The Big Year

A thrilling birdwatching adventure and true story of obsession, The Big Year chronicles the fiercely competitive quest of three men racing across North America to shatter a birding record for the ages.

Every January 1, a quirky crowd storms out across North America for a spectacularly competitive event called a Big Year—a grand, expensive, and occasionally vicious 365-day marathon of birdwatching. For three men in particular, 1998 would become a grueling battle for a new North American birding record. Bouncing from coast to coast on frenetic pilgrimages for once-in-a-lifetime rarities, they brave broiling deserts, bug-infested swamps, and some of the lumpiest motel mattresses known to man. This unprecedented year of beat-the-clock adventures ultimately leads one man to a record so gigantic that it is unlikely ever to be bested. Here, prizewinning journalist Mark Obmascik creates a dazzling, fun narrative of the 275,000-mile odyssey of these three obsessives as they fight to win the greatest—or maybe worst—birding contest of all time.

Contents

Introduction

1. January 1, 1998

2. A Birder Is Hatched

3. The Early Birds

4. Strategy

5. Bodega Bluff

6. Whirlwind

7. El Niño

8. The Wise Owl

9. Yucatán Express

10. The Big Yak

11. The Cradle of Storms

12. The B.O.D.

13. Doubt

14. Forked

15. Conquest

16. Cape Hatteras Clincher

17. Two in the Bush

18. Nemesis

19. Honorbound

20. December 31, 1998

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

Bibliography

Index