Tropical Birding sponsors Tucson Audubon Birdathon
Do you live in the Tucson area? You can win a free Tropical Birding tour and support Tucson Audubon at the same time by taking part in their yearly Birdathon. Check out their website for more details.

New Colombia tour offerred
Starting in January 2011, Tropical Birding will offer set departure tours to Colombia. The first trip is a short but endemic-filled tour that is appropriate for any birder. Click here for the itinerary.

Our very own Ken, Keith and Christian have just published a birding site guide to Ethiopia.
It covers all of the major birding areas of the country, and is copiously illustrated with maps and over 110 photos. Click here to learn more. 

South Africa set departure tour sets mammal record!
Our most recent South Africa tour, led by Ken Behrens and Sam Woods, found an astounding 63 species of mammals. This is a new record for a comprehensive SA tour by Tropical Birding or any other major tour company. For a full report of the record-setting 'mammaling' and some great birding as well, click here. 

Galapagos tour sees all endemics again
For the second year in a row, our November Galapagos Endemics Cruise nailed all the endemic bird species of the archipelago, including the Mangrove Finch on Fernandina. Read tour leader Andrés Vásquez's tour report here.

New Britain Extension added to our Papua New Guinea Tour for 2010
For those of you who want even more endemics out of this absorbing, endemic-rich tour we have now added a 5 day extension to the idyllic Bismark Archipelago. This brings with it the chance of adding 50 or so species to an already substantial New Guinea trip list, with such marquee groups as kingfishers, parrots and colorful pigeons all well represented on this beautiful island, that we shall explore from the comfort of our scenic beachside resort. Spaces are currently (November 2009) still available on the main tour and extension. Please call or e-mail the TB office if you wish to add this to your PNG booking for 2010, or wish to get further details of this exciting extension.

Tropical birding announces a new birding event: THE BIGGEST WEEK IN AMERICAN BIRDING!  From May 7-16, 2010, birders will be taking over coastal Ohio, congregating like warblers in North America's best May birding area--Magee Marsh Wildlife Area and the neighboring Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge. Activities will include many FIELD TRIPS led by professional guides (including at least five free daily outings), two DAILY TALKS (including one every day by Kenn Kaufman), FREE WORKSHOPS by experts in their respective topics, and access to normally off-limits areas of the fantastic Ottawa NWR.  OVER 90% OF THE ACTIVITIES ARE FREE.   Don't miss it!  The Biggest Week is co-sponsored by Tropical Birding, the Black Swamp Bird Observatory, Kaufman Field Guides, Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge, and the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area.  Registration opens October 10, 2009.  Click here to go to the website of The Biggest Week.

Tropical Birding in Ohio
Following the enormously successful partnership with Houston Audubon in Texas, a new “co-operative” was formed in Ohio with the Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO). This similar-minded project involved a “swathe” of TB guides heading north from Texas to volunteer their services for the later migration season in Magee Marsh, Ohio. During the first three weeks of May 2009 TB guides ran multiple free-guided walks daily along the busy Magee Marsh boardwalk, and at other surrounding birding sites. Working with Black Swamp and getting to know many people within the vibrant Ohio birding community was another undoubted highlight of an exciting first half to 2009. The feedback from this project, like the one down in High Island, has been incredible and we could not conceive of being anywhere else in the US next May but in Ohio. Kenn Kaufman has dubbed Magee Marsh the “Warbler Capital of the World”, and we soon learnt why, twenty species days being the absolute minimum for our first two weeks on site. However, it is not really the number of warbler species that make this Ohio site such a standout. It is the unbelievable easy low-down looks that the warblers give at Magee that makes it such a magical place for spring migration in May, when the migration peaks. In High Island we got to see the first impressive wave of “TexMex” migrants, while up in Ohio we watched as the next wave hit there, followed by further pulses of later migrants. Watching crackerjack warblers like flame-faced Blackburnians, eye-patched Cape Mays and powder-blue Black-throated Blues dangle invitingly in front of us all will live long in the memory and pull us straight back for more next year. Magee Marsh was not shy of the odd rarity either, with the Kirtland’s Warbler that showed up on May 17 topping the billing that rapidly sent birders into panic mode! TB will again be volunteering for BSBO, and offering free daily guided walks at Magee Marsh and the surrounding areas for the first three weeks of May in 2010. Just look for the guys in the Black Swamp Bird Observatory vests with “Bird Guide” splashed boldly across their backs. An additional special event is sure to be the highlight of next years spring season, as the inaugural “The Biggest Week in American Birding” will be held in Magee and surrounding areas from 7 – 16 May 2010 (see entry above for further details).

Tropical Birding Hits High Island Again
After such a fantastic response to our inaugural spring season last year, Tropical Birding returned to the migration Mecca of High Island to partner up once more with the Houston Audubon Society in offering free guided walks. From late March through to early May 2009 a number of experienced TB guides volunteered for the HAS and led free daily guided walks in both the Boy Scout Woods and Smith Oaks sanctuaries on High Island, and also at a number of shorebird hotspots on the Bolivar Peninsula. Once again the experience of working in close contact with HAS was a very productive one, and getting to meet such a variety of enthusiastic birders from both around the US and overseas was an extremely enjoyable one for all involved. We are all greatly looking forward to returning again for another crazy migration season in April 2010, when once again we will be offering free-guided walks daily through the whole month, when the frantic peak of migration will be happening. On to the birds though, how did they measure up this year at High Island? Well after the destructive and much publicized affects of Hurricane Ike last fall on the Bolivar and Galveston coastline, no one knew what to expect out of this spring. A reduction in visitor numbers surely reflected the widespread view that there was little bird habitat left after Ike on High Island. The human impact from the storm is still stark and obvious to see, especially along the Bolivar Peninsula, despite some impressive clean up efforts by local people and a number of generous organizations. However, the fact remains that the vital songbird habitat within the HAS sanctuaries on High Island was relatively little affected from Ike compared with the 2007 storm Umberto. The upshot of all of this is that we enjoyed a truly thrilling migration season, with good numbers of warblers and a great variety of  “TexMex” migrants on the island in both sanctuaries. Whilst in the early season it seemed that Boy Scout Woods held sway over events, with all the major action there, by the close of the season HAS Smith Oaks had come into its own, and hosted a number of top-notch species. The spring migration season started early this year and was already under way by the time we hit High Island in late March, so that it was not long into April before we were getting some action-packed 20-plus warbler days. Although as usual the main magical migration peak occurred during the last two weeks of April. A few 30 plus warbler days were hit by the third week of April, and we had good runs of some of the A-list species that people travel great distances for. Among them this included a weeklong period of Swainson’s Warbler sightings, good numbers of Worm-eaters, a good batch of showy sky-blue Ceruleans, with one Sunday revealing a minimum of seven male birds available to all throughout. However, arguably it was not for the regular warbler fare that this season will be remembered, but for the regular dose of “Caribbean” rarities in the mix. While last year we could only dream of Cape May Warblers, a minimum of four birds (including at least two chestnut-patched males), were seen throughout the last week of April into early May, and were widely available to all. In fact this late April period was THE spell for rarity action. The same week also saw multiple sightings of Black-throated Blue Warblers, (including at least three cool blue males and two dowdier females), spread between the two main HAS sanctuaries. By the end of the first weekend in May, all who wanted one had one under the belt. Rarer still though were a sprinkling of Black-whiskered Vireos. An early one slipped in at Smith during mid-April, but then by the end of the first weekend in May a further 2-3 birds had dropped in too. An impressive, and unprecedented, showing for this “Floridian” species. In addition to all this irregular eastern fare, an impressive batch of Blackpolls arrived and fast became the commonest warbler in town during parts of April, leading them to be renamed “Trashpolls”! All in all, a great “whack” of warblers and magical Mexican Gulf migrants for the season. There was also a bumper crop of grosbeaks, tanagers, buntings and orioles, some afternoon “drop-ins” producing a dizzying number of birds streaming through the trees above us. On top of that it was also a bumper year for Bobolinks, with lingering flocks hundreds of males strong, bringing joy to many. The migration sensation is a truly great thing to be involved in, and just becomes more fascinating and addictive with each further year, as we grasp an ever-greater understanding of this avian phenomenon. All at TB hope for more great things from this in 2010, when we will return again for our third year “on the beat” in High Island, THE place for spring migration in April (by the end of the first week in May the optimum place switches to Magee Marsh in Ohio-see above).

New Ghana tour offerred
Our recent custom Ghana trip was so good (read trip report), we have decided to offer it as a set departure. You won't find this tour in our catalog, but you can read the itinerary here.

New  tour reports
We are constantly adding new reports from recent tours. Check out the list here.

Tropical Birding "Frequent Birder" program
If you take three Tropical Birding set-departure tours, you will receive a 10% discount on your next tour, up to a maximum of $400.
Please note: the 10% discount is based on the double-room price, and this offer does not apply to customized tours due to their special pricing.