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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 and Jairo did an excellent job leading the trip. Their knowledge of the birds and other wildlife was top-notch. They both did a good job communicating plans to the group on a regular basis. Once we got the hang of how it all worked, it was pretty smooth to figure out what we had to do each day. I like the presentations at night and the level of detail shared. That reduced some anxiety and made the trip less stressful.

- Andy F. on The Galápagos Islands

Rich Hoyer is a rock star leader with his encyclopedic knowledge base of living organisms. His daily organization of all aspects of the tour was outstanding. The consideration of food for picnic breakfasts and one lunch was delightful, as were his snack peanuts and cookies. Clone him if you can get a mouth swab. :-)

- Dianne S. on Mexico: Baja California's Cape Region

I can't say enough good about Rich. His knowledge and enthusiasm know no bounds (not to mention his endless energy). Great guide and acquaintance!

- Diane T. on Jamaica

Rich likes to share his wealth of information, not only about birds, but on botany and all aspects of nature. I really appreciate it, and he does it judiciously and skillfully such that no one ever misses a single bird. Therefore, an en-Riched experience.

- Gil W. on Brazil: Marvelous Mato Grosso

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
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