:Phoebe Snetsinger

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Phoebe Snetsinger

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Phoebe snetsinger.jpg

| caption =

| birth_name = Phoebe Geddes Burnett

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1931|06|09}}

| birth_place = Lake Zurich, Illinois, US

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|11|23|1931|06|09}}

| death_place = Madagascar

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| other_names =

| education = Swarthmore College

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| known_for = Birding

| notable_works = Birding on Borrowed Time

| style =

| television =

| spouse = David Snetsinger

| partner =

| children = 4

| parents = Leo Burnett (father)

| relatives =

| awards =

| website =

}}

Phoebe Snetsinger (née Burnett; June 9, 1931 – November 23, 1999) 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. Her memoir, Birding on Borrowed Time, explores this achievement. She traveled the world multiple times to find birds in their habitats. She was described as having had an excellent memory and a strong competitive spirit.

After receiving a melanoma diagnosis at age 50, Snetsinger took up birding avidly, becoming known as a sharp observer who kept detailed notes. Her multiple expeditions around the world to often remote locations occasionally proved to be dangerous. Initially driven to join the competition of seeing the most birds by the prognosis that her cancer was fatal, she died in a vehicle accident while birding in Madagascar about 18 years after the diagnosis.

Early life, family and education

Phoebe Burnett was born on June 9, 1931, to Naomi Geddes and Leo Burnett and was raised in Lake Zurich, Illinois.{{cite news |last=Martin|first=Douglas|title=Phoebe Snetsinger, 68, Dies; Held Record for Bird Sightings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/02/us/phoebe-snetsinger-68-dies-held-record-for-bird-sightings.html |newspaper=The New York Times|date=December 2, 1999| accessdate=18 March 2012}} Leo Burnett was a giant in the advertising industry. From him, she inherited many traits and a considerable fortune after his death in 1971. These funds aided in paying for numerous trips in pursuit of her later life hobby.{{cite magazine |last=Graham |first=Frank Jr. |title= The Endless Race: A new biography explores the remarkable accomplishments of Phoebe Snetsinger, the first birder to list 8,000 species. |url= http://www.audubon.org/magazine/may-june-2009/the-endless-race |publisher= National Audubon Society |date=May–June 2009 |magazine= Audubon Magazine| via= audubon.org |accessdate=18 March 2012}}

She attended a tiny elementary school in Lake Zurich with only two other students. At age 11, she met her future husband, David Snetsinger (who was 13), at a 4-H club.

She studied at Swarthmore College, graduating with a degree in the German language. She taught afterwards at a nearby girls school. After her husband's military service in Korea, they both pursued master's degrees. Hers was in German literature.

Birding career and melanoma diagnosis

Snetsinger was inspired to begin birding after seeing a Blackburnian warbler in 1961.{{cite web |url= http://ca.audubon.org/news/celebrating-women-birders-phoebe-snetsinger |title=Celebrating Women Birders: Phoebe Snetsinger |accessdate=June 9, 2016 |date=March 8, 2012 |author=Ogden, Daniela |publisher=Audubon California}} Her first bird watching trip was in 1965 in Minnesota with a friend. She became locally known as a successful birder in the 1970s.{{Cite web |last=Nelson |first=Libby |date=June 9, 2016 |title=Phoebe Snetsinger lived a life that proves middle-aged bird-watchers can be action heroes |url=https://www.vox.com/2016/6/9/11889356/phoebe-snetsinger |access-date=9 June 2016 |website=Vox}}

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.{{cite journal |author1= Brodie, Christopher |author2=Schneider, David |date= June 9, 2016 |title=Road Ecology, Birding on Borrowed Time, and more… |journal=American Scientist |format=book review |url=https://www.americanscientist.org/article/road-ecology-birding-on-borrowed-time-and-more... |access-date= 9 June 2016 |location=New York |publisher= Vox Media }} Instead of convalescence at home or pursuing treatments, she took a trip to Alaska to watch birds, and returned home to find the cancer in remission. The cancer went into remission about five years at a time, then would recur. She sought surgical treatment for one recurrence. After that Alaska trip, Snetsinger travelled widely to identify birds and see new places in the world. She visited remote areas, sometimes under unstable political conditions, to add to her growing life list. As an amateur ornithologist, she took copious field notes, especially regarding distinctive subspecies, many of which have since been reclassified as full species.

When Snetsinger began observing birds, there were about 8,500 known species, compared to about 10,000 in the year of her death. In 1995 she submitted a list of 8,040 species she had documented to the American Birding Association (ABA) and to the Guinness Book of World Records.{{cite book |title=Zen Birding |page=16 |first1=David M. |last1=White |first2=Susan M. |last2=Guyette |publisher=John Hunt Publishing |year=2010 |location=Ropley, Hampshire, UK |isbn= 978-1846943898 |url= https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1846943892}} She was the first person to exceed 8,000 species observed, in 1995.{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=HTX6BatQFDgC&pg=PA96 |title=The Bird Almanac: A Guide to Essential Facts and Figures of the World's Birds |author=Bird, David Michael |page=96 |publisher=Firefly Books |year=2004 |edition= Second |isbn=978-1552979259 |accessdate= June 10, 2016}} By the time of her death, she had identified and documented 8,398 species, nearly 85% of the known species in the world. Her observations included 2,000 birds in monotypic genera, that is, the only species in the genus. Her detailed notes on the birds she saw were expected to lengthen her list, as some were likely to be identified as new species after her death.

{{Quote box |quoted=true |bgcolor=#F3F0FD |salign= right| quote = Birding has meant a variety of things to many different people but for me it has been intricately intertwined with survival |source=— Phoebe Snetsinger |align=right|width=250px}}

Reviewing the biography of Snetsinger by Olivia Gentile, Frank Graham, Jr. compared her strong competitive spirit with that of Danica Patrick in auto racing and Judit Polgár of Hungary in chess, both women successful in male-dominated fields. Snetsinger travelled about four months each year, spending the rest of the year studying photos of birds, quite aware of the competition. Her mother saw this activity as that of "a bird afraid of being caged." She missed her mother's funeral and the wedding of one of her daughters while on trips to observe birds.

The long time of remission gave her a sense of invincibility, though she endured injuries, and in Papua New Guinea, she was gang-raped by five men with machetes. Yet she returned to Papua New Guinea the next year. Her treks took her to deserts, swamps, jungles and mountains on every continent several times over. Over her career, she survived malaria, a potentially deadly boat accident, and being taken hostage in Ethiopia.{{cite news |url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/2009/05/23/housewife-finds-her-wings-watching-the-worlds-birds/ |title=Housewife finds her wings watching the world's birds |format=book review |author=Seaman, Donna |date=May 23, 2009 |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 15, 2016}} According to birder Nate Swick, birding in 2016 is much less effort than when Snetsinger did her work of observing birds in their habitat, as many nations have promoted ecotourism to strengthen their economy, and Snetsinger is seen by other birders as a pioneer.{{cite web |url= http://blog.aba.org/2016/06/happy-85th-birthday-phoebe-snetsinger-love-google.html |title=Happy 85th Birthday, Phoebe Snetsinger! Love, Google. |author=Swick, Nate |date=June 9, 2016 |publisher= American Birding Association ABA Blog |accessdate= June 10, 2016}} Tony Bennett, who knew her from birding in New Mexico, said she was the "consummate craftsman of bird-watching . . . intense, and knowledgable[sic]."{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/phoebe-snetsinger-the-woman-who-listed-more-than-8000-bird-species-a7071596.html#commentsDiv |title=Phoebe Snetsinger: woman who documented more than 8,000 bird species celebrated in Google Doodle |author=Revesz, Rachael |date=June 9, 2016 |newspaper=The Independent |accessdate=June 10, 2016}}

Memoir

Snetsinger's memoir, entitled Birding on Borrowed Time, was published posthumously in 2003 by The American Birding Association (ABA). The publisher described it in this way: "More than merely a travel narrative, the book is also a profoundly moving human document, as it details how Phoebe Snetsinger's obsession with birds became a way of coping with terminal illness."

Awards and honors

In 1994, the Guinness Book of Records named her "the world's leading bird-watcher".{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQhj-D1WpkcC&q=phoebe+snetsinger+species |title=The Guinness Book of Records 1994 |date=April 1, 1994 |edition=Revised |publisher=Bantam Books |page=91 |isbn=978-0553565614 |accessdate=June 15, 2016 |author1=Matthews, Peter |author2=McWhirter, Norris |editor=Matthews, Peter}}

In a 1995 interview, "Snetsinger says a serious birder who goes out with experienced companions once a week might accumulate 200 new species in a year as she once did. After a year like that, however, the pace slows down drastically, since you will have seen almost all the state's common species."{{cite web |url=http://www.birdmilwaukee.com/docs/Famous_Birder_Bios/Phoebe_Snetsinger.htm |title=World Champ Offers Missouri Birding Tips |author=Low, Jim |publisher=Bird Milwaukee}} She was acknowledged as the "current world record holder, with more than 8,000 bird species to her credit"

In 1999, the Guinness Book of Records said of Phoebe Snetsinger: "TOP BIRD-WATCHERS Phoebe Snetsinger of Webster Groves, Missouri, has spotted 8,040 of the 9,700 known bird species since 1965".{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WtG8KF73Rc4C&q=bibliogroup:%22Guinness+World+Records%22+phoebe+snetsinger+species |title=Guinness Book of Records 1999 |author=Guinness World Records |date=September 1, 1998 |publisher=Guinness Records |isbn=978-0965238397 |page=58 |edition=39 Illustrated |accessdate=June 15, 2016}}

In 2010, she was described as one of two people ever to see more than 8,000 species of birds.{{cite magazine|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/23871/phoebe-snetsinger-birder-extraordinaire|title=Phoebe Snetsinger: Birder Extraordinaire|date=February 4, 2010|magazine=Mental Floss|author=Israel, David K.|accessdate=June 10, 2016}}{{cite web|url=http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2003/12/worlds-best-birdwatcher|title=The World's Best Birdwatcher|date=November 16, 2010|publisher=Missouri Department of Conservation|orig-year=2003|work=Missouri Conservationist Magazine|accessdate=June 10, 2016}}

To honor Snetsinger on her 85th birthday, on June 9, 2016, a commemorative Google Doodle was posted.{{cite web|url=https://doodles.google/doodle/phoebe-snetsingers-85th-birthday/|title=Phoebe Snetsinger's 85th birthday|access-date=June 9, 2016}}

Death

On November 23, 1999, while on a birding trip in Madagascar, the van in which Snetsinger was riding overturned, killing her instantly. The final bird she observed before the accident was the red-shouldered vanga, a species which had been described as new to science only two years before, in 1997.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/top-bird-watcher-in-world-killed-dies-in-bus-crash-1129634.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/top-bird-watcher-in-world-killed-dies-in-bus-crash-1129634.html |archive-date=2022-05-26 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Top bird-watcher in world killed dies in bus crash |author=Unwin, Brian |newspaper=The Independent |date=November 28, 1999 |accessdate=June 10, 2016}}

Personal life

Phoebe and David Snetsinger had four children, three of whom are bird researchers in the United States. At the time of Phoebe'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 U.S.; and Thomas was researching endangered species of birds for the federal government. Their third daughter, Penny, is a chemistry professor at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut.{{cite web |url=https://www.sacredheart.edu/phonebook/penny-snetsinger.php|title=Penny A. Snetsinger, Ph.D. |publisher=Sacred Heart University |location=Fairfield, Connecticut |accessdate=2020-10-27}}

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