Paul Sykes

Paul is a retired, (2007) Wildlife Research Biologist with the U. S. Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division, (and was with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 28 years prior to joining the Survey).

He has been birding for 64 years all over North America. He lived at Delray Beach, FL for almost 20 years (1967 - 1986) and has birded all over the state.

He is a founding member of the FOS, and is a Fellow of the American Ornithologists’ Union.

While in Florida, he studied primarily the Snail Kite and the Dusky race of the Seaside Sparrow and has been involved in searches for the Ivory-billed Woodpecker for 40 some years in Florida, South Carolina, Texas, and Arkansas but has never seen or heard that species.

He has birded at the Dry Tortugas several dozen times over the years and when living in Florida often visited this island group 2-3 times per year.

Paul Sykes is nothing less than a legend in the sport of North American listing!

He has seen 457 species of birds in Florida, the second highest total.

His 793 species on the Lower Forty-Eight List have him in fifth place, and, on the most coveted North American list, the American Birding Association (ABA) Area Life List he has seen 875 species which puts him in a tie for second place.

He has participated in or led 27 birding trips, (totaling 586 days) to Alaska.

Sykes is the last word in Christmas Counts! At 16, he was (by a few months) the second youngest person to compile a North American Christmas Bird Count, and he has compiled 182 of them, far more than any other person.

The 432 Christmas Bird Counts in which he has participated, including one at the Dry Tortugas is also more than anyone else in history.

He continues to bird in Florida several times a year since moving to Georgia 25 years ago.

He conducted Breeding Bird Survey routes in Florida and Georgia for many years and assisted with Breeding Bird Atlas work in both of these states and currently participates on the Georgia Mid Winter Water Bird Survey.

Although retired, he is still continuing his studies (since 1999) of annual survival, site fidelity, and longevity of the eastern population of the Painted Bunting in NC, SC, GA and FL.