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,[1] more than anyone else in history at the time, and was the first person to see more than 8,000.

[1] After receiving a melanoma diagnosis at age 50, Snetsinger took up birding avidly, becoming known as a sharp observer who kept detailed notes.

[1] After that Alaska trip, Snetsinger travelled widely to identify birds and see new places in the world.

[5] 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.

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.

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.

[5] Birding has meant a variety of things to many different people but for me it has been intricately intertwined with survival Reviewing the biography of Snetsinger by Olivia Gentile, Frank Graham, Jr.[1] 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.

[1] 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.

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."

"[12] She was acknowledged as the "current world record holder, with more than 8,000 bird species to her credit"[12] 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".

[16] On November 23, 1999, while on a birding trip in Madagascar, the van in which Snetsinger was riding overturned, killing her instantly.