For many birders, doing a Big Year is a once in a lifetime dream. For the husband and wife team of David and Tammy McQuade, it’s downright commonplace. They’re doing a Big Year right now. They also did one last year. And the year before that. And the year before THAT. Join the McQuades for a lively presentation of some of the wildest and most memorable moments from their years chasing birds.
David and Tammy McQuade were high school sweethearts and have been married for 37 years. Tammy and David have always had a love of the outdoors. Their lives changed dramatically in 2012 when they saw the movie The Big Year. The idea of counting Birds and deliberately targeting species had a particular appeal. They started with a big weekend in 2013, and it hasn’t stopped since.
To date, they are the only couple in eBird to have had 5 consecutive years of over 700 birds in the US. Dave now holds the distinction of being number 1 on eBird with having the most species photographed in the U.S. - 887 species.
They administrate the SW Florida Bird Alert Group on Facebook, give presentations at local birding groups, and are guides at the local Cape Coral Burrowing Owl Festival. Additionally, they are graduates of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Macaulay Library Sound Recording Workshop. They love doing long-range pelagics on their 30’ boat, the McLagic, in the Gulf of Mexico when time permits. David and Tammy are proud to have contributed to the science and data of the bird distribution in the eastern part of the Gulf of Mexico and feel this is their greatest birding accomplishment.