This is a list of the birdwatchers who have either seen a very large number of species or who are notable in their own right but also happen to be birdwatchers.
This is a list of the birdwatchers with the largest lifelists, that is, based on the number of species of birds each of them has/had seen. Depending on the taxonomic viewpoint, there are 10,404 (Clements) or 10,534 (IOC) living bird species recognised.
Jon Hornbuckle: 9,414
Claes-Göran Cederlund: 9,169
Philip Rostron: 9,126
Tom Gullick: 9,096,includes heard only birds
Hugh Buck: 9,053
Hans Jornvall: 8,849
Mark Van Beirs: 8,620
Bob Bates: 8,549
Richard Clifford: 8,518
Peter Kaestner: 8,506
Joe Thompson: 8,460
Martin Edwards: 8,450
Jonathan Rossouw: 8,438
Jürgen Lehnert: 8,413
Phoebe Snetsinger: 8,400 (deceased)
Jean-Marc Thiollay: 8,259
Pete Morris: 8,132
Pete Winter: more than 7,700 species
Björn Anderson: 7,694
John Danzenbaker: 7,529
John Hardister: 7,350
Jonathan Newman: 7,784
Jim Clements: 7,200 (deceased)
Barry Wright: 7,147
Angie Cederlund: 7,139
Richard Koeppel: over 7,000
Bengt-Eric Sjölinder: 6,884
Harvey Gilston: 6,800
Damon Albarn English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer
Jane Alexander Actress and former Director of the US National Endowment for the Arts
Simon Armitage British poet, playwright and novelist
Margaret Atwood Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist
John James Audubon An early pioneer in nature studies within the US
Joachim Bessing German writer
Bill Bailey English comedian, musician, actor, TV and radio presenter and author
David Bailey English photographer, regarded as one of the nation's best
Sean Bean English actor of stage and screen
Stephen Breyer United States Supreme Court Justice
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
Kenneth Clarke British Conservative politician
Jeremy Clarkson English broadcaster, journalist and writer
Jarvis Cocker English musician and frontman for the band Pulp
Wes Craven American film director
George Crook 19th century U.S. Army General
Peter Cushing English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films
Fyfe Dangerfield English musician and songwriter, best known as the founding member of the indie rock band Guillemots
Jared Diamond American geographer, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, lecturer, and nonfiction author
Cameron Diaz American actress and former model
Alec Douglas-Home British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister from October 1963 to October 1964
Bill Drummond South African-born Scottish artist, musician, writer, and record producer
Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh Husband of Queen Elizabeth II
Richard Feynman American theoretical physicist
Ian Fleming English author, journalist and naval intelligence officer
Jonathan Franzen American novelist and essayist
Guy Garvey English singer and guitarist in the band Elbow, presenter for BBC 6 Music and A&R manager of Skinny Dog Records
Graeme Gibson Canadian novelist
Jimi Goodwin English bassist, vocalist and guitarist for Doves
Trudie Goodwin English actress
Benjamin F. Goss Legislator, officer in the American Civil War
Crawford Greenewalt president of DuPont
Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon British Liberal statesman
Daryl Hannah American actress
Ian Harding American actor, Pretty Little Liars, author of Odd Birds
Michael Heseltine Welsh-British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group
Mick Jagger English musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known as lead vocalist and founding member of the Rolling Stones
Norman Lamont British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston upon Thames
Meriwether Lewis Explorer
Phil Liggett Cycling commentator
Joanna Lumley English actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author
Humphrey Lyttelton English jazz musician and broadcaster
Steve Martin Writer, comedian, musician
Per Martin-Löf Swedish mathematical scientist
Ernst Mayr Evolutionary biologist, tropical explorer, ornithologist, historian of science
Sir Paul McCartney English musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and composer
Rory McGrath British comedian and writer
Eric Morecambe English comedian
Elliot Morley Former Labour Party politician
Van Morrison Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician
Sir Andrew Motion English poet, novelist, and biographer, who was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2009
Tig Notaro Stand-up comic and actor
Patrick O'Brian Author
Bill Oddie Actor, author, comedian, television presenter
Roger Tory Peterson Invented the first user-friendly field guide; noted mainly for his books studying birds and promoting birding
George Plimpton Author
Vic Reeves English comedian
Debby Reynolds, British veterinary surgeon
Alexandre Rodrigues Ferreira was a Brazilian-Portuguese naturalist
Theodore Roosevelt President of the United States
Richard Rorty American philosopher
Mark Salling Actor and musician
Alison Steadman English actress
John Stott Author, theologian and evangelical leader
Lili Taylor American actress, American Birding Association board member
Laura Wade British playwright
James D. Watson Nobel laureate, molecular biologist, and co-discoverer of the structure of DNA
Samuel West British actor and director
E. B. White Author
