Peter Kaestner becomes first birder to see 10,000 species

A US birder has become the first person to see 10,000 bird species in the world.

Peter Kaestner, a retired diplomat, passed the milestone on a recent trip to the Philippines, where an Orange-tufted Spiderhunter seen in eastern Mindanao on 9 February proved to be the magic 10,000th bird, according to IOC taxonomy.

This figure represents almost 90% of all the world's birds – the latest version (14.1) of the IOC World Bird List contains a total of 11,194 species.

Orange-tufted Spiderhunter (above) was Peter Kaestner's 10,000th world bird.

Kaestner reached his target ahead of his predicted schedule, which he set out in an article written in June 2023 and subsequently published on the American Birding Association (ABA) website. He anticipated passing 10,000 in the second half of 2024, but the milestone has in fact come several months earlier, in part due to numerous splits published in the most recent IOC World Bird List update, as well as recent successful ventures to the likes of Brazil and Indonesia.

Maryland-born Kaestner is no stranger to significant world birding landmarks, having been the first birder to see a representative of each of the world's bird families in 1986. Additionally, in 1989, he discovered a species new to science: Cundinamarca Antpitta, of which the scientific name (Grallaria kaestneri) was entitled after him.