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.
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 knows Oregon and its birds and had a great plan to maximize our birding experience.
- John D. on Oregon in Late Summer
Great tour. Rich Hoyer is a savant with birds (and other wildlife) and is worth the money just to watch.
- William H. on Costa Rica in Spring
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
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