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It was hot. Not the kind of hot which goes hand in hand with soft-serve ice creams and a cheeky game of volleyball on the beach, but instead I use…
This blog will start as an extremely brief one, but will hopefully get increasingly extensive with your input. If you e-mail us and and tell us what the most difficult…
Zululand, the area north of the Tugela River and south of the Mozambican border, is perhaps better known for its rich cultural history and big-five ...
Meet Dr Rollinson, an unassuming yet remarkably intelligent, passionate, enthusiastic, and driven guide who, although unable to answer your medical queries, will ...
When I mention the Cape most tourists will envisage Table Mountain, the dramatic cliffs of Cape Point, and the spectacular flower displays of the west ...
In this blog I take a closer look at the area south of 35°S as far as the Great White Continent and between the longitudes of 50°W and 20°E. This…
Birding has truly become a great international hobby that seems to be growing and growing. It is very exciting to see so many young folk (here in South Africa at…
There are many things synonymous with the Birding Ecotours brand, and the name Eduardo Ormaeche is most certainly one of them! Having been around since soon after the ...
This April, after his very successful Neotropical Bird Club Costa Rica fundraising tour (click here for trip report), Andy Walker had a busman’s holiday and went birding ....
Article written 20 Oct 2017 When you’re with Wian you are bound to have a good laugh and an enjoyable, fun-filled time exploring nature! His undying passion, enthusiasm, chivalry, and…
This June Andy Walker made a scouting trip to Iceland to have a look at some of the areas we’ll be visiting on the Birding Ecotours 2018 Iceland Tour. Here’s…
GREY PETREL COMING DOWN PORTSIDE FROM THE BOW” were the words blasting through the miniscule speaker on the guides’ radios. This was of course ...
We hereby announce two very exciting pieces of news, both of them related. First, that we’re opening a formal office ...
Twelve miles off the coast of central Maine lies Monhegan Island. Monahigan, as it was originally known, means ‘Island of the Sea’. This spectacular little island is one and a…
This May Andy Walker conducted a scouting trip to Peru to meet up with Birding Ecotours colleague and resident Peruvian tour leader and expert guide, Eduardo Ormaeche....
This May I again had the wonderful opportunity to represent Birding Ecotours at The Biggest Week in American Birding (BWIAB). The BWIAB is a 10-day long event ...
Whether to tick heard-only birds can be a contentious issue. My personal rule is to strictly exclude heard-only birds from all of my lists (including my world list, my southern African list,…
Israel is a haven for birds and birders alike. Israel during migration season is something else altogether. Down in southern Africa we don’t get to experience the ...
By Jason Boyce Larks, larks, larks … and more wonderful larks! The arid Northern Cape of South Africa is very well known for many wonderful species of larks, including seven…
Birding is amazing, no matter where you go and what kind of birds you prefer. For me, highlights are walking down a ...
I’m sure many of you may know this already, but I for one have been largely ignorant about one of the relatively newly split species, Scopoli’s Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), within the…
Pelagic Birding is a rather specific ‘art’ or aspect of birding, and it basically refers to an ocean-going trip taken on a boat in search of true ocean-going species, such…
May is known as the best month for birding in the eastern part of the United States, and in particular for the spectacular spring migration that occurs during this time…
Andy Walker spent some time in Thailand this winter and provides a brief summary of his time there below: This winter, between late January and early March, I spent time…
This January (2016), Andy Walker led our 15-day Birding Tour India: Birds, Tigers and the Himalayas. Here Andy provides a brief summary of the tour. Click this link to be taken to the…
85 % of the bird species of the southern third of Africa (705 species out of 829 regularly occurring ones), and an amazing 82 mammal species, seen in two months…
Every birder dreams of seeing the world’s most beautiful birds, the incomparable birds-of-paradise! This dream is only made more intense after viewing documentaries such as “Attenborough in Paradise” or the…
Not only was the first ever Yellow-throated Leaflove discovered just inside the southern African listing region this year, but it was actually not just one individual but a pair of…
Hottentot Buttonquail must be the most enigmatic of all of South Africa’s 18 endemics. Its world population is estimated ...
New Guinea: Birds of New Guinea (Pratt et al.). Hooray, the second edition is now out and is AMAZING! Please buy it, whether or not you’re planning a trip to…
Dylan, affectionately known as ‘Vas’ by many of his colleagues, has to be one of the most enjoyable people to go birding with! He is known to get excited at…
When asked the question “what is Africa’s most elusive bird species”, most birders would answer that it must be any of the flufftails, which are, of course, notorious. Or perhaps they…
20-year-old John is Birding Ecotours’ youngest bird guide. But that’s not all – John is also the world’s youngest person to see 800 bird species in Southern Africa in one…
Collins (or the Princeton version, Birds of Europe) has been the standard in field guides for some time, and this second edition goes from strength to strength. The ...
Field guides covering North America, in this context, include Alaska, Canada, and the Lower 48 of the United States. It does not include Hawaii, Greenland, Bermuda ...
Birds of Mexico and northern Central America (Steve N.G. Howell and Sophie Webb). Though this book is almost twenty years old, it still stands up ...
Article written 15 Jul 2015 Jason Boyce loves people. He delights in sharing his infectious knowledge and passion for the natural world with kids, adults, and anyone lucky enough to…
Article written 07 Jul 2015 Birding Ecotours guide Andy Walker lives, dreams and breathes birds. This passionate pitta-lover took some time out to share his story with our guest blogger Rachel…
Chris Lotz is the passionate founder and owner of Birding Ecotours. Our guest blogger, Rachel, decided to ask him a few questions to get to know him better… Rachel: Please tell…
Every naturalist using binoculars has an opinion on magnification, and there is never a shortage of advice as to what constitutes the best magnification for safari goers ...
If there is one bird in the world that can lure even non-birders out to look for it, it’s the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus). This regal, enigmatic bird has enraptured…
The Rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus), a chocolate-brown rail-like passerine, with a distinctive white head band and patches of red-orange plumage is an unusual bird that seems to have left scientists ...
As a keen photographer and specialist guide I am often asked advice on photography, cameras, and lenses, and get to see what visitors, from novice to professional photographers, arrive with.…
My first birding trip to South America was, strangely, a great disappointment. I opted to make Peru my first South American ...
The Champions of the Flyway is a mega-exciting 24-hour bird race (midnight to midnight on 25 March 2015), during which a bunch of teams (32 this year) compete ...
The Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) is a large bird, most frequently encountered on the ground, and conspicuously plumaged in striking red and ...
“The Champions of the Flyway” in Israel is not just a fun race for avid birders having a good time; it carries with it a strong message that appeals to…
Megan and I just returned from a 2-day birding trip to Harare, to make the most of the brief January to March window of opportunity (….but only in years of…
Jason Boyce, Justin Nicolau, Gary Nicolau, Peter Schoeman and Chris Lotz joined a few of the extremely helpful Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve staff to survey for owls...
Birding Ecotours is a Gold sponsor of the African Bird Club because of this club’s solid track record of helping to conserve the continent’s birds. African bird conservation is something…
There’s a vast array of bird tours available out there. To illustrate this point, Birding Ecotours alone offers a plethora of different trips just to Peru (not to mention all…
What is a Big Year? Is it a year which just so happens to take forever to end? Is it a year in which we (for once in our lives)…
If there were an award for the best father in the bird world, it would undoubtedly go to the African Jacana or “lily-trotter” (Actophilornis flavirostris) as this waterbird is often called ...
South Africa’s premier bird conservation organization, BirdLife South Africa, is responsible for keeping the country’s bird list updated annually. A hard ...
The purpose of this article is to provide the most up-to-date information on South Africa’s endemic birds (based on the 2015 update of the country’s official bird-list), and also to…
Diademed Plover This is definitely my favorite bird in South America. What can I say? Strangely, I cannot explain why I feel so attracted to this bird, as many other…
In November 2014, we did our first Malagasy “Owls of the World” ® tour, and it greatly exceeded expectations! We were seeking five of the world’s most localized ...
A birding tour is made largely by the guide. A good birding tour leader is the single element that can make a bird tour completely and utterly brilliant, rather than…
“ It was upper and middle class women who, in many ways, established the hobby of bird-watching. They were interested in nature and humane activities, rallying to end the shooting…
The Italian renaissance artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci is well known for his flying machines. Not only did he wish to fly, but he also wanted to walk on…
This note was written for the bulletin of the African Bird Club (https://www.africanbirdclub.org/) (ABC) and is published here on our blog with permission from ...
All continents except Europe and Antarctica have bird species that rely almost exclusively on nectar as a food source. These birds, which include African sunbirds and American hummingbirds, obtain ...
When people travel to the Kruger National Park they mostly go for the bigger animals, the “big five”, or even birds, but they always tend to overlook our gorgeous little…
A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife (Shirihai). This is the second edition, and, as the name implies, it is very complete. All the bird species from ...
Birds of the Middle East (Porter and Aspinall). This book covers Turkey, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and the Saudi Peninsula. It has very good plates ...
Collins Bird Guide/Birds of Europe (Svensson, Mullarney and Zetterström). This guide is the best for North Africa. It covers Morocco east to Egypt...
I always find it extremely surprising that Zambia and Malawi are not bombarded by birders. I guess these countries are just not ...
A great many African birders have never seen a flufftail, even though a couple of species are rather common. This is because they are Africa’s most elusive birds ...
Due to their nocturnal habits, we find that even talented birders are often unaware that their own neighbourhood is graced by owls. As one example, while African ...
At one time Central America was mostly underwater, and only the peaks of volcanoes rose above the water, creating islands ...
This day was very special: We were just about to give up searching for the baffling (and one of the very last Southern African) lark species – the Dusky Lark…
Birding Ecotours, was one of five teams that were invited to participate in the World Birding Rally, to be held in southern Peru over December 2013. It ...
Birdwatching tourism (or avitourism as it is sometimes called) has become a large industry and is the biggest niche within eco-tourism. The amount that wildlife watchers (primarily bird watchers) spend…
Out in the field, and under the low light intensities that owls are seen in, Cape and Spotted Eagle-Owls can easily be, and often are, confused with each other. We…
It was hot. Not the kind of hot which goes hand in hand with soft-serve ice creams and a cheeky game of volleyball on the beach, but instead I use…
This blog will start as an extremely brief one, but will hopefully get increasingly extensive with your input. If you e-mail us and and tell us what the most difficult…
Zululand, the area north of the Tugela River and south of the Mozambican border, is perhaps better known for its rich cultural history and big-five ...
When I mention the Cape most tourists will envisage Table Mountain, the dramatic cliffs of Cape Point, and the spectacular flower displays of the west ...
In this blog I take a closer look at the area south of 35°S as far as the Great White Continent and between the longitudes of 50°W and 20°E. This…
Birding has truly become a great international hobby that seems to be growing and growing. It is very exciting to see so many young folk (here in South Africa at…
This April, after his very successful Neotropical Bird Club Costa Rica fundraising tour (click here for trip report), Andy Walker had a busman’s holiday and went birding ....
This June Andy Walker made a scouting trip to Iceland to have a look at some of the areas we’ll be visiting on the Birding Ecotours 2018 Iceland Tour. Here’s…
Twelve miles off the coast of central Maine lies Monhegan Island. Monahigan, as it was originally known, means ‘Island of the Sea’. This spectacular little island is one and a…
This May Andy Walker conducted a scouting trip to Peru to meet up with Birding Ecotours colleague and resident Peruvian tour leader and expert guide, Eduardo Ormaeche....
Whether to tick heard-only birds can be a contentious issue. My personal rule is to strictly exclude heard-only birds from all of my lists (including my world list, my southern African list,…
By Jason Boyce Larks, larks, larks … and more wonderful larks! The arid Northern Cape of South Africa is very well known for many wonderful species of larks, including seven…
Birding is amazing, no matter where you go and what kind of birds you prefer. For me, highlights are walking down a ...
Pelagic Birding is a rather specific ‘art’ or aspect of birding, and it basically refers to an ocean-going trip taken on a boat in search of true ocean-going species, such…
May is known as the best month for birding in the eastern part of the United States, and in particular for the spectacular spring migration that occurs during this time…
Every birder dreams of seeing the world’s most beautiful birds, the incomparable birds-of-paradise! This dream is only made more intense after viewing documentaries such as “Attenborough in Paradise” or the…
Not only was the first ever Yellow-throated Leaflove discovered just inside the southern African listing region this year, but it was actually not just one individual but a pair of…
Every naturalist using binoculars has an opinion on magnification, and there is never a shortage of advice as to what constitutes the best magnification for safari goers ...
My first birding trip to South America was, strangely, a great disappointment. I opted to make Peru my first South American ...
Megan and I just returned from a 2-day birding trip to Harare, to make the most of the brief January to March window of opportunity (….but only in years of…
Andy Walker spent some time in Thailand this winter and provides a brief summary of his time there below: This winter, between late January and early March, I spent time…
This January (2016), Andy Walker led our 15-day Birding Tour India: Birds, Tigers and the Himalayas. Here Andy provides a brief summary of the tour. Click this link to be taken to the…
Zululand, the area north of the Tugela River and south of the Mozambican border, is perhaps better known for its rich cultural history and big-five ...
When I mention the Cape most tourists will envisage Table Mountain, the dramatic cliffs of Cape Point, and the spectacular flower displays of the west ...
85 % of the bird species of the southern third of Africa (705 species out of 829 regularly occurring ones), and an amazing 82 mammal species, seen in two months…
As a keen photographer and specialist guide I am often asked advice on photography, cameras, and lenses, and get to see what visitors, from novice to professional photographers, arrive with.…
At one time Central America was mostly underwater, and only the peaks of volcanoes rose above the water, creating islands ...
When I mention the Cape most tourists will envisage Table Mountain, the dramatic cliffs of Cape Point, and the spectacular flower displays of the west ...
By Jason Boyce Larks, larks, larks … and more wonderful larks! The arid Northern Cape of South Africa is very well known for many wonderful species of larks, including seven…
The purpose of this article is to provide the most up-to-date information on South Africa’s endemic birds (based on the 2015 update of the country’s official bird-list), and also to…
At one time Central America was mostly underwater, and only the peaks of volcanoes rose above the water, creating islands ...
We hereby announce two very exciting pieces of news, both of them related. First, that we’re opening a formal office ...
There’s a vast array of bird tours available out there. To illustrate this point, Birding Ecotours alone offers a plethora of different trips just to Peru (not to mention all…
South Africa’s premier bird conservation organization, BirdLife South Africa, is responsible for keeping the country’s bird list updated annually. A hard ...
All continents except Europe and Antarctica have bird species that rely almost exclusively on nectar as a food source. These birds, which include African sunbirds and American hummingbirds, obtain ...
This day was very special: We were just about to give up searching for the baffling (and one of the very last Southern African) lark species – the Dusky Lark…
Meet Dr Rollinson, an unassuming yet remarkably intelligent, passionate, enthusiastic, and driven guide who, although unable to answer your medical queries, will ...
There are many things synonymous with the Birding Ecotours brand, and the name Eduardo Ormaeche is most certainly one of them! Having been around since soon after the ...
Article written 20 Oct 2017 When you’re with Wian you are bound to have a good laugh and an enjoyable, fun-filled time exploring nature! His undying passion, enthusiasm, chivalry, and…
Dylan, affectionately known as ‘Vas’ by many of his colleagues, has to be one of the most enjoyable people to go birding with! He is known to get excited at…
20-year-old John is Birding Ecotours’ youngest bird guide. But that’s not all – John is also the world’s youngest person to see 800 bird species in Southern Africa in one…
Article written 15 Jul 2015 Jason Boyce loves people. He delights in sharing his infectious knowledge and passion for the natural world with kids, adults, and anyone lucky enough to…
Article written 07 Jul 2015 Birding Ecotours guide Andy Walker lives, dreams and breathes birds. This passionate pitta-lover took some time out to share his story with our guest blogger Rachel…
Chris Lotz is the passionate founder and owner of Birding Ecotours. Our guest blogger, Rachel, decided to ask him a few questions to get to know him better… Rachel: Please tell…
If there is one bird in the world that can lure even non-birders out to look for it, it’s the Snowy Owl (Bubo scandiacus). This regal, enigmatic bird has enraptured…
The Rail-babbler (Eupetes macrocerus), a chocolate-brown rail-like passerine, with a distinctive white head band and patches of red-orange plumage is an unusual bird that seems to have left scientists ...
The Southern Ground Hornbill (Bucorvus leadbeateri) is a large bird, most frequently encountered on the ground, and conspicuously plumaged in striking red and ...
If there were an award for the best father in the bird world, it would undoubtedly go to the African Jacana or “lily-trotter” (Actophilornis flavirostris) as this waterbird is often called ...
“ It was upper and middle class women who, in many ways, established the hobby of bird-watching. They were interested in nature and humane activities, rallying to end the shooting…
The Italian renaissance artist and inventor Leonardo da Vinci is well known for his flying machines. Not only did he wish to fly, but he also wanted to walk on…
In November 2014, we did our first Malagasy “Owls of the World” ® tour, and it greatly exceeded expectations! We were seeking five of the world’s most localized ...
Birding has truly become a great international hobby that seems to be growing and growing. It is very exciting to see so many young folk (here in South Africa at…
Twelve miles off the coast of central Maine lies Monhegan Island. Monahigan, as it was originally known, means ‘Island of the Sea’. This spectacular little island is one and a…
This May I again had the wonderful opportunity to represent Birding Ecotours at The Biggest Week in American Birding (BWIAB). The BWIAB is a 10-day long event ...
May is known as the best month for birding in the eastern part of the United States, and in particular for the spectacular spring migration that occurs during this time…
Jason Boyce, Justin Nicolau, Gary Nicolau, Peter Schoeman and Chris Lotz joined a few of the extremely helpful Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve staff to survey for owls...
Due to their nocturnal habits, we find that even talented birders are often unaware that their own neighbourhood is graced by owls. As one example, while African ...
Out in the field, and under the low light intensities that owls are seen in, Cape and Spotted Eagle-Owls can easily be, and often are, confused with each other. We…
GREY PETREL COMING DOWN PORTSIDE FROM THE BOW” were the words blasting through the miniscule speaker on the guides’ radios. This was of course ...
I’m sure many of you may know this already, but I for one have been largely ignorant about one of the relatively newly split species, Scopoli’s Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), within the…
Pelagic Birding is a rather specific ‘art’ or aspect of birding, and it basically refers to an ocean-going trip taken on a boat in search of true ocean-going species, such…
New Guinea: Birds of New Guinea (Pratt et al.). Hooray, the second edition is now out and is AMAZING! Please buy it, whether or not you’re planning a trip to…
Collins (or the Princeton version, Birds of Europe) has been the standard in field guides for some time, and this second edition goes from strength to strength. The ...
Field guides covering North America, in this context, include Alaska, Canada, and the Lower 48 of the United States. It does not include Hawaii, Greenland, Bermuda ...
Birds of Mexico and northern Central America (Steve N.G. Howell and Sophie Webb). Though this book is almost twenty years old, it still stands up ...
A Complete Guide to Antarctic Wildlife (Shirihai). This is the second edition, and, as the name implies, it is very complete. All the bird species from ...
Birds of the Middle East (Porter and Aspinall). This book covers Turkey, Syria, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and the Saudi Peninsula. It has very good plates ...
Collins Bird Guide/Birds of Europe (Svensson, Mullarney and Zetterström). This guide is the best for North Africa. It covers Morocco east to Egypt...
When people travel to the Kruger National Park they mostly go for the bigger animals, the “big five”, or even birds, but they always tend to overlook our gorgeous little…
I’m sure many of you may know this already, but I for one have been largely ignorant about one of the relatively newly split species, Scopoli’s Shearwater (Calonectris diomedea), within the…
It was hot. Not the kind of hot which goes hand in hand with soft-serve ice creams and a cheeky game of volleyball on the beach, but instead I use…
This 12-day birding and wildlife tour of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, was absolutely spectacular! Some of the many highlights were Bornean....
This 19-day custom China tour visited the province of Sichuan and commenced in Chengdu on the 23th of June 2018 and concluded back....
This custom birding and photography tour for Jim and Barbara commenced on the 2nd October 2016 in New Caledonia and concluded on the 20th ...
Our scouting venture to Austria and Hungary began on the 20th of August in a small town called Rotheau, not far from Vienna. We were fortunate enough to have in…
Without doubt, our 2017 Peru Cusco and Manu birding trip was a great experience for those who never have been in the Neotropics, especially considering the short time to..
Bhutan, “the Land of the Thunder Dragon”, is an awe-inspiring place to bird. Birding amidst its spectacular scenery and ancient Buddhist dzongs is an ...
This Central Peru birding tour was Birding Ecotours’ last Peru tour of 2016, and it was a huge success. It was a privilege to be part of this Birding Ecotours…
This 9-day scheduled Iceland tour commenced in Reykjavík on the 10th of June 2018 and concluded back there on the 18th of June 2018. This tour led through some of…
This was another fantastic Cuban birding tour with a wonderful group of participants. We found all the Cuban and regional endemics we were targeting, except for Gundlach’s...
This scheduled tour around northern Costa Rica, doubling as a Conservation Tour for the Neotropical Bird Club, commenced on the 13th of March 2017 in...
Our last custom tour of 2015 was a short 6-days tour in Costa Rica, which included two of the main natural habitats: The Caribbean lowlands in the northern part of the.…
The western Ghats in the state of Kerala is one of those well-known birding destinations in India that has a lot to offer and is well worth a visit, having…
This one-week customized Poland tour commenced in Krakow on the 28th of May 2018 and concluded back there on the 4th of June 2018. The tour visited the bird-rich fishpond...
A new destination for all the participants on the tour, a tour that offers a whole lot more than you would expect, something for everyone! India is a country rich…
By now the Champions of the Flyway (COTF) bird race is well known across birding circles worldwide and is fast becoming one of the most prestigious 24-hour bird races in…
This customized tour commenced in Kuala Lumpur on 7th January 2018 and concluded back there on the 18th January 2018. The tour followed our set-departure route...
Our Classic Colombia 16-day birding tour was perhaps one of the most enjoyable, exciting, and memorable trips that I ever had the opportunity to guide...
New Guinea is a geographical rather than a political term that refers to the main island in the region. The western half of the island of New Guinea comprises the…
The geographic isolation and diverse habitats present in the southwest of the state of Western Australia results in a number of endemic species and subspecies. This short ....