Starr Saphir has compiled some extraordinary records as a birder. This section showcases a selection of them.
LIFETIME TOTAL SPECIES
World
World life list: 2,582
North America
- North America, North of Mexico: 752
- Lower 48 States: 746
- New York State: 412
- Central Park, New York City: 259
- California: 504
- Arizona: 372
- New Jersey: 372
- Texas: 372
- Massachusetts: 256
- Florida: 228
- New Mexico: 215
- Virginia: 198
- North Carolina: 197
- Delaware: 190
- Connecticut: 181
- Montana: 175
- New Hampshire: 168
- Minnesota: 157
- South Carolina: 154
- Maine: 148
- Maryland: 139
- Utah: 138
- Alaska: 135
- Colorado: 128
- Vermont: 123
- Oklahoma: 116
- Kansas: 115
- Idaho: 101
[States in which Starr has fewer than 100 species are omitted from the list.]
Africa
- Kenya 404
Central America
- All Central America 875
- Mexico 473
- Belize 245
- Costa Rica 491
- Panama 323
South America
All of South America: 618
Trinidad and Tobago: 202
Venezuela: 460
Ecuador: 199
Europe
All Europe: 265
Sweden: 156
Finland: 74
Greece: 49
United Kingdom: 100
Spain: 139
Italy: 36
Starr Saphir’s Central Park Life List
Starr has verified these 258 species (it was 259 before Thayer’s Gull was changed, in 2017, to a subspecies):
| 1 | Snow Goose |
| 2 | Canada Goose |
| 3 | Brant |
| 4 | Mute Swan |
| 5 | Wood Duck |
| 6 | Gadwall |
| 7 | Eurasian Wigeon |
| 8 | American Wigeon |
| 9 | American Black Duck |
| 10 | Mallard |
| 11 | Blue-winged Teal |
| 12 | Northern Shoveler |
| 13 | Northern Pintail |
| 14 | Green-winged Teal |
| 15 | Canvasback |
| 16 | Redhead |
| 17 | Ring-necked Duck |
| 18 | Tufted Duck |
| 19 | Greater Scaup |
| 20 | Lesser Scaup |
| 21 | Common Eider |
| 22 | Surf Scoter |
| 23 | Long-tailed Duck |
| 24 | Bufflehead |
| 25 | Common Goldeneye |
| 26 | Hooded Merganser |
| 27 | Common Merganser |
| 28 | Red-breasted Merganser |
| 29 | Ruddy Duck |
| 30 | Ring-necked Pheasant |
| 31 | Wild Turkey |
| 32 | Red-throated Loon |
| 33 | Common Loon |
| 34 | Pied-billed Grebe |
| 35 | Horned Grebe |
| 36 | Red-necked Grebe |
| 37 | American White Pelican |
| 38 | Double-crested Cormorant |
| 39 | Great Cormorant |
| 40 | Anhinga |
| 41 | American Bittern |
| 42 | Least Bittern |
| 43 | Great Blue Heron |
| 44 | Great Egret |
| 45 | Snowy Egret |
| 46 | Little Blue Heron |
| 47 | Cattle Egret |
| 48 | Green Heron |
| 49 | Black-crowned Night-Heron |
| 50 | Yellow-crowned Night-Heron |
| 51 | Glossy Ibis |
| 52 | Black Vulture |
| 53 | Turkey Vulture |
| 54 | Osprey |
| 55 | Bald Eagle |
| 56 | Northern Harrier |
| 57 | Sharp-shinned Hawk |
| 58 | Cooper’s Hawk |
| 59 | Northern Goshawk |
| 60 | Red-shouldered Hawk |
| 61 | Broad-winged Hawk |
| 62 | Red-tailed Hawk |
| 63 | Golden Eagle |
| 64 | American Kestrel |
| 65 | Merlin |
| 66 | Peregrine Falcon |
| 67 | Virginia Rail |
| 68 | Sora |
| 69 | Common Moorhen |
| 70 | American Coot |
| 71 | Black-bellied Plover |
| 72 | Semipalmated Plover |
| 73 | Killdeer |
| 74 | Spotted Sandpiper |
| 75 | Solitary Sandpiper |
| 76 | Greater Yellowlegs |
| 77 | Lesser Yellowlegs |
| 78 | Semipalmated Sandpiper |
| 79 | Least Sandpiper |
| 80 | Wilson’s Snipe |
| 81 | American Woodcock |
| 82 | Bonaparte’s Gull |
| 83 | Black-headed Gull |
| 84 | Laughing Gull |
| 85 | Ring-billed Gull |
| 86 | Herring Gull |
| 87 | Thayer’s Gull (no longer a species) |
| 88 | Iceland Gull |
| 89 | Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| 90 | Glaucous Gull |
| 91 | Great Black-backed Gull |
| 92 | Royal Tern |
| 93 | Rock Pigeon |
| 94 | Mourning Dove |
| 95 | Monk Parakeet |
| 96 | Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
| 97 | Black-billed Cuckoo |
| 98 | Barn Owl |
| 99 | Eastern Screech-Owl |
| 100 | Great Horned Owl |
| 101 | Barred Owl |
| 102 | Long-eared Owl |
| 103 | Boreal Owl |
| 104 | Northern Saw-whet Owl |
| 105 | Common Nighthawk |
| 106 | Chuck-will’s-widow |
| 107 | Eastern Whip-poor-will |
| 108 | Chimney Swift |
| 109 | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
| 110 | Rufous Hummingbird |
| 111 | Belted Kingfisher |
| 112 | Red-headed Woodpecker |
| 113 | Red-bellied Woodpecker |
| 114 | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
| 115 | Downy Woodpecker |
| 116 | Hairy Woodpecker |
| 117 | Northern Flicker |
| 118 | Olive-sided Flycatcher |
| 119 | Eastern Wood-Pewee |
| 120 | Yellow-bellied Flycatcher |
| 121 | Acadian Flycatcher |
| 122 | Alder Flycatcher |
| 123 | Willow Flycatcher |
| 124 | Least Flycatcher |
| 125 | Eastern Phoebe |
| 126 | Great Crested Flycatcher |
| 127 | Western Kingbird |
| 128 | Eastern Kingbird |
| 129 | White-eyed Vireo |
| 130 | Bell’s Vireo |
| 131 | Yellow-throated Vireo |
| 132 | Blue-headed Vireo |
| 133 | Warbling Vireo |
| 134 | Philadelphia Vireo |
| 135 | Red-eyed Vireo |
| 136 | Blue Jay |
| 137 | American Crow |
| 138 | Fish Crow |
| 139 | Common Raven |
| 140 | Horned Lark |
| 141 | Purple Martin |
| 142 | Tree Swallow |
| 143 | Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
| 144 | Bank Swallow |
| 145 | Cliff Swallow |
| 146 | Barn Swallow |
| 147 | Black-capped Chickadee |
| 148 | Tufted Titmouse |
| 149 | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| 150 | White-breasted Nuthatch |
| 151 | Brown Creeper |
| 152 | Carolina Wren |
| 153 | House Wren |
| 154 | Winter Wren |
| 155 | Sedge Wren |
| 156 | Marsh Wren |
| 157 | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
| 158 | Golden-crowned Kinglet |
| 159 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| 160 | Eastern Bluebird |
| 161 | Veery |
| 162 | Gray-cheeked Thrush |
| 163 | Bicknell’s Thrush |
| 164 | Swainson’s Thrush |
| 165 | Hermit Thrush |
| 166 | Wood Thrush |
| 167 | American Robin |
| 168 | Varied Thrush |
| 169 | Gray Catbird |
| 170 | Northern Mockingbird |
| 171 | Brown Thrasher |
| 172 | European Starling |
| 173 | American Pipit |
| 174 | Cedar Waxwing |
| 175 | Ovenbird |
| 176 | Worm-eating Warbler |
| 177 | Louisiana Waterthrush |
| 178 | Northern Waterthrush |
| 179 | Golden-winged Warbler |
| 180 | Blue-winged Warbler |
| 181 | Black-and-white Warbler |
| 182 | Prothonotary Warbler |
| 183 | Swainson’s Warbler |
| 184 | Tennessee Warbler |
| 185 | Orange-crowned Warbler |
| 186 | Nashville Warbler |
| 187 | Connecticut Warbler |
| 188 | Mourning Warbler |
| 189 | Kentucky Warbler |
| 190 | Common Yellowthroat |
| 191 | Hooded Warbler |
| 192 | American Redstart |
| 193 | Cape May Warbler |
| 194 | Cerulean Warbler |
| 195 | Northern Parula |
| 196 | Magnolia Warbler |
| 197 | Bay-breasted Warbler |
| 198 | Blackburnian Warbler |
| 199 | Yellow Warbler |
| 200 | Chestnut-sided Warbler |
| 201 | Blackpoll Warbler |
| 202 | Black-throated Blue Warbler |
| 203 | Palm Warbler |
| 204 | Pine Warbler |
| 205 | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| 206 | Yellow-throated Warbler |
| 207 | Prairie Warbler |
| 208 | Black-throated Green Warbler |
| 209 | Canada Warbler |
| 210 | Wilson’s Warbler |
| 211 | Yellow-breasted Chat |
| 212 | Eastern Towhee |
| 213 | American Tree Sparrow |
| 214 | Chipping Sparrow |
| 215 | Clay-colored Sparrow |
| 216 | Field Sparrow |
| 217 | Vesper Sparrow |
| 218 | Lark Sparrow |
| 219 | Savannah Sparrow |
| 220 | Grasshopper Sparrow |
| 221 | Henslow’s Sparrow |
| 222 | Saltmarsh Sparrow |
| 223 | Fox Sparrow |
| 224 | Song Sparrow |
| 225 | Lincoln’s Sparrow |
| 226 | Swamp Sparrow |
| 227 | White-throated Sparrow |
| 228 | White-crowned Sparrow |
| 229 | Dark-eyed Junco |
| 230 | Summer Tanager |
| 231 | Scarlet Tanager |
| 232 | Western Tanager |
| 233 | Northern Cardinal |
| 234 | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| 235 | Black-headed Grosbeak |
| 236 | Blue Grosbeak |
| 237 | Indigo Bunting |
| 238 | Painted Bunting |
| 239 | Dickcissel |
| 240 | Bobolink |
| 241 | Red-winged Blackbird |
| 242 | Eastern Meadowlark |
| 243 | Rusty Blackbird |
| 244 | Brewer’s Blackbird |
| 245 | Common Grackle |
| 246 | Boat-tailed Grackle |
| 247 | Brown-headed Cowbird |
| 248 | Orchard Oriole |
| 249 | Baltimore Oriole |
| 250 | Pine Grosbeak |
| 251 | Purple Finch |
| 252 | House Finch |
| 253 | Red Crossbill |
| 254 | White-winged Crossbill |
| 255 | Common Redpoll |
| 256 | Pine Siskin |
| 257 | American Goldfinch |
| 258 | Evening Grosbeak |
| 259 | House Sparrow |
The lifetime total for the Central Park walks organized and operated by Starr Saphir, which are now in their 28th year, is 251. The latest addition to the list is Great Cormorant, which the group had on Saturday, October 20th, 2012.
Starr Saphir’s Jamaica Bay Lifetime List (297)
| 1 | Fulvous Whistling-Duck |
| 2 | Snow Goose |
| 3 | Ross’s Goose |
| 4 | Cackling Goose |
| 5 | Canada Goose |
| 6 | Brant |
| 7 | Mute Swan |
| 8 | Tundra Swan |
| 9 | Wood Duck |
| 10 | Gadwall |
| 11 | Eurasian Wigeon |
| 12 | American Wigeon |
| 13 | American Black Duck |
| 14 | Mallard |
| 15 | Blue-winged Teal |
| 16 | Northern Shoveler |
| 17 | Northern Pintail |
| 18 | Green-winged Teal |
| 19 | Canvasback |
| 20 | Redhead |
| 21 | Ring-necked Duck |
| 22 | Greater Scaup |
| 23 | Lesser Scaup |
| 24 | King Eider |
| 25 | Surf Scoter |
| 26 | White-winged Scoter |
| 27 | Black Scoter |
| 28 | Long-tailed Duck |
| 29 | Bufflehead |
| 30 | Common Goldeneye |
| 31 | Barrow’s Goldeneye |
| 32 | Hooded Merganser |
| 33 | Common Merganser |
| 34 | Red-breasted Merganser |
| 35 | Ruddy Duck |
| 36 | Northern Bobwhite |
| 37 | Ring-necked Pheasant |
| 38 | Wild Turkey |
| 39 | Red-throated Loon |
| 40 | Common Loon |
| 41 | Pied-billed Grebe |
| 42 | Horned Grebe |
| 43 | Red-necked Grebe |
| 44 | Eared Grebe |
| 45 | Northern Gannet |
| 46 | American White Pelican |
| 47 | Brown Pelican |
| 48 | Double-crested Cormorant |
| 49 | Great Cormorant |
| 50 | American Bittern |
| 51 | Least Bittern |
| 52 | Great Blue Heron |
| 53 | Great Egret |
| 54 | Snowy Egret |
| 55 | Little Blue Heron |
| 56 | Tricolored Heron |
| 57 | Cattle Egret |
| 58 | Green Heron |
| 59 | Black-crowned Night-Heron |
| 60 | Yellow-crowned Night Heron |
| 61 | Glossy Ibis |
| 62 | White-faced Ibis |
| 63 | Turkey Vulture |
| 64 | Osprey |
| 65 | Bald Eagle |
| 66 | Northern Harrier |
| 67 | Sharp-shinned Hawk |
| 68 | Cooper’s Hawk |
| 69 | Northern Goshawk |
| 70 | Red-shouldered Hawk |
| 71 | Broad-winged Hawk |
| 72 | Red-tailed Hawk |
| 73 | Rough-legged Hawk |
| 74 | American Kestrel |
| 75 | Merlin |
| 76 | Gyrfalcon |
| 77 | Peregrine Falcon |
| 78 | Clapper Rail |
| 79 | Virginia Rail |
| 80 | Sora |
| 81 | Common Moorhen |
| 82 | American Coot |
| 83 | Black-bellied Plover |
| 84 | American Golden-Plover |
| 85 | Semi-palmated Plover |
| 86 | Piping Plover |
| 87 | Killdeer |
| 88 | American Oystercatcher |
| 89 | Black-necked Stilt |
| 90 | American Avocet |
| 91 | Spotted Sandpiper |
| 92 | Solitary Sandpiper |
| 93 | Greater Yellowlegs |
| 94 | Willet |
| 95 | Lesser Yellowlegs |
| 96 | Upland Sandpiper |
| 97 | Whimbrel |
| 98 | Hudsonian Godwit |
| 99 | Marbled Godwit |
| 100 | Ruddy Turnstone |
| 101 | Red Knot |
| 102 | Sanderling |
| 103 | Semipalmated Sandpiper |
| 104 | Western Sandpiper |
| 105 | Red-necked Stint |
| 106 | Little Stint |
| 107 | Broad-billed Sandpiper |
| 108 | Least Sandpiper |
| 109 | White-rumped Sandpiper |
| 110 | Baird’s Sandpiper |
| 111 | Pectoral Sandpiper |
| 112 | Sharp-tailed Sandpiper |
| 113 | Dunlin |
| 114 | Curlew Sandpiper |
| 115 | Stilt Sandpiper |
| 116 | Buff-breasted Sandpiper |
| 117 | Ruff |
| 118 | Short-billed Dowitcher |
| 119 | Long-billed Dowitcher |
| 120 | Wilson’s Snipe |
| 121 | American Woodcock |
| 122 | Wilson’s Phalarope |
| 123 | Red-necked Phalarope |
| 124 | Bonaparte’s Gull |
| 125 | Black-headed Gull |
| 126 | Little Gull |
| 127 | Laughing Gull |
| 128 | Ring-billed Gull |
| 129 | Herring Gull |
| 130 | Thayer’s Gull |
| 131 | Iceland Gull |
| 132 | Lesser Black-backed Gull |
| 133 | Glaucous Gull |
| 134 | Great Black-backed Gull |
| 135 | Least Tern |
| 136 | Gull-billed Tern |
| 137 | Caspian Tern |
| 138 | Black Tern |
| 139 | Roseate Tern |
| 140 | Common Tern |
| 141 | Forster’s Tern |
| 142 | Royal Tern |
| 143 | Black Skimmer |
| 144 | Rock Pigeon |
| 145 | Mourning Dove |
| 146 | Monk Parakeet |
| 147 | Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
| 148 | Black-billed Cuckoo |
| 149 | Barn Owl |
| 150 | Eastern Screech-Owl |
| 151 | Great Horned Owl |
| 152 | Snowy Owl |
| 153 | Barred Owl |
| 154 | Long-eared Owl |
| 155 | Short-eared Owl |
| 156 | Northern Saw-whet Owl |
| 157 | Common Nighthawk |
| 158 | Eastern Whip-poor-will |
| 159 | Chimney Swift |
| 160 | Ruby-throated Hummingbird |
| 161 | Belted Kingfisher |
| 162 | Red-bellied Woodpecker |
| 163 | Yellow-bellied Sapsucker |
| 164 | Downy Woodpecker |
| 165 | Hairy Woodpecker |
| 166 | Northern Flicker |
| 167 | Olive-sided Flycatcher |
| 168 | Eastern Wood-Pewee |
| 169 | Yellow-bellied Flycatcher |
| 170 | Acadian Flycatcher |
| 171 | Alder Flycatcher |
| 172 | Willow Flycatcher |
| 173 | Least Flycatcher |
| 174 | Eastern Phoebe |
| 175 | Ash-throated Flycatcher |
| 176 | Great Crested Flycatcher |
| 177 | Western Kingbird |
| 178 | Eastern Kingbird |
| 179 | White-eyed Vireo |
| 180 | Yellow-throated Vireo |
| 181 | Blue-headed Vireo |
| 182 | Warbling Vireo |
| 183 | Philadelphia Vireo |
| 184 | Red-eyed Vireo |
| 185 | Blue Jay |
| 186 | American Crow |
| 187 | Fish Crow |
| 188 | Horned Lark |
| 189 | Purple Martin |
| 190 | Tree Swallow |
| 191 | Northern Rough-winged Swallow |
| 192 | Bank Swallow |
| 193 | Cliff Swallow |
| 194 | Barn Swallow |
| 195 | Black-capped Chickadee |
| 196 | Tufted Titmouse |
| 197 | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| 198 | White-breasted Nuthatch |
| 199 | Brown Creeper |
| 200 | Carolina Wren |
| 201 | House Wren |
| 202 | Winter Wren |
| 203 | Marsh Wren |
| 204 | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
| 205 | Golden-crowned Kinglet |
| 206 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| 207 | Eastern Bluebird |
| 208 | Veery |
| 209 | Gray-cheeked Thrush |
| 210 | Swainson’s Thrush |
| 211 | Hermit Thrush |
| 212 | Wood Thrush |
| 213 | American Robin |
| 214 | Gray Catbird |
| 215 | Northern Mockingbird |
| 216 | Brown Thrasher |
| 217 | European Starling |
| 218 | American Pipit |
| 219 | Cedar Waxwing |
| 220 | Ovenbird |
| 221 | Worm-eating Warbler |
| 222 | Louisiana Waterthrush |
| 223 | Northern Waterthrush |
| 224 | Golden-winged Warbler |
| 225 | Blue-winged Warbler |
| 226 | Black-and-white Warbler |
| 227 | Prothonotary Warbler |
| 228 | Tennessee Warbler |
| 229 | Orange-crowned Warbler |
| 230 | Nashville Warbler |
| 231 | Connecticut Warbler |
| 232 | Mourning Warbler |
| 233 | Kentucky Warbler |
| 234 | Common Yellowthroat |
| 235 | Hooded Warbler |
| 236 | American Redstart |
| 237 | Kirtland’s Warbler |
| 238 | Cape May Warbler |
| 239 | Cerulean Warbler |
| 240 | Northern Parula |
| 241 | Magnolia Warbler |
| 242 | Bay-breasted Warbler |
| 243 | Blackburnian Warbler |
| 244 | Yellow Warbler |
| 245 | Chestnut-sided Warbler |
| 246 | Blackpoll Warbler |
| 247 | Black-throated Blue Warbler |
| 248 | Palm Warbler |
| 249 | Pine Warbler |
| 250 | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| 251 | Yellow-throated Warbler |
| 252 | Prairie Warbler |
| 253 | Black-throated Green Warbler |
| 254 | Canada Warbler |
| 255 | Wilson’s Warbler |
| 256 | Yellow-breasted Chat |
| 257 | Eastern Towhee |
| 258 | American Tree Sparrow |
| 259 | Chipping Sparrow |
| 260 | Clay-colored Sparrow |
| 261 | Field Sparrow |
| 262 | Vesper Sparrow |
| 263 | Savannah Sparrow |
| 264 | Nelson’s Sparrow |
| 265 | Saltmarsh Sparrow |
| 266 | Seaside Sparrow |
| 267 | Fox Sparrow |
| 268 | Song Sparrow |
| 269 | Lincoln’s Sparrow |
| 270 | Swamp Sparrow |
| 271 | White-throated Sparrow |
| 272 | White-crowned Sparrow |
| 273 | Dark-eyed Junco |
| 274 | Snow Bunting |
| 275 | Summer Tanager |
| 276 | Scarlet Tanager |
| 277 | Northern Cardinal |
| 278 | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| 279 | Blue Grosbeak |
| 280 | Indigo Bunting |
| 281 | Bobolink |
| 282 | Red-winged Blackbird |
| 283 | Eastern Meadowlark |
| 284 | Yellow-headed Blackbird |
| 285 | Rusty Blackbird |
| 286 | Common Grackle |
| 287 | Boat-tailed Grackle |
| 288 | Brown-headed Cowbird |
| 289 | Orchard Oriole |
| 290 | Baltimore Oriole |
| 291 | Purple Finch |
| 292 | House Finch |
| 293 | Red Crossbill |
| 294 | Common Redpoll |
| 295 | Pine Siskin |
| 296 | American Goldfinch |
| 297 | House Sparrow |
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