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Noah K. Strycker

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Birding Without Borders: An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World Hardcover – October 10, 2017

by Noah Strycker (Author)

4.6 387 ratings

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Traveling to 41 countries in 2015 with a backpack and binoculars, Noah Strycker became the first person to see more than half the world’s 10,000 species of birds in one year.

In 2015, Noah Strycker set himself a lofty goal: to become the first person to see half the world’s birds in one year. For 365 days, with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he traveled across forty-one countries and all seven continents, eventually spotting 6,042 species—by far the biggest birding year on record.

This is no travelogue or glorified checklist. Noah ventures deep into a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, airline snafus, breakdowns, mudslides, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, conservation triumphs, common and iconic species, and scores of passionate bird lovers around the globe. By pursuing the freest creatures on the planet, Noah gains a unique perspective on the world they share with us—and offers a hopeful message that even as many birds face an uncertain future, more people than ever are working to protect them.

Print length

336 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication date

October 10, 2017
Dimensions

6 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches
ISBN-10

0544558146
ISBN-13

978-0544558144
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Even readers who wouldn’t know a marvellous spatuletail from a southern ground hornbill will be awed by Strycker’s achievement and appreciate the passion with which he pursues his interest." —Publishers Weekly

"Strycker's description of a year ‘expanded to its maximum potential’ will inspire readers to explore the world, ‘from the tiniest detail to the biggest panorama.’ . . . Colorful but unassuming—and unexpected—lessons for living life fully, presented from a birder's-eye view."—STARRED, Kirkus Reviews

"Every generation has a few naturalist-writers who have a spirit as unlimited as their talent—that’s Noah Strycker. The sheer demographics of his travels are mind boggling; he stretches life to the limits, and he has an ability to describe incidents of travel, landscapes, and people with splendid and self-deprecating intimacy. This book goes to the top of my life-list.”—Howard Norman, author of My Darling Detective

"Noah Strycker is a fantastic birder, savvy traveler, and astute observer. Best of all, though, he is a fine writer. I really enjoyed this book.”—Mark Obmascik, author of The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession

"Noah Strycker's ark is big enough for six thousand birds—and then some!—but just as impressive is the way this gifted gatherer makes room for wonder, joy, and friendship found in far-flung places. This is one of those rare, beautiful books that enlarges the world with adventure and makes it feel, at the same time, like a mysteriously intimate place, inhabited by good people in love with the natural world willing to help a stranger on his extraordinary journey."—Jonathan Rosen author of The Life of the Skies: Birding at the end of Nature

"Birding Without Borders is an absolute tour de force. Every birder knows the day-dream lure of exotic species from far-away places, but Noah Stryker turned that dream into the greatest birding adventure of all time. The story of his round-the-world Big Year is one of joy, adrenaline, exhaustion, discovery, and a global fellowship of those for whom, like Noah, birds are everything. I guarantee it will make you want to grab your binoculars and your passport, too.”—Scott Weidensaul, author of Living on the Wind

"What an astonishing peregrination. If by chance you can't meet these 6,042 species yourself, this book is a close second. Strycker is the perfect companion—smart, thoughtful, intrepid, and at times, very very funny. I loved the birds and the people he met and was sorry when his journey was over."—Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Genius of Birds

"Birding without Borders is about bird nerdery taken to a magnificent, even beautiful extreme. Noah Strycker goes from country to country seeking out five thousand species of birds, and that quest is an adventure in itself. Armchair birders like myself, watching a Pygmy Nuthatch watching me, can appreciate the passion and courage that Noah displays."—Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist

About the Author

NOAH STRYCKER is associate editor of Birding magazine and the author of several books. He has studied birds worldwide, and works as a guide on expedition cruises to Antarctica and the Arctic, spreading the inspiration of birds from pole to pole.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (October 10, 2017)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0544558146
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0544558144
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.75 x 8.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #889,551 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #439 in Ecotourism Travel Guides
- #1,288 in Bird Field Guides
- #4,424 in Adventure Travel (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 387 ratings

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Noah K. Strycker

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Noah Strycker is living an adventurous life of birds. In 2015, he set a world record by observing 6,042 species of birds in one year - as described in his new book, "Birding Without Borders." He is also author of "The Thing With Feathers," about the fascinating world of bird behavior, and "Among Penguins," about a summer in an Antarctic research camp.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

387 global ratings

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Gunnar Engblom

More than just a Birding Big Year story.

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2018

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I finished reading Noah Strycker’s Birding Without Boarders an obsession. Noah sets out to do a big year around the world in 2015 and records a mind-blowing 6042 species and shattering the old record.

Yet another Big Year book for birders? I am wondering if the literary market is soon going to be saturated with Big Year travel stories. Is it really that interesting to follow someone traveling the world one bird at the time? Your average Joe will not get away with something like this. However, Noah Strycker has proven to be such a fine writer, so at least in this case the book has found validity also for people interested in reading a wonderful travel tale. He already has two books published before this one, and has built a tail of fans.    The main text of the book covers 257 pages, and 326 in total including index and various appendixes, but not counting the foreword by Kenn Kaufman.

I was amazed and flattered to see 33 pages dedicated to the adventures in Peru with me and the Kolibri Expeditions staff. That is 13% of the book. In fairness it should be said that of all 6042 birds that Noah recorded that year, 784 (13%) of them where found in Peru. It is proportional! Peru is that great.   

Noah, has a way of making birding understandable. I recommend the book also to the non-birder, because the quest is interesting and gives a tremendous insight how traveling off the beaten track around the world can look like. You get inside the head of a birder.  The stories that unfold are a selection of highlights and special quests. They are tastefully decorated with tidbits about conservation concerns, behavior peculiarities, ecology, evolution, dangerous roads, sleep deprivation and lots of interesting people. So in spite of being yet another book on a big year, this is a particularly well written account. The chapters are organized linearly and from the start of each chapter you are thrown into an action-packed quest. Sort of like a well written best seller novel, where you get sucked in at the start of each chapter. There are regressions in each chapter to what has happened in between the scenes and as mentioned many interesting tidbits are thrown in.

A longer and more detailed version of this review shall be published on my blog shortly and I'll do a short chapter summary as well. I am also preparing an interview with Noah. Let me know if you have any questions you want to ask him.

Here is the chapter summary for the Peru part. You can find a longer excerpt of this chapter on the Audubon website.

Chapter 6. Gunning it.
Yours truly and Kolibri Staff of Manuel Zamora - Kolibri Expeditions legendary driver - and Carlos Altamirano - young and enthusiastic bird guide put up a tough pace to pack in the birds of Peru in 21 days. Noah could easily done a book only on his Peru experiences alone. There is far more to the story than the book tells, since Peru produced more overall species (784) and more new species (488) than any other country visited and more unique birds for the Big Year (242) only surpassed by Australia (312). This chapter describes the quest for Black-spectacled Brush-Finch in the Satipo Road area, Golden-backed Mountain-Tanager at Bosque Unchog in Central Peru and Marvelous Spatuletail in Northern Peru. Our adventures in Iquitos and Puerto Maldonado did not fit. There is also a fair amount of on the spot trouble solving as it is rainy season and this made road conditions tough on the cars.

Have a read! This book is not just another big year account. It is the best - and so much more

3 people found this helpful

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Beth Morrison

Very Enjoyable Read

Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2019

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This was a great read - one of my favorites in the last year. It is an amazing adventure and a well written book by an author I found to be likable. It kept me engaged the whole time. I am a birder myself and love traveling, so this book was of particular interest to me. I do think though that it would appeal to non birders as well. It is so fascinating how the author Noah planned and executed this trip, overcoming obstacles along the way. For those that like a great adventure story, you can’t go wrong with this book. The author set out to break the world record by seeing the most birds in one calendar year. To do this he traveled to all 7 continents and enlisted the help of local birders in each region he visited. Although this book is about the author’s experiences, it is as much about the local birders and naturalists in each country that ensured he met his goal. Without their help, he would not have been able to accomplish this incredible journey. The author gives due credit to the many people assisting him and the relationships created were heartwarming and a pleasure to read. The birds sounded so tantalizing that I couldn’t help looking up photos of many of them online. The schedule to see so many birds in so many countries was relentless and brutal that few could have endured. Kudos to the author for his stamina and dedication. Highly recommend, don’t miss this wonderful story.

One person found this helpful

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Tim Pinkston

Less than a third was book!

Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2019

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I enjoyed reading the book - the author has an engaging style, and his adventures were interesting and fun to read ... but as I read along, I noticed that his quest seemed to be getting pretty close to over, and I was not even a third into it. Then it abruptly ended at 32%, and the final two-thirds of the book was just a list of the 6,000+ birds he saw. I would much have preferred a lot more tales from the road, experiences of how he and his companions interacted, how they found the birds they saw, etc. Maybe I missed where it said I was buying a third of what I thought I was buying ...

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Book Lover

Opened Up a Whole New World

Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2020

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Due to COVID-19, I put up a bird feeder and began watching backyard birds for entertainment. When this book was suggested on an Amazon e-mail,it seemed like the perfect accompaniment. It was even better than I expected! Not only did it reveal little known facts about birds from around the world, but it put the information in the context of a wildly ambitious plan to collect a record-breaking list of birds observed and recorded in the space of a year, starting in Antarctica and visiting all the other continents as well. The best part of the story was the author’s enthusiasm for new experiences, written in a colorful informal way. He credits his success ( and I am not giving anything away) to all his fellow birders forming a network of guides and advisors along the way. What an adventure! Even for someone like me who can’t tell a house sorrow from a song sparrow, the quest was exhilarating, and my regard for these hobbyists and scientists is immense.
Finding a passion and embracing it never sounded so good.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Ms Jill F Preston

Great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 5, 2023

Verified Purchase

Excellent book, delivered speedily.

Sybrand de Bruin

Very enjoyable read

Reviewed in Germany on December 19, 2019

Verified Purchase

As an obsessive birder it is nice to read this book about another obsessive birder’s listing adventures. It is a well written work and thus a good addition to my library. Enjoyed it very much.

Carrie Jonker

This is a very interesting read if you love birdwatching and want to learn how populations are doing ...

Reviewed in Canada on February 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

This is a very interesting read if you love birdwatching and want to learn how populations are doing globally- challenges they face, etc. I can't travel, so I loved following his travels- very interesting!

Nona Bennett

Extremely Disappointing

Reviewed in Australia on May 9, 2020

Verified Purchase

The Kindle version of Birding Without Borders is extremely disappointing . Only 37% of the book downloads. The species list and any illustrations are missing.
The text of Strycker's year long quest is there. Stryker recounts some of the special birds, people, and adventures as well as misadventures he has. The book is well written with an accessible style and humour.
Perhaps this is a book to be read in hard copy.

Perry Edwards

A terrific book; tales of a top expert birding for ...

Reviewed in Canada on February 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

A terrific book; tales of a top expert birding for rare species in exotic locales; travel and adventure. What more could you want to curl up with in your favourite stuffed chair?

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