How many birds have you seen in the Hunter Region? Have you seen more than 300 birds? If so, welcome to the Hunter 300 Club! We’d love to have your tally of species posted on this page and you’re now also eligible for a special badge (see below). For those who have made it to the next milestones, there’s also the Hunter 350 Club and a 400 Club. Very soon there will be a 425 Club as well!

Below is a table showing the top Hunter listers’ tallies. It also includes the most recently added birds to people’s lists and their predictions for the next species to be added to the Hunter Region checklist – all just for fun of course. But note that if you have surpassed the esteemed 400 mark we’ll need to review your list before we post it here (even though the 300 Club is purely for fun, please don’t be offended if a Records Officer seeks to verify species you may have claimed for your list).

To post your Hunter bird list tally, your next new species prediction (optional) or to inquire about the reviewing process of lists email the Club’s records officers here.

Hunter Birders Totals

NAME TOTAL LAST UPDATED MOST RECENT ADDITION NEXT NEW HUNTER SPECIES PREDICTION
400 Club
Ann Lindsey 431 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Red-backed Button-quail, White-winged Fairy-wren Mangrove Honeyeater
Mick Roderick 429 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Sooty Albatross, Red-backed Button-quail Westland Petrel
Michael Kearns 427 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Red-backed Button-quail, Kentish Plover Herald Petrel
Allan Richardson 427 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Sooty Albatross, Red-backed Button-quail Bulwer’s Petrel
Dan Williams 425 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Sooty Albatorss, Red-backed Button-quail Southern Royal Albatross
Alan Stuart 420 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Red-chested Button-quail, Little Button-quail New Caledonian Storm-petrel
Steve Roderick 419 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Red-backed Button-quail, White-winged Fairy-wren Grey-backed Storm-petrel
Bruce Watts 403 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Sooty Albatross, Red-backed Button-quail Blue Bonnet
Dick Jenkin 401 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Little Button-quail, Red-chested Button-quail Stejneger’s Petrel
Ian Benson 401 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Tahiti Petrel, Red-backed Button-quail Stejneger’s Petrel
Nick Livanos 400 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, White-winged Fairy-wren, Little Button-quail Australian Ringneck
350 Club
Craig Anderson 393 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Red-backed Button-quail, White-winged Fairy-wren Stilt Sandpiper
Jeff Jones 395 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Sooty Albatross,New Zealand Storm-Petrel Superb Parrot
Graeme O’Connor (dec) 385 Jun 2019 SIPO, Aleutian Tern, Common Gull-billed Tern White-throated Honeyeater
Grant Brosie 380 Dec 2020 White-winged Fairy-wren, Little Button-quail, Red-chested Button-quail White-fronted Honeyeater
Rob McDonell 363 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Little Curlew, Common Gull-billed Tern
Dave Stuart 357 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Common Gull-billed Tern, New Zealand Storm-petrel Black-faced Woodswallow
Lorna Mee 356 Mar 2019 Collared Kingfisher
Tom Kendall 355 Mar 2021 Stubble Quail, Apostlebird, Barking Owl Black-faced Woodswallow
300 Club
Simon Gorta 345 Mar 2021 Oriental Cuckoo, Red-backed Button-quail Collared Petrel
Jim Stone 342 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Satin Flycatcher, Olive Whistler Red-rumped Swallow
Liam Murphy 338 Oct 2020 Black-neck Stork, Wandering Whistling-Duck, Nankeen Night-Heron Bulwer’s Petrel
Max Breckenridge 338 Feb 2021 Red-backed Button-quail, Little Button-quail, Red-chested Button-quail Superb Parrot
Archie Brennan 337 Dec 2022 Australasian Grass Owl, Australian Masked Owl, Asian Dowitcher
Alex Berryman 337 Mar 2019 Polynesian Storm-petrel
Stephanie Owen 333 Feb 2021 Asian Dowitcher, Sooty Shearwater, Buller’s Albatross Dunlin
Greg Newling 332 Jan 2020 Brown-capped Emerald-Dove, Eastern Reef Egret Blue Bonnet
Ted Elks 326 Dec 2022 Satin Flycatcher, Asian Dowitcher, Shy-type Albatross Red Goshawk
Gary Tong 324 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Little Curlew, Gang-gang Cockatoo Black-breasted Buzzard
Trevor Williams 323 Jan 2020 SIPO, Aleutian Tern, Wompoo Fruit-Dove
Tom Clarke 323 Sep 2020 Rufous Scrub-bird, Pycroft’s Petrel Mangrove Honeyeater
Margaret Clarke 310 Mar 2019
Peter Weinstock 309 Mar 2021 Plumed Whistling-Duck, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, Lesser Yellowlegs Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
Krishna Nagarajan 308 Jan 2020 Banded Stilt Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
Ray Burton 307 Jan 2020 Grey Plover, Roseate Tern, Lesser Sand Plover White-winged Fairy-wren
Lois Wooding 304 Feb 2020 Aust. Painted-snipe
Paddy Lightfoot 303 Jan 2020
Jon Spicer-Bell 303 Dec 2022 Aleutian Tern, Asian Dowitcher, Sooty Albatross
Andrzej Karpiel 301 Dec 2022 Asian Dowitcher, Little Raven
Kristy Peters 300 Oct 2020 Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Providence Petrel, Soft-plumaged Petrel Australian Ringneck
Others’ predictions for next new species
Shaun McKay Pied Heron
Dick Cooper
Peter Struik Semi-palmated Plover
Josh Bergmark Magenta Petrel

How to obtain a badge? Simply let the records officers know what your total is, noting that to receive a 400 Club badge we will need to ensure your list has been vetted. Your badge will be presented to you at the next HBOC meeting or outing that you attend. You do not have to be a member of HBOC to apply for a badge. To make it easier for you to work out your total, you can download a generic checklist and personalise it; see below.

Here are our existing badges:


And here is our ‘425 Club’ badge – it’s a work in progress!

 

Hunter Region checklist (Excel spreadsheet):

As an Affiliate of BirdLife Australia, HBOC uses BirdLife’s V3.0 Working List as the basis for the taxonomy of our Hunter Region checklist. This differs from the IOC checklist in use by many Australian birders (though within the Hunter the two taxonomies are almost identical). What should you count on your list? There are a few basic rules:

  • You must have seen the bird in the Hunter Region at least once (birds that only have been heard cannot be counted). So far, more than 450 species have been recorded in the Hunter Region.
  • The Hunter Region is the area defined in HBOC’s Hunter Region Annual Bird Reports (see “Hunter Region“).
  • Species not listed in the Bird Reports cannot be included, nor can species classified as Escapees.
  • For rare birds (those listed as Category 3 in the Bird Reports) we encourage you to ensure that the HBOC Records Appraisal Committee has accepted the record. However, that’s not compulsory for receiving a 300 Club or 350 Club badge and all you have to do is submit your total to us.