--- product_id: 15849535 title: "Birding on Borrowed Time" brand: "phoebe snetsinger" price: "€ 127.02" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 10 url: https://www.desertcart.de/products/15849535-birding-on-borrowed-time store_origin: DE region: Germany --- # Birding on Borrowed Time **Brand:** phoebe snetsinger **Price:** € 127.02 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Birding on Borrowed Time by phoebe snetsinger - **How much does it cost?** € 127.02 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.de](https://www.desertcart.de/products/15849535-birding-on-borrowed-time) ## Best For - phoebe snetsinger enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted phoebe snetsinger brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Birding on Borrowed Time ## Images ![Birding on Borrowed Time - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51QlPkzilxL.jpg) ![Birding on Borrowed Time - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31iQMysUp5L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars If you're a birder, you'll enjoy it. *by C***W on Reviewed in the United States on October 28, 2022* Lots of birders have written memoirs by now, and if you've tried reading some, you'll know the quality is uneven. Phoebe Snetsinger's is quite readable. I wouldn't say it's a great book, or one that tries to appeal to any but a narrow audience, but if you're in that audience, it's consistently interesting, and there are stories of great birds and great places. I ended up with a deepened appreciation for what she accomplished--not just the number she put up, but the style she was aiming for--and she was honest enough to convey a good understanding of why her husband was driven to ask for a divorce. That said, it was worthwhile to read her memoir alongside Olivia Gentile's Life List, a good biography that is neither hostile nor fawning. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars Binoculars In Hand *by D***T on Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2011* Phoebe Snetsinger was the first person to see 8000 bird species or, in her preferred terms, 84% of known bird species. 'Birding On Borrowed Time' is her birding autobiography. Her title alludes to her learning she had cancer with perhaps only months to live. She decided to see as many bird species as possible before she died. She wrote, "If it's my last trip, so be it - but I'm going to make it a good one and go down binoculars in hand." She birded on borrowed time for 18 years.While she recounts some of her personal life and some of her birding exploits, her memoir is surprisingly cursory in both. If a reader wanted a fuller account of her personal trials and tribulations, the reader would be better off reading Olivia Gentile's ' Life List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds '. On her birding, Snetsinger captures the fun of identifying species, as well as the challenge and hard work that makes a difficult identification so rewarding and satisfying. She describes the ambivalent feelings of birders with the triumph at having finally seen and identified a species, yet the sadness that it "now no more there to look for". Nevertheless, with exceptions such as her account of breaking her wrist while in the Philippines and continuing to bird for weeks, much of her account is a list of where and when she saw which birds.It is rewarding to know where she birded and to dream of going to some of those places with the hope of seeing even a fraction of what she saw. For this reason and because she did "go down binoculars in hand", it is worth reading 'Birding On Borrowed Time'. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Few of us have lived so much as this dying woman. *by J***S on Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2012* Phoebe Snetsinger was in the next door cabana during my 1991 birding trip to Cuba. Her reputation preceded her - how she chose to go birding when told she had three months to live due to a melanoma. She was the first person to see over 8,000 bird species in the wild, and she saw 10 of those during our first morning in Cuba. The single paragraph she devoted to that trip in her autobiography only mentiobned those birds she missed: like Zapata Rail and Stygian Owl. Two years later I got the owl while leading another trip to Playa Larga, probably the only bird in the world that I had and she didn't when she died in an auto crash in Madagascar in 1999. Phoebe fundamentally changed how we do international birding, keeping copious notes on races which might someday be split, and refusing to count species that she heard and did not see. . She was all business, but possessed a puckish sense of humor, like the time she erected her umbrella during a shower, unbuttoned the top button and stuck it in her bra, leaving both hands free on the binoculars. "It's the only advantage a woman has in the field - the only one!" she said with a wink, and went right bacik to studying a Cuban Green Woodpecker. Reading her autobiography gave me an opportunity to recall this and other incidents. Her writing is no-nonsense. Anyone who aspires to be an international birder should read this book, and would do well to emulate her example.. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.de/products/15849535-birding-on-borrowed-time](https://www.desertcart.de/products/15849535-birding-on-borrowed-time) --- *Product available on Desertcart Germany* *Store origin: DE* *Last updated: 2026-05-02*