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Fabrice Schmitt

Fabrice Schmitt was born in the east of France (Alsace), where he began to bird at the age of 12. After birding intensively and extensively in Europe, North Africa, Middle East, he fell in love with Neotropical birds during his first trip in Peru in 1995. He then spent most of his free time in South and Central America – mostly looking for birds, but studying wildlife in general. In 2002/2003, Fabrice (then a Math teacher) took a sabbatical year to visit birding destinations and look for and study the most localized species of south Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and south of Brazil. During this time, Fabrice participated in field expeditions in the Peruvian Andes and Amazonian lowlands, gaining knowledge about endangered, rare and even un-described bird species.

Fabrice lived in Chile from 2005 to 2015, and explored this beautiful country in every direction (well, mostly from North to South…). He is involved with Red de Observadores de Aves y Vida Silvestre de Chile (ROC), a non-governmental ornithologist organization, and founded the electronic birding magazine La Chiricoca. He is co-author of the Chilean Breeding Bird Atlas, and part of the team who recently discovered several Markham’s Storm-Petrel colonies in the Atacama Desert. In 2018, after co-leading several tours to Chile with Steve Howell, the two co-authored Birds of Chile: A Photo Guide. Fabrice is also an active eBirder and helped the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in the development of that birding tool in Chile and the rest of South America.

He has been leading birding trips to Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina, Guyana and Chile since 2005, and occasionally gives lectures on cruise trips to Antarctica and South American destinations. Since he moved back to France, he he has led tours to Europe and Middle East, including our very popular ‘Birds, Wine and Cheese’ tour to France! Fabrice is fluent in English, Spanish and French.

Upcoming Tours with Fabrice

Testimonials for Fabrice

This is our third trip with Fabrice and he remains one of the best tour guides we have had the pleasure of birding with. He has a good sense of humor to go along with his excellent birding skills and he was patient with our group when things didn't go perfectly.

- James C.

The accommodations were well chosen and comfortable. Jovanny the driver was outstanding and the vehicle was comfortable. Fabrice did a good job of eateries as well. Great variety of sites and birds -- for my first trip to Colombia, this surpassed my expectations. I really was happy with all aspects of this tour. This was my first tour with Fabrice and I was very impressed. He is extremely knowledgeable, patient and funny. I would absolutely join more tours he is leading.

- Tim S. on Colombia: Central

A lot of care clearly went into the planning of this tour, which covered key birding areas along the coast and in the Santa Marta mountain range - I really appreciated the attention to habitats and specific species location. The drivers were great and the hotels all very comfortable. 

Fabrice provided the perfect combination of skills, local knowledge, persistence, humor and energy. He also clearly loves Colombia, which further enhanced the trip. 

- Christina B. on Colombia: The Santa Marta Mountains

A very enjoyable tour! The Montezuma "road" was tough for me even walking down - think of the worst steep, rocky, muddy hill road, and double this! Enjoyed the very green country and we were incredibly fortunate to have virtually no rain. The "railway" ride was fun, platforms with benches powered by motorcycles. Good birds...all accommodation was fine and the final Araucana Lodge was excellent. "Bus" and driver also. Fabrice was a most helpful and knowledgeable guide, could not be better.

- Jeff H. on Colombia: The West

Fabrice Schmitt is the best tour leader I've birded with. On top of superb identification skills, he's great with clients. He'd tell us what bird he's trying to call or find, describe it, tell us where it may appear and then position us to maximize our chances of seeing it. Once it's close he's a master at using the laser pointer to ensure everyone sees the target bird. Once seen he's likely to delve into the natural history of the bird and/or its habitat.

- James W. on Guyana