News from Field Guides (December 2024)

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Welcome to our December emailing!

Happy Holidays, friends. Thanks for taking a few minutes out of your day during this festive season to check out what's happening with Field Guides. We know that everyone gets busy this time of year, so we've kept this email a bit shorter than usual.

The year is closely approaching the finish line, but before it does we still have a few more tours getting started. Folks will soon be heading out with us to Costa Rica, Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, and Arizona. There is certainly an appeal to spending the holidays on a birding adventure!

In this month's emailing we start off with a feature about three new tours we are excited to operate in 2025, as well as information about several others that we haven't offered in a few years—most of them to international destinations. If you're looking for a domestic birding adventure in the next six months or so, we have a couple of suggestions below. You'll also find our regular sections, such as a roster of our upcoming tours with space, ten recent triplists and a dozen fresh itineraries. There's a link to our Field Guides store, and of course we also have our Recent Photos Gallery, with more than 100 images from tours spanning the globe. There's a reminder, too, about our updated on-tour health protocols. Lastly, we have a special contribution from guide Micah Riegner about a fantastic canopy walkway found on one of our Peru tours.

Our thanks to participant Kathleen John for the photo above of a Pine Grosbeak enjoying its element. She took this fine shot on our Owlberta: Alberta's Owls & More tour a couple years ago. We're offering the tour again this winter. And we also appreciate the image below of a pair of Eared Grebes taken by participant Doug Clarke during last summer's Canadian Rockies: Alberta tour.

As always, we appreciate you opening and reading through this emailing, and if a tour seems interesting and you'd like to find out more, just contact our office and we'll help you get on your way.

New and returning tours in 2025

The new year will bring three new tours to our Field Guides schedule, one here in the U.S., one in China, and one to a new region of Colombia. We're excited to tell you about them, and even more excited to take you along. We also have a handful of tours in 2025 that we haven't operated for a few years, with departures ranging from May through November. We have a short blurb about each of them below. If any piques your interest, please don't hesitate to contact our office for more information or to book a space.

NEW IN 2025:

China's Sichuan Province, Jun 1-22 with Doug Gochfeld. A focus on pheasants (14 species possible, including the alluring Blood Pheasant pictured above), but also numerous other specialties that Sichuan has to offer, including Lammergeier, Snow Pigeon, Przevalski's Pinktail, and many others. Add a fascinating culture and delicious cuisine, and this is a hard tour to pass up. Spaces available.

Colombia's Inirida: Land of Many Waters, Nov 24-Dec 1 with Jesse Fagan. We have carved out a new itinerary to a spectacular destination in far-eastern Colombia, a transition zone between the Venezuelan and Colombian savanna and the Amazon Basin. Our targets include range-restricted species such as Yapacana Antbird, Spot-backed Antwren, Yellow-crowned Manakin (pictured above), Azure-naped Jay, Orinoco Piculet, and Orinoco Softail. One space available.

Birding the Dakotas: Prairies, Black Hills & Badlands, May 30-Jun 6 with Cory Gregory. This early-spring visit to the prairie pothole region combines birding with geology and visiting American landmarks. It covers both of the Dakotas—two states where we have never previously offered tours. While there is currently no space available, we encourage anyone interested to inquire about the 2025 waitlist or our 2026 departure.

RETURNING IN 2025:

Brazil: Minas Gerais & Tocantins: Blue-eyed Ground Dove and Beyond, May 10-27 with Marcelo Barreiros. After a 75-year disappearance, Blue-eyed Ground Dove was rediscovered in 2015, and we built this tour not only to see this bird but also to help preserve it. This will be our third running, and we've been successful seeing the ground dove (as the photo here suggests) along with a whole bunch of seldom-seen regional endemics. Spaces available.

Mongolia: The Gobi Desert, Steppe & Taiga, Jun 7-25 with Phil Gregory. We've not visited this heart of Asia since 2019, and we are just itching to return. This most sparsely populated country on the planet boasts jaw-dropping landscapes, unforgettable birds and wildlife, and a unique culture. Spaces available.

Central Peruvian Endemics: The High Andes, Oct 5-22 with Dan Lane. Breathtaking high-elevation scenery awaits participants on this tour as we are at or above 10,000 feet for much of it. On this occasional offering we seek many upper-elevation endemics and specialties of the central Peruvian Andes, including Giant Conebill, Tit-like Dacnis, White-cheeked Cotinga, Rufous-eared Brush-Finch, and the highly local Plain-tailed Warbling-Finch. Spaces available.

Local guide Herbert Byaruhanga knows the spot for Shoebill at Magamba Wetland. Photo by guide Terry Stevenson.

Essential Short Uganda: Shoebill, Gorillas, Chimps & Albertine Rift Birding, Nov 1-14 with Jay VanderGaast. Sometimes the tour name is all you need to know to decide to sign up. The mighty Shoebill awaits, along with magnificent Silverback gorillas and social and intelligent Chimpanzees, among many other Ugandan specialties, both avian and mammalian. One space available.

Mexico: Yucatan & Cozumel, Nov 22-Dec 1 with Megan Edwards Crewe. Rich tropical birding with a spectacular cultural setting are on offer on this tour in neighboring Mexico. A handful of endemics punctuate a birdlist that brims with great birds, including the gorgeous Gray-throated Chat, Turquoise-browed Motmot, American Pygmy Kingfisher, Mexican Sheartail, and a stellar pink flock of American Flamingos. Spaces available.

For more information or to book a space, please contact our office.

Something close to home?

Looking for a nearby birding destination in the new year? Here are a few tours with space available to consider, from mid-winter to spring. Each of them has two or more spaces available.

New Mexico: Birding the Land of Enchantment, Feb 1-8 with Owen Hilchey. This fun winter trip takes in the spectacle of thousands of wintering Sandhill Cranes and Snow and Ross's geese at the iconic Bosque del Apache N.W.R., as well as rosy-finches in the Sandia Mountains, plus other goodies.

Colorado Grouse, April 11-22 with Micah Riegner & Alex Sundvall. This is THE tour to round up those big dancing chickens in the western U.S. We trek to the leks of five of them (Greater and Lesser prairie-chickens, Greater and Gunnison sage-grouse, and Sharp-tailed Grouse) and witness their unique courtship displays. We also visit spots where we've been successful finding White-tailed Ptarmigan and Dusky Grouse. Add the opportunity for rosy-finches, two longspur species, and Mountain Plovers—among many other birds and spectacular scenery—and you'll see why this is such a popular tour.

Florida: Mangroves & Migrants, Apr 26-May 5 with Doug Gochfeld & Sam Wilson. Tens of thousands of terns and noddies swirling overhead at the Dry Tortugas while you try to pick out something different...and adding White-crowned Pigeon, Snail Kite, Antillean Nighthawk, Black-whiskered Vireo, and Mangrove Cuckoo to your North American lists—these are just a couple of great reasons to join Doug and Sam on this tour.

Arizona: Birding the Border I & II, May 7-16 with Chris Benesh; May 16-25 with Micah Riegner. Two departures of our flagship tour to southeastern Arizona, home to more species than any other similarly sized region in the U.S. When people talk about birding Arizona, this is the tour they mean. There's no better way to visit here than with guides like Chris and Micah, who know where to find everything you want to see and take all the work out of it for you.

Spring in Cape May, May 11-17 with Doug Gochfeld. Another iconic birding destination, and while it is perhaps better known for its fall fallouts, springtime offers great birding, too. Many eastern warblers are to be found, all in fine feather and singing. Saltmarsh and Seaside sparrows are around, while Clapper Rails lurk in the mud. To top it off, we expect more than two dozen shorebird species feasting on horseshoe crab eggs along the coast of Delaware Bay.

To inquire about any of these tours, or to book a space, please contact our office.

Canopy walkway in Peru

Hey birders! Guide Micah Riegner here. I want to take a few moments to share with you what it’s like to spend a morning on the Canopy Walkway at the Amazon Conservatory for Tropical Studies (ACTS)—a world-class birding destination in the heart of the Peruvian Amazon.

Picture waking up in your cabin at the ACTS Lodge, deep in the forest off the Rio Napo in Loreto, Peru. It’s still dark and the Tropical Screech-Owls outside continue to call. You find your way to the dining area and a beautiful spread awaits—scrambled eggs, fruit, coffee, and a variety of baked goods have been meticulously arranged on the table. After breakfast you set out on the trail following the leaders. It’s still too dark to see much, but you can begin to make out some gray sky poking through the gaps in the trees. As you walk along the forest trail, diurnal birds begin to vocalize. A Buckley’s Forest-Falcon gives a distant three-note cry, and a Slate-colored Antbird starts up, too. In about 30 minutes, you reach the base of the canopy walkway. You make it up to the first platform, then pause, catch your breath, and take in the sights and sounds of the awakening forest. The walkway bridges ahead gradually climb until you reach the largest tree, where your guides await, scopes ready for action. From up high you can see miles and miles of rolling hills cloaked in unbroken forest, as fog slowly rises out of the valleys. The first birds to be called out are a White-browed Purpletuft atop a nearby snag, a close pair of White-necked Puffbirds, and a Golden-collared Toucanet giving a frog-like growl, tipping up and down as it calls. A male Fiery Topaz hummer zips in and pauses momentarily at a flowering mistletoe before shooting away—its long, forked tail feathers streaming behind.

In the Neotropics, bird activity comes in waves. One minute you’re immersed in a busy feeding flock with Gilded Barbets, Dugand’s and Ash-winged antwrens, Chestnut-winged Hookbills and Chestnut-winged Foliage-Gleaners, Duida Woodcreepers, Pink-throated Becards, Amazonian Elaenias, White-lored Tyrannulets, Yellow-margined and Whiskered flycatchers, Fulvous Shrike-Tanagers, and Flame-crested, Yellow-backed, Opal-crowned, and Paradise tanagers. The next minute you’re left with the drone of the cicadas and the distant yelp of the White-throated Toucans. One of the best birds to look for from the walkway is Lanceolated Monklet. This adorable little puffbird—just over five inches long—perches on horizontal branches high in the canopy, but surprisingly it nests on the ground.

You might also spot a mammal or two from the walkway, perhaps a Black-mantle Tamarin—a small, hyperactive monkey that is found only on the north bank of the Rio Napo. Neotropical Pygmy Squirrel, another species to watch for, is the size of a mouse and zips around like a roller-coaster through the treetops, often accompanying avian mixed feeding flocks. High-pitched squeaks often give away its presence, but even so it can be tough to see.

If you’re super lucky you might see a Tropical Thornytail Iguana, a strange lizard that by no means resembles an iguana! It's about eight inches long with a bulbous head and a short, compressed tail. The males have a bright rusty head and yellow neck collar. You’ll only find them high up in the trees.

As the morning warms, activity has dropped, so your leaders begin to make their way down to the forest floor. You reach the ground and have a snack break, then bird some more. Chestnut-belted Gnateaters, Short-billed Leaftossers, Rusty-belted Tapaculos, and Musician Wrens will keep you occupied until lunch. The walkway is also a fun place to visit at night. On moonlit evenings, you might try your luck at one of Amazonia’s most mythical birds: Nocturnal Curassow. If one calls, you’ll make your way down to the trails below and follow the local guides to the source of the sound. On the past two trips I’ve co-led with Bret Whitney, we’ve had great success hearing and actually seeing this prized species. One year we found a bird singing only 30 feet off the ground. Its deep booming voice reverberating through the forest is something I’ll never forget!

Next August I’ll be returning to Iquitos with Luis, our local guide, so if you want to experience the ACTS Canopy Walkway for yourself, now’s your chance to make it happen! Check out our Iquitos, Peru: Canopy Walkways & Ancient Forests web page for more information about the tour. Happy birding!

Update to our health protocols

A reminder that effective December 31, 2024, we are ending our COVID vaccination requirement. We will no longer require clients to provide Field Guides with confirmation of vaccination for COVID-19 prior to a tour.

We strongly recommend getting a current flu shot at least two weeks prior to your trip, as well as keeping up with COVID boosters and all other vaccinations as recommended by the CDC or your doctor.

You can read our full health protocols by clicking here.

Field Guides swag is available! We've got shirts, hats, hoodies, mugs, stickers, tote bags, even pajama pants—all a click away at our Field Guides Store. Fashionable and functional—sure to keep you comfortable and looking spiffy—check it all out at the store.

Triplists from recent tours

We have triplists from past tours linked below, each with some lovely images and some with video clips, and all with great texts by our guides. Enjoy!

ALASKA FALL GOLDMINE: PRIBILOFS

with Doug Gochfeld

SOUTH AFRICA

with Terry Stevenson & Tarry Butcher

NORTHWESERN ARGENTINA: THE CHACO, CORDOBA & NORTHERN ANDES

with Willy Perez

MACHU PICCHU & ABRA MALAGA, PERU

with Dan Lane

BRAZIL'S JAPURA & TEFE RIVERS: MAMIRAUA, AMANA & THE UNKNOWN

with Bret Whitney

LOUISIANA: YELLOW RAILS & CRAWFISH TAILS

with Dan Lane

ATLANTIC ODYSSEY: SOUTH GEORGIA TO TRISTAN DA CUNHA & ST. HELENA

with Doug Gochfeld

MAINE IN FALL: SEABIRDS & COASTAL MIGRANTS

with Sam Wilson

WILD KENYA: A TENTED CAMP SAFARI

with Terry Stevenson

BORNEO II

with Megan Edwards Crewe

Comments from participants

We carefully read each post-tour evaluation we receive from our participants, so that we can continue to offer the best possible birding experiences and service on Field Guides birding tours. Here are two representative recent comments. From all of us at Field Guides, our thanks for all your valuable feedback.

“I've wanted to go to Southern India for a long time and Field Guides is always my first choice. Terry Stevenson being the guide was an added bonus. Terry is a wonderful guide and birder who takes excellent care of his group. It would be my pleasure to travel with him anytime, anywhere. The tour was excellent. Accommodations and transportation were very good. We had several guides at various locations, so everyone in the small group had help finding birds if or when needed. Many of the hotels exceeded expectations and all hotels were warm and welcoming places to stay. Having tour manager Sharon Mackie along was an absolute delight!!! She added so much to the tour experience. She proved to be an excellent spotter, having been the first to locate some of our target species. She was kind and helpful in so many ways both in the field and at the hotels. She is a lovely, enthusiastic, and fun person to spend time with.” D.R., Southern India: Western Ghats Endemics 2024

“I chose this tour because of the blend of fantastic birding in guide Jesse Fagan’s home country and experiencing some of the culture of ancient and modern Peru. The planning Field Guides does for these trips continues to exceed my expectations. The progression of the days to acclimate us to elevation was so smart and much appreciated. We had a good amount of time visiting Machu Picchu, and opportunities to add more cultural site visits. The birding was wonderful with visits to diverse landscapes and habitats. The hotels were beautiful and perfectly located. We ate amazing food. The different landscapes offered so many opportunities to experience the diversity of Peru's bird life. It felt like a rare gift to experience Peru with Jesse. I would travel with Jesse again in a heartbeat. I love his sense of humor and his exceptional birding skills. He knows what he wants to see in each location and works hard to deliver. He is a great organizer, keeping us on track for a full experience. Our tour manager, Nicole Cannon, was always promptly responsive, cheerful, and very helpful.” G.P., Machu Picchu & Abra Malaga, Peru, 2024

Tours with openings through June

Each month we list in this section the Field Guides departures over the next six months that still have at least two spaces available (unless otherwise noted).

If a lush, tropical island birding adventure appeals to you, the Dominican Republic might be the perfect fit. The island of Hispaniola is home to at least 30 endemic bird species. Jesse Fagan and Cory Gregory will lead the way as we search for the unusual and monotypic Palmchat and its massive colonial stick nests as well as Antillean Piculet, Flat-billed Vireo, White-fronted Quail-Dove, and Hispaniolan Spindalis (seen here in the photo by participant Doug Clark). We'll also visit Los Haitises National Park for a chance at the rare and critically endangered Ridgway's Hawk. Beyond the endemics, the D.R. is also host to a suite of widespread Caribbean species. The tour dates are April 5-13.

For more information or to book a space, please contact our office.

SOUTH AMERICA

Amazonian Ecuador: Sacha Lodge I, Jan 7-16 with Jesse Fagan
Colombia's Eastern Cordillera, Jan 14-22 with Willy Perez & local guide (1 space)
Nowhere but Northeast Brazil!, Jan 18-Feb 4 with Bret Whitney & Micah Riegner
Birds & Wine of Chile and Argentina, Feb 1-15 with Marcelo Padua (1 space)
Brazil: Bahia Birding Bonanza, Feb 2-16 with Marcelo Barreiros
Southeast Ecuador: Orange-throated Tanager & Foothill Specialties, Feb 13-22 with Willy Perez (1 space)
Southwestern Ecuador Specialties: Jocotoco Foundation Reserves, Feb 22-Mar 6 with Willy Perez
Brazil Nutshell: Intervales, Iguazu Falls & the Pantanal, Mar 8-22 with Marcelo Padua (1 space)
Guyana: Wilderness Paradise II, Mar 13-25 with Marcelo Barreiros & Doug Gochfeld
Brazil: Minas Gerais & Tocantins: Blue-eyed Ground Dove and Beyond, May 10-27 with Marcelo Barreiros & Bret Whitney
Galapagos: An Intimate Look at Darwin's Islands, Jun 14-24 with Mitch Lysinger & local guide
Peru's Magnetic North: Spatuletails, Owlet Lodge & More, Jun 14-26 with Dan Lane & Jesse Fagan
Brazil's Rio Roosevelt: Birding the River of Doubt, Jun 14-29 with Bret Whitney
Machu Picchu & Abra Malaga, Peru, Jun 15-Jul 4 with Dan Lane

NORTH AMERICA

New Mexico: Birding the Land of Enchantment, Feb 1-8 with Owen Hilchey
Owlberta: Alberta's Owls & More, Feb 15-21 with Jay VanderGaast & Dan Arndt
Colorado Grouse, April 11-22 with Micah Riegner & Alex Sundvall
Texas Coast Migration Spectacle II, April 19-25 with John Coons
Florida: Mangroves & Migrants, April 26-May 5 with Doug Gochfeld & Sam Wilson
Arizona: Birding the Border I, May 7-16 with Chris Benesh
Spring in Cape May, May 11-17 with Doug Gochfeld
Arizona: Birding the Border II, May 16-25 with Micah Riegner
Alaska: The Great Land I, May 31-Jun 16 with Micah Riegner & Sam Wilson
Alaska: The Great Land II, Jun 5-25 with Chris Benesh & Alex Sundvall
Canadian Rockies: Alberta, Jun 12-22 with Jay VanderGaast & Dan Arndt (1 space)
Alaska: No Place Like Nome, Jun 23-30 with Chris Benesh
Newfoundland & Nova Scotia, Jun 29-Jul 9 with Jay VanderGaast & Alex Sundvall

MIDDLE AMERICA & WEST INDIES

Costa Rica: Birding the Edges (Part One), Jan 23-Feb 1 with Megan Edwards Crewe & local guide (1 space)
Panama's Canopy Tower & Lodge I, Jan 26-Feb 2 with John Coons (1 space)
Costa Rica: Birding the Edges (Part Two), Jan 31-Feb 9 with Megan Edwards Crewe & local guide
Central Mexico & Baja: Birds, Butterflies & Whales, Feb 16-27 with Jesse Fagan & Chris Benesh (1 space)
Jamaica I, Feb 28-Mar 7 with Cory Gregory (1 space)
Jamaica II, Mar 8-15 with Megan Edwards Crewe (1 space)
Western Panama: Chiriqui & Bocas del Toro, Mar 11-20 with Jesse Fagan & local guide
Dominican Republic, April 5-13 with Jesse Fagan & Cory Gregory

AFRICA

East Africa Highlights: Kenya & Tanzania, Mar 1-21 with Terry Stevenson
Ghana: Window into West Africa Birding, Mar 15-Apr 3 with Phil Gregory & Tarry Butcher
Angola: Endemics in a Little Known Land, May 23-Jun 14 with Terry Stevenson & Errol de Beer (1 space)

EUROPE

Hungary & Romania: The Best of Eastern Europe, Apr 19-May 5 with Terry Stevenson & local guide
Birds of Britain, May 3-12 with Megan Edwards Crewe & Willy Perez (1 space)
Beyond the Ports of Portugal: A Birds & Wine Tour, May 4-15 with Marcelo Padua & local guide
France's Loire Valley: Birds, Chateaux & Wine, Jun 1-11 with Marcelo Padua
Iceland, June 15-24 with Cory Gregory

ASIA & AUSTRALASIA

Thailand, Jan 11-Feb 1 with Jay VanderGaast & Uthai Treesucon (1 space)
Taiwan, Apr 29-May 10 with Phil Gregory & local guide
Japan in Spring, May 10-27 with Phil Gregory & local guide
NEW TOUR! China's Sichuan Province, Jun 1-22 with Doug Gochfeld & local guide
Mongolia: The Gobi Desert, Steppe & Taiga, Jun 7-25 with Phil Gregory & local guide
Borneo II, Jun 17-Jul 4 with Megan Edwards Crewe & local guide

To learn more about any of these tours or to hold a space, please contact our office.

Recently posted upcoming itineraries

Click on any image or link below to see the detailed itinerary for the following tours. All of these itineraries are packed with information (and have a few nice photos as well).