Future Tours

Birdfinders is pleased to announce the following new tours, presently in the advanced stages of planning. Notice of interest in these tours is being accepted and those responding will be given first choice when bookings commence.

This new tour will concentrate on the Malaysian part of the island and, in particular, on Mount Kinabalu, where the endemic Mountain Serpent-eagle, Whitehead’s Trogon, Whitehead’s Broadbill, Bornean Whistler and Friendly Bush-warbler can all be found. We will also visit the Danum Valley, where more endemics can be found in the form of Bulwer’s Pheasant, Blue-headed and Blue-banded Pittas, Bornean Blue-flycatcher and Bornean Wren-babbler. The tour will be led by Frank Lambert, author of several books on the region.

With 41 endemics between the two islands, this two-week combined tour is sure to be popular. As well as the island endemics, there are a number of other Caribbean endemics not found on our Jamaica or Cuba tours. Highlights include Hispaniolan and Puerto Rican Parrots, Hispaniolan Trogon, Golden Swallow, Elfin-woods, Green-tailed and White-winged Warblers and Pearly-eyed Thrasher.

There are over 100 Guianan Shield endemics and Guyana is one of the easiest places to see many of them. If you are looking to explore the frontiers of neotropical birding then this is the tour for you. Specialities include Harpy Eagle, Guianan Toucanet, Blood-coloured Woodpecker, numerous antbirds and antwrens including White-plumed Antbird and Guianan Streaked-antwren, many cotingas including Capuchinbird and Guianan Cock-of-the-rock and Red Siskin. We will also visit the fantastic canopy walkway and the amazing Kaieteur Waterfall. See news of our exploratory trip and our photo gallery.

This innovative new tour will visit five of the main islands in the chain; Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia and St. Vincent to look for all but 3 of the 32 Lesser Antilles endemics with the option of an extension for the other 3. By utilising short inter-island flights, we will be able spend more time birding looking for the island specialities.

There are approximately 37 endemics in Malaysia and we will search for many of them at Taman Negara, in the largest tract of pristine lowland rainforest remaining in mainland Asia. Specialities here include Malayan Peacock-pheasant, Blue-banded Kingfisher, Garnet Pitta and Malaysian Rail-babbler. An extension to Java is also offered, with another 20 endemics possible including Milky Stork, Javan Hawk-eagle and Pygmy Tit. The tour will be led by Frank Lambert, author of several books on the region.

This new tour to the land of Aztecs and Mayans will complement our Western Mexico tour. With over 200 bird species restricted to northern Central America, we will have the opportunity to see a great number of species that are not found elsewhere. In Yucatan alone there are 19 endemics (including four on Cozumel) whilst Oaxaca has more species (about 700) than can be found in any other state in Mexico.

With Myanmar now opening up to the rest of the world, it is a good time to visit this fascinating country. This tour will look for the four or five (depending on taxonomy) endemics as well as a number of other regional specialities. We will visit the splendid temples of Bagan, where three of the endemics are found, as well as Mount Victoria for the fourth.

This exciting new destination pushes out the frontiers of Western Palearctic birding, with the checklist including See See Partridge, Dunn’s Lark, Finsch’s Wheatear, White-throated Robin, Iraq Babbler, White-cheeked Bulbul, Ménétries’s and Upcher’s Warblers and Chestnut-shouldered Petronia – all very difficult or impossible species to see elsewhere. Added to this is the history and culture of this fascinating country, which is both safe and friendly.

Although not quite as bird-rich as Kenya, Tanzania holds over 20 endemic species, substantially more than Kenya. This tour will visit the main areas of endemism including Tarangire N.P., the Uluguru Mountains and the Usumbara Mountains in search of the majority of them. We’ll also be offering an extension to Pemba Island to look for the three endemics there; Pemba Green-pigeon, Pemba Scops-owl and Pemba White-eye.

This new tour will cover the huge variety of habitats in Tunisia from the mountains and lakes in the north, with their Barbary Partridges, Moussier’s Redstarts and Marbled and White-headed Ducks, to the deserts in the south, with their Houbara Bustards, Cream-coloured Coursers, Egyptian Nightjars, Fulvous Babblers, African Desert Warblers and Desert Sparrows. We will also make a short excursion into the (now safe) Kabyle Mountains of Northern Algeria for the near-mythical Algerian Nuthatch.

With ten, Vietnam has the highest number of endemic species of any country in southeast Asia, and the most diverse avifauna. There are also a number of non-endemic specialities including White-winged Duck, White-shouldered Ibis, Blyth’s and Ruddy Kingfishers and Scarlet Finch. With a rapidly developing economy and infrastructure, this long-inaccessible country with its fascinating culture is now firmly on the birding agenda.

This fabulous new tour will first visit the mainland for all the Arabian endemics: Arabian and Philby’s Partridges, Arabian Woodpecker, Yemen Accentor, Arabian Wheatear, Yemen Thrush, Yemen Warbler, Arabian and Yemen Serins, Yemen Linnet and Arabian Waxbill, as well as the near-endemic Dunn’s Lark, Red-breasted Wheatear and Golden-winged Grosbeak. Seabirds may include Socotra Cormorant, Jouanin’s Petrel, Audubon’s, Flesh-footed and Persian Shearwaters and Sooty Gull. On the island of Socotra we will look for all the endemics: Socotra Bunting, Socotra Cisticola, Socotra Sparrow, Socotra Starling, Socotra Sunbird and Socotra Warbler as well as Forbes-Watson’s Swift and Somali Starling.