It is not every day that one gets a chance to be a world record holder.  But such was the magic of the 2011 Midwest Birding Symposium that each and every attendee that bothered to show up on Saturday night, 17 September 2011, had the chance to get into the record books.  For that fateful night was the night that 802 people set the new world record for most people doing a bird call simultaneously.

I know, I know, I’d be jealous too if I hadn’t been there.  Because not only did we set the record but we were led in our record-breaking by none other than The Bird Call Lady herself, the famous Nicole Perretta.  Rather than go on ad infinitum about how wonderful it was to be part of such an amazing event I will let the video speak for itself.  And 802 people pretending to be Barred Owls really can speak.  Or something.  Anyway, the video…

Were you there on this epic night?  Do you wish you were? I know that I can be glad that I was because as a world record holder it is my understanding that I get to cut to the front of the line at any movie theater or amusement park, I no longer need a license to drive or do anything else that requires a license, and I can walk into any bar in the world and get free booze.

It’s good to be a world record holder.

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.