20 Facts About Phoebe Snetsinger

Phoebe Snetsinger was an American birder famous for having seen and documented birds of 8,398 different species, more than anyone else in history at the time, and was the first person to see more than 8,000.

Phoebe Snetsinger traveled the world multiple times to find birds in their habitats.

Phoebe Snetsinger was described as having had an excellent memory and a strong competitive spirit.

Phoebe Snetsinger Burnett was born on June 9,1931, to Naomi Geddes and Leo Burnett and was raised in Lake Zurich, Illinois.

Phoebe Snetsinger attended a tiny elementary school in Lake Zurich with only two other students.

Phoebe Snetsinger studied at Swarthmore College, graduating with a degree in the German language.

Phoebe Snetsinger was inspired to begin birding after seeing a Blackburnian warbler in 1961.

Phoebe Snetsinger became locally known as a successful birder in the 1970s.

Phoebe Snetsinger was spurred to find the most birds after her doctor diagnosed her with terminal melanoma in 1981, the year she turned 50 years old.

Phoebe Snetsinger visited remote areas, sometimes under unstable political conditions, to add to her growing life list.

When Phoebe Snetsinger began observing birds, there were about 8,500 known species, compared to about 10,000 in the year of her death.

Phoebe Snetsinger was the first person to exceed 8,000 species observed, in 1995.

Phoebe Snetsinger's observations included 2,000 birds in monotypic genera, that is, the only species in the genus.

Phoebe Snetsinger travelled about four months each year, spending the rest of the year studying photos of birds, quite aware of the competition.

Phoebe Snetsinger's treks took her to deserts, swamps, jungles and mountains on every continent several times over.

Phoebe Snetsinger's memoir, entitled Birding on Borrowed Time, was published posthumously in 2003 by The American Birding Association.

On November 23,1999, while on a birding trip in Madagascar, the van in which Phoebe Snetsinger was riding overturned, killing her instantly.

Phoebe and David Snetsinger had four children, three of whom are bird researchers in the United States.

At the time of Phoebe Snetsinger's death, Carol was involved in research on birds in Alaska and Montana; Susan was "a student of the spotted owl in the Northwest" of the US; and Thomas was researching endangered species of birds for the federal government.

At the time of her death, Phoebe Snetsinger was a resident of Webster Groves, Missouri, a suburb of St Louis.