Spot 100 birds a year
How many bird species can you recognize? Want to learn more?
Join the challenge and spot 100 species during 2026!
The popular challenge “Spot 100 Birds a Year” (Tunnista 100 lintulajia) is a fun way to get familiar with birds and birdwatching. Can you manage to observe one hundred bird species in Finland during a calendar year? Launched in 2017, the challenge has inspired thousands of people interested in nature to observe birds. We hope you will join as well.
This is not a competition but a personal challenge to observe birds at your own pace. Around 250 bird species breed in Finland, and in total more than 490 species have been observed within the country’s borders. Therefore, reaching 100 species in one year is a reasonable challenge for a beginner. It’s not impossible, but not entirely easy either. Remember that it doesn’t matter if you don’t reach the goal of 100 species—the important thing is that you learn something new and enjoy your time birdwatching.
The aim of the challenge is to increase interest in birdwatching and knowledge of nature. Participating is an excellent way to improve your ability to identify different bird species. A great way to do this is by joining local birding excursions organized by our regional associations.
Five categories
The basic idea of “Spot 100 Birds a Year” is to count how many bird species you observe in Finland during a calendar year. Observing means either seeing or hearing the bird. According to birdwatching practices, dead birds, captive-bred birds, or traces left by birds are not counted. Remember to follow the ethical birdwatching guidelines (page in Finnish and Swedish).
In 2026, there are five categories:
- Traditional category – observe and identify birds anywhere in Finland, regardless of the mode of transport.
- Eco category – consists of observations made without using motor vehicles. You only tick species seen at home or during trips powered by your own effort, such as walking, cycling, rowing, paddling, or riding. The goal is to encourage local exploration and provide extra challenge for those who can easily reach 100 species.
- Photo category – involves photographing one hundred bird species during the year. Remember ethical guidelines! Disturbing birds, especially during the breeding season, is prohibited.
- Audio category – species identified by their song or other sounds are counted.
- Children and youth category – for participants under 18 years old.
You can participate in one or several categories, and some categories can be combined.
Register and tick your observations
Participate by recording your observations conveniently using an online application (100lajia.birdlife.fi—unfortunately available only in Finnish, but you can load the content in English here). Start by registering and creating a username. After that, you can join the challenge and record your observations.
Be careful not to accidentally tick a rare bird species. The checklist includes all bird species observed in Finland, including those seen only once.
- For example, the Green Woodpecker (Picus viridis) is extremely rare in Finland—in practice, all “green woodpeckers” observed in Finland are Grey-headed Woodpeckers (Picus canus).
- Mistakes can happen when ticking species, for example selecting a species next to the one you intended.
To support your record-keeping, you can print a paper version of the checklist. The paper forms include what are considered the 150 most common species. The forms are available here:
Support for the challenge
Names of the bird species observed in Finland in Finnish, Swedish and English (with a search-tool)
Share experiences, photos, and questions in the encouraging Facebook group “100 lintulajia”. You may write in English in the group, but always provide the species names in Finnish or Swedish (or ask for help in identification).
Web pages (in Finnish):
- “Learn to recognize” (Opi tuntemaan) presents 100 common bird species, grouped so that two species are introduced each week based on the season.
- Common winter birds
- Common species nesting in nest boxes