Birding Without Borders

An Obsession, a Quest, and the Biggest Year in the World

By: Noah Strycker

Narrated by: Luke Welland

Noah Strycker set himself a goal: to become the first person to see half the world's 10,000 species of bird in one year.

With an itinerary covering 41 countries, spanning all seven continents, and armed with a backpack, binoculars, and a series of one-way tickets, he sets out on the greatest adventure in the birding world. Along the way he meets a colorful cast of fellow birders—and discovers a world of blood-sucking leeches, chronic sleep deprivation, floods, war zones, ecologic devastation, and conservation triumphs.

Vivid, charming, and full of wonder, Birding Without Borders is a celebration of passion, exploration, and the birders' ethos that, if you keep your eyes and mind open, you never know what you might see.

©2017 Noah Strycker (P)2022 Noah Strycker

Critic reviews

One of the Guardian's Best Paperbacks of November

"Astonishing.... If by chance you can't meet these 6,042 species yourself, this book is a close second." (Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Genius of Birds)

"Even readers who wouldn't know a marvellous spatuletail from a southern ground hornbill will be awed." (Publishers Weekly)

Well done!

I really wanted to read this book when it came out but didn't make time for it until the Audible version arrived. It was worth the wait!

This is not a prolonged list of birds. Instead, Noah Strycker delivers an engaging, informative tale while describing his travels, destinations, bird finds, and newfound friends.

The narrator did a great job as well, despite having to pronounce an unusual array of names—of species, people, and places—from around the globe.

Speedy birder with details, well narrated

was a pleasure to listen to. Noah shares the planning and execution of his big year in detail. This book is about birding travel adventure, less ornithology.

Very enjoyable

I really enjoyed listening to this book. I would recommend it to any birder no matter their experience level

Entertaining account

Every chapter of this book was interesting and entertaining. Wonderful to go on a virtual world birding tour.

Reader thank you!

I loved how the reader made Noah sound so approachable as a world traveler and so passionate about birding at the same time!

Birding and travel. Win win.

Sometimes I forgot the author wasn’t reading the book. Great expression and the reader obviously had a connection with birds. I will probably listen again which is something I seldom do. The author’s tone was sharing his adventure. Not bragging or just listing birds. I felt as if I made the Big Year with him.

Wow- more than great adventure!

A tale of scientific exploration in quest of nature's greatest characters- our world's wild birds. I was thrilled to see it come out on audiobook, and wonderfully performed. The writing is well crafted to keep the true story moving along at just the right clip. For me, a later-life birding enthusiast, it was quite magical, especially using my computer and eBird to follow Noah's sightings in several of the exciting chapters. I may even go back to the hardcover now just to have it around. A few years ago I watched "he Big Year" and had harbored the concept that the annual limit would always be under one thousand species, but I had to buckle up for this amazing adventure of world travel, at its extreme, and six thousand glorious species of our modern day dinosaurs.

Inspiring Story

As a fairly new birder and not-yet world traveler this was such an interesting read!

Just beautiful

Amazing book and amazing narrator. I have really enjoyed this book. It is great for people they liked to travel a lot to different countries and admire local traditions and culture. Even if I am not an avid birdwatcher but I love to travel so i enjoy it. l

Highly recommend!

Loved this book! A travel story with humour and purpose. The narration was so fun too!