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Rich Hoyer

Rich Hoyer began keying out wildflowers, raising butterflies and moths in his bedroom, netting tadpoles and dragonfly larvae, and catching snakes, lizards, moles, and voles with his younger brother and father before he finally discovered birding at the age of 14. After graduating with bachelors degrees in Zoology and German he began his dream guiding career in 1996 as a local guide on Saint Paul Island in Alaska’s Pribilofs. He has been a full-time leader for WINGS since September 1997.

His musical ear is always tuned into bird voices, and he has nearly instant recall of thousands of bird songs and call notes in his head, but his interests in other areas of natural history have only grown, and he continues to enjoy learning about various forms wildlife such as damselflies, keying out composites, and photographing beeflies, among many others. His other passions and hobbies include playing piano, singing, learning languages, cooking, baking bread, gardening, and knitting. He currently lives in his homestate of Oregon.

The diversity of Rich’s natural history interests is well represented in his blog, Birdernaturalist.

Upcoming Tours with Rich

Testimonials for Rich

Rich is an excellent leader. His ability to call birds in, vary his "owl" dialects, and get participants seeing the birds is stellar. He has attention to detail for every aspect of the tour start to finish!

- Kathy C. on Mexico: Oaxaca at Christmastime

This is, by far, one of the best birding tours EVER for me. The location with its birding opportunities, the time of year (Christmas getaway!) and the general pace of the tour were great. Of course, all of this was made possible by Rich Hoyer who was a fantastic guide, sharing his love for this region of Mexico and his endless enthusiasm for the natural world.

- Alane G. on Mexico: Oaxaca at Christmastime

Rich went way beyond his call of duty. He not only shared his knowledge of the birds, he was exploding with information of the volcanoes that had erupted in Oregon thousands of years before, and how the terrain as we saw it came about. He knew out of place quaint restaurants which he took us to, that added atmosphere to the venture.

- Dorothy M. on Oregon in Spring

Rich was extremely knowledgeable about the birds and their calls. He had an uncanny ability to bring birds in when we stopped for whatever reason. I appreciated his knowledge and willingness to spend time with flowers, insects, and other wildlife that appeared. His language facility and ability to engage in interesting conversations with all of the participants made the trip pleasurable. 

- Dana L. on Brazil: Minas Gerais

Rich knows Oregon and its birds and had a great plan to maximize our birding experience.

- John D. on Oregon in Late Summer