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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 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

Rich is not only an excellent leader who does his best to get everyone on the birds and make sure that everyone’s personal needs are met, but he is without question the most knowledgable leader I have ever done a tour with. His knowledge of not only birds, but mammals, insects, flowers, reptiles, and just about every aspect of nature on the tour was awesome.

- Alan B. on Peru: Rainforest Lodges of the Madre de Dios

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 Hoyer is an excellent tour guide. I have participated in many tours and he is one of the favorite guides I have traveled with. He is extremely patient in pointing out birds to all participants. He will really try to get everyone on the birds. He is knowledgeable about all things plants, animals, and butterflies. Rich shares life experiences about other tours and music as well. I enjoyed these conversations.

- Jane S. on Brazil: The Northeast - Bahia the Beautiful

Rich Hoyer is a joy to tour with. He not only knows the birds extremely well, but is well organized, good at communicating logistics, and patient with my repeated questions. His knowledge of birds, both visual and audio ID, are excellent, as is his ability to teach us about them. His knowledge and ability to communicate a wide variety of natural history makes for a very interesting (if sometimes overwhelming) tour. Lastly, his enthusiasm is contagious, especially for all the other things around us beyond the birds. 

- Paul K. on Mexico: Oaxaca at Christmastime