birding question?

[pitohui]

this is a real long shot but i can no longer find my bio of roger tory petersen, the guy who wrote the original bird field guides.

i wanted to know how many birds he had on his life list? i know he revealed the number near the end but i don't recall what it was, i know it wasn't huge, since he was more into the art side of things than the numbers but i would still love to know just for curosity

i think it was in the 2,000s...???

[rug]

1. I bet these people know.

http://www.enaturalist.org/

His Eastern and Central North American Field Guides list more than 500 species. His Western North American Field Guide lists almost 600 species. So, I'd guess about 1100.

http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/peterson/

[pitohui]

2. it's over 1,100 (you can SEE far more birds than you can illustrate)

to get a bird species on your life list, you only have to see it in the wild on one occasion in your life

i thought his life list was over 2,000 but can't figure out where i read that now (possibly the old bird watcher's digest magazine, which featured a monthly column from peterson pretty much up until he passed away)

in addition the species on the aba north american list, that he documented and illustrated for his books, he of course traveled the world and got other species, either for his art, his photography, or just for the beauty of seeing them and associating with other birders