Birding is collecting mixed with competition. Birders keep life lists of all the species they have seen, and they are always seeking to add a new species to their list. There is also constant competition on eBird to join the rankings of top birders for your county, state, country, or even the whole world! Birders can also hold
big events such as a Big Year or Big Day. A Big Year is when a birder spends an entire year trying to see the most amount of bird species. There are competitions for just North America, or the entire world! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend the comedy movie
The Big Year, where Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson compete for North America's record Big Year. Recently in the real world,
Noah Strycker set the world record for most species seen in one year worldwide, amassing a total of 6,042 species! For us more common birders, eBird also hosts a "Global Big Day" every May 9th in support of bird conservation. Birders all over the world can test their skills against each other for a single day, it's a blast!