The Bucket List approach to Birding
23 years ago, I started my bird watching company in Peru called Kolibri Expeditions. We have provided quality birdwatching tours since, not only to Peru, but also to many other Latin American countries.
AND, for the majority of this time, our customers have been traditional birders. I define traditional birders as people who got into birds through a left brain-half approach. That is with an analytical mindset, wanting to learn the details how to identify one bird from the other and keep track of all the birds seen. It is all about collecting observed birds, almost like a stamp collection, in a long Lifelist. Every bird has the same value, and the main goal soon seems to be to always see new birds to increase the life list.
The ultimate goal is to see all of the 10700 species of birds in the world – even though one realizes that it is impossible. Along the way there are milestones like 1K, 3K, 5K to half the birds of the world. A few extreme birders are now getting closer and closer to 10000 birds seen. It becomes an obsession, costing lots of money and, above all, a lot of time. Other things in life become secondary. I am exaggerating of course, but I am sure you get point.
BUT……. The people who get into birdwatching nowadays are not following the classic route of getting binoculars, a field guide, keep a notebook, become member a birding club and join birdwatching excursions with expert leaders as mentors.
Today, everyone has a camera in their pockets. They snap a picture of a bird, share it on Facebook, learn its name, see pictures of beautiful birds on Instagram, and before they know it they are hooked.
It is the right brain-half that gets activated. They seek the beauty of birds, they want take a picture and share it on social media. There is no need for a big list to become satisfied. Rather than buying binoculars they will buy a bigger camera. Maybe a point and shoot bridge camera with a mega zoom of 50x and above. Next step is to get a DSLR camera with a lens of 400 mm or more.
Most bird tour companies totally neglect this new group of birders, and these birders are also too intimidated to take a tour abroad because they feel they don’t have the knowledge. The tours appear too long and too focused on only birds.
Therefore, to include also the new birders in the loop, I have created a new product called 7 Wonders Birding which is built on experiences of not only birds, but also the history and culture of the places we visit, as well as experiences with iconic mammals in their habitat.
I have made the concept easy to understand and well defined so you can tell all your friends about this novel approach to birding. It should attract a larger number of people than the more traditional (nerdy) listing and the meticulous bird identification focus.
In short bullet points – This is how I define 7 WONDERS BIRDING.
- Short trips.
By just taking 5 days off from work, you can go anywhere in the world to see the your most important targets for that area. - Lots of WOW – factor.
Concentrate on the essential with sightings you will remember and try to get photos of these that you can share with your friends on Social Media. - Perfect for non-birding spouses and friends, as an introduction to birdwatching. The birds we target are spectacular. Additionally, on these trips it is not only about birds.
- Bucket list birding
We are looking for experiences. Dream birds and dream animals are the main focus, as well as traditional bucket lists destinations and world heritage sites like the New 7 Wonders.Â
Here are some Frequently Asked Questions:
– I’m a serious birder and I want to see all the birds, not only the showy ones. Surely these trips are not for me?
All our trips contain the best birding for the limited number of days that are included. This is the core. Before and after we offer extensions. Most of these extensions are specifically for hard core birders who want to get a long list of birds and especially see the endemics. So if you do all the extensions then it is more similar to a traditional birding tour that covers a lot of ground.
– I just started birding. Will I feel intimidated by the experienced birders on your tours?
No. The tour is only 5-7 days, and it concentrates on the specific targets, even if we are also watching many other birds. On the contrary, you will learn from more experienced birders and your leaders both the birding skills and how to take better photographs.
– I am mostly interested in photographing birds, and I even don’t carry binoculars. Can I still join your trips?
Yes. We are all interested in getting photographs of our bucket list items. We encourage you to take photos and share with your friends.
– Why are your tours so short? I need more time to photograph the birds?
We are quite aware that serious photographers will want to have more time for the main targets. The market is full of bird photography tours that cater to experienced photographers but they are also often at least two weeks long.
We believe that there are also a bunch of serious photographers who don’t have the time to go on a two week tour. We encourage these photographers to come with us. If you don’t manage to get the photos you are after because the light did not play it your way, you can always come back again next year.
The future of birding
We have published 7 Wonders Birding program for 2022. There are still a few tours that need to be updated.
Experienced birders will find expert bird guide leaders who do care about the endemics and rarities and go out of the way to find them, but on the other hand, since the itinerary is focused on the essentials, it also means that beginners and not so experience birders will also get fantastic experiences with the main targets of the short tour. It is only 5 days.
Anyone can do a 5 day birding trip. It will never become too much because it is only 5 days. And you are allowed to take a break from the birding in the middle of the day if you like.
Bring your friends and non birding spouses on a 7 Wonders Birding Tour. If you are an experienced birder with more time and you want more birding you may join us for our endemic bird focused extensions available for most program.
Flying far and wide does come with a price. The CO2 footprint is large. We are researching which CO2 offset program is best for birders. While there is a positive impact on both environment and for conservation of threatened species when doing world birding, it is still a large chunk of CO2 for those long haul flights. We shall come up with ideas to ease your conscience, and to have answers for your envious “friends” questioning your solidarity with the planet. Meanwhile, have a look at this blogpost on Flight Shame and World Birding.
As far as I can see. World birding is necessary for conservation of threatened species and maintaining biodiversity. So if we all intent to go carbon neutral, influencing other by setting an example of being mindful how we consume and who we vote for, the overall effect of our traveling for birds would only be positive.
What do you think of this idea? What is on your bucket list?
Spread the word! Birding in the 21st century is all about Bucket List Birding and 7 Wonders Birding Tours is the pioneer. Tell all your friends! You don’t need to be an expert. Send me an email and let me know what is on your bucket list.
Guide
GUNNAR ENGBLOM
Owner, General Manager of Kolibri Expeditions and guide. An expat from Sweden, Gunnar with over 30 years of guiding experience, is considered as one of the pioneers of birding tourism in Peru. Gunnar is a biologist with a particular interest in the conservation of threatened bird species, discovering new ones and human impact on the environment. As well as guiding, Gunnar and the Kolibri Expeditions office take care of all the logistics from Lima. In his spare time he is a marathon runner and singer/songwriter of the Swedish punk/alternative rock band Guran Guran.