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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 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

Excellent birding opportunities and great leadership from Rich Hoyer. He knows the birds, where and how to find them and how to get us on them. Rich also shared is knowledge and enthusiasm for other wildlife - butterflies, other insects, mammals and snakes (we had a great experience with a gopher snake), and as well how the forest and desert environments work and the geology of Oregon. I learned a lot! Our breakfast and lunch picnics were excellent, with healthy choices and enough variety. Rich made us a chocolate mousse treat one day!The pelagic day was outstanding! The boat and crew did a great job getting us out to the birds and back safely. Bird spotters, including Rich, helpied us identify and learn about the birds. We had amazing numbers of some species and a surprise Great Shearwater, which was on the wrong ocean!

- Dixie S. 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

Rich’s knowledge of birds is amazing, recognising every song and call so that the visual identification comes as no surprise. One of the attractions of his leadership is his interest in all natural history, plants, snakes, frogs, mammals and insects – good to meet someone else who shares my enthusiasm for weevils! We’ve travelled with him before and hope to do so again.

- Vicky G. on Costa Rica in Spring

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