List of birdwatchers

This is a list of the world's greatest birdwatchers, based on the number of species of birds seen. Depending on the taxonomic viewpoint, there are about 8,800–10,200 living bird species.

• Phoebe Snetsinger: more than 8,450 species in the wild (killed when her bus rolled over just as she was checking 8,451)
• Tom Gulick: 8,114
• Harvey Gilston: "nearly 8,000"
• Peter Kaestner: 7,958, first birder to see a representative of every family in the world
• Pete Winter: more than 7,700 species
• John Danzenbaker: 7,529
• Jim Clements: 7,200
• Richard Koeppel: over 7,000
• Roger Tory Peterson: numbers in the thousands, noted mainly for his books studying birds and promoting birdwatching
• John James Audubon: numbers unknown, an early pioneer in nature studies

Birdwatchers famous for achievements in other fields

• 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
• Jeremy Clarkson Journalist, Television Presenter
• Ian Fleming Author
• Meriwether Lewis Explorer
• Patrick O'Brian Author
• Bill Oddie Actor, Comedian, Television Presenter
• George Plimpton Author
• Teddy Roosevelt President of the United States
• James D. Watson Nobel laureate, molecular biologist, and discoverer of the structure of DNA
• E. B. White Author