Overview

Tours

How we do this, and why it works

BRANT runs birding tours. That part is simple. What is less simple is explaining what makes a trip with us feel different from a trip with someone else. So here is the short version, and then the slightly longer one.

We keep groups small. Not because small is trendy, but because it actually matters in the field. If you have ever stood behind fifteen people trying to get a look at a warbler in a bush, you know what I mean. Small groups mean everyone gets a look. It also means the guide can actually guide, instead of spending the whole morning counting heads and hoping nobody wanders off.

We build trips around birds, not around a checklist of landmarks. If the birds are somewhere, that is where we go. If the weather turns and the plan has to change, we change it. Some of the best days I have had in the field started with a plan that fell apart by nine in the morning. We are not here to stick to an itinerary. We are here to find birds.

Our guides are birders first. You can read more about them on the guides page, but the short version is that these are people who have spent real time in the field, not just in front of a screen. They know the birds. They also know how to teach, which is a different skill, and one we care about a lot. If you finish a trip and you have not learned anything, we have done something wrong.

We travel in a few different ways. Set departures are the scheduled trips, the ones you can sign up for and join a group. Custom tours are built around you, your dates, and what you actually want to see. We also do local guiding in a handful of places, and a range of workshops for birders who want to sharpen specific skills. You can see everything that is currently scheduled on the tour calendar.

Where we go matters too. In North America we cover everything from Arctic Alaska to the sky islands of Arizona and the Gulf Coast of Texas. Further south we run trips in Central America and Mexico. Same approach everywhere. Small groups, good guides, real field time.

One more thing, and it is not a small one. We give back. A portion of every trip goes to conservation and local communities at the places we visit. That is not marketing. It is just how we think travel should work. If you want to read more about that, the Who We Are page spells it out.

If you are new to birding travel, start with a set departure and see how it feels. If you have been at this for years and want something specific, get in touch and we will build it. Either way, the contact page is the place to start.