
What if you want to have a life list dedicated to one place ( ex: your college) for 4 years?
I want to have one dedicated to just the area of my college since im studying in Wildlife Biology I was starting to notice more and more birds appearing and animals and I was curious if there was a good way to do this for either just birds, animals, or both.

[@MarksBackyardBirds]

With a program like Birder’s Diary it is super easy. You simply create the location you desire, assign it a parent location (like the state it is in) and you can sort by that location with the date range you desire. You could create a sole file in Excel if you don’t want to invest in a bird database program.