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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 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

Rich is extremely knowledgeable and is eager to teach. I learned a lot during the trip. He is so excited about the birds, animals, insects, plants, geology and general environment, and all the local microclimates we visited. He truly loves the outdoors and it shows. He is very attentive to detail, is clear on his instructions and expectations...Rich's picnics were very satisfying and there was good attention to the dietary needs of the whole group. 

- Carol H. on Oregon: Birds and Theater

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

- John D. on Oregon in Late Summer

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