A Big Year is a longstanding birding tradition, in which participants try to see how many birds they can find in a given area during one calendar year. In North America, the most famous big years are conducted continent-wide, with participants trying to see how many birds they can find in North America north of Mexico (the American Birding Association listing area). Statewide and countywide big years are also popular.
The Backyard Big Year is basically an attempt to maximize the number of birds found in your own yard during the year. If a state or county big year is like a game of basketball, perhaps the Backyard Big Year is like a slam dunk contest or a game of H-O-R-S-E.
But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a serious hard core birding challenge! Birds that may be easy to get within a mile or two of the yard can be extremely challenging to see or hear from the confines of the yard if there isn’t appropriate habitat in the yard or adjacent properties.
So think of it as a birding with one hand tied behind the back. Or big year on a very small geographic level. At any rate, stick around and watch as we take yard birding to the next level in 2015! A year of hard core birding from one New Jersey yard!
