An Experiment in Birding, by Stacey Pazar Huth and Noah T. Gibb
Self-published, 2026
89 pages, paperback
For those of you who need a little encouragement to finish your Big Year strong, look no further than Stacey Pazar Huth and Noah T. Gibb’s An Experiment in Birding. Huth and Gibb teamed up in 2025 for a Maine Big Year and smashed the previous record with a whopping 332 species. They detail their process in their book in the hopes of helping other birders have a successful year of recording as many species as they can, whether in their county, state, or ABA Area. Huth, a scientist in product development, and Gibb, the owner of a birding tour business, worked together in the months leading up to 2025 to determine how to see as many birds as possible.
Their “integrated birding process” is relatively simple but was effective enough for a new state record. The plan focused on taking out risk early—making sure that typical birds were found as early in the year as possible—by “targeting the right species at the right time and in the right habitat.” By getting the usual suspects out of the way, Huth and Gibb could focus on chasing rarities and vagrants toward the end of the year. After creating a list of 302 species annual to Maine, the pair divided these into species that breed in Maine, migrate through Maine, and expected vagrants. They then marked the earliest possible month each species could be seen on a color coded 12-month spreadsheet; by marking each species seen in green, they were able to easily scan the sheet to know what was still needed. Huth and Gibb called this whole process “the experiment” and enthusiastically set out on January 1 to start birding.
The most inspiring aspect of Huth and Gibb’s big year wasn’t their amazing finds—such as a Tufted Puffin in May—but it was the way they helped other birders in their community and throughout Maine see the species they were spotting. In fact, this was a large part of their Big Year; reporting rare finds as soon as they could. What the team didn’t expect from making sure their friends and fellow birders saw what they found, was that their reporting lead to others reporting back to them, helping them find more target species than they would have if they were more secretive. They called this phenomenon “passing the berry,” in reference to a courting behavior exhibited by Cedar Waxwings when they pass a berry back and forth. The camaraderie and teamwork Huth and Gibb described was refreshing in what can sometimes be a more cutthroat endeavor. The pair also made sure that they only counted a species if they both saw or heard the bird. On more than one occasion only one was able to spot a furtive species, and they had to work double time to make sure to spot it again. By November 7, 2025, they had already beat the Maine record of 323 birds. From there, they were able to focus more on fall’s “vagrancy season” and chase rarities without the stress of falling short of their goal.
Accompanied by gorgeous color photos that highlight the storytelling—such as when Gibb rescued a Dovekie in January or when the pair finally spotted their nemesis bird, a Spruce Grouse—the narrative was a quick and fun read that may help inspire you to finish your year strong or finally tackle that Big Year you’ve been dreaming about!
Rebecca Minardi is the Book and Media Reviews Editor for Birding and has been a mentor for the ABA Young Birder of the Year Program since 2021. She lives in Naperville, IL with her husband and three kids where she enjoys trail runs, gardening, and making ice cream.
