TOUCAN BIRDING TOURS is now in its tenth year having escorted clients to every corner of the Neotropics from Mexico to Tierra de Fuego.

After the formative years of birding tours to Manu in Peru, Toucan Birding Tours spread its coverage of birding itineraries to the majority of South American countries and classic Central American destinations like Costa Rica and Panama. Cuba and Mexico have been added to our portfolio most recently.

A Toucan Birding Tours leader escorts all of our birding departures from the moment you arrive until the departure date. Local guides are employed for many destinations enhancing the tour with their intimate local knowledge.

Leaders have an extensive knowledge of the birds of your chosen destination and are equipped with a telescope and tripod for group use and anextensive sound library of the birds likely to be encountered ontour.

Experienced in guiding groups and dealing with the day-to-day running of tours, your leader will ensure the tour runs smoothly while you enjoy the birds.

ACCOMMODATION

Many of our tours visit lodges in remote areas. Being "on site" is very important to us - we prefer to stay near our birding localities rather than travel hundreds of kilometres pre-dawn when possible. At times we prefer to use safari-style camps.

Our staff prepare everything while we are out finding the birds you have come to theNeotropics to see! Our tours to the Amazon use some of the best lodges in the region. Many have en-suite facilities and hot water. Most lodges are candlelit by evening but batteries for cameras and camcorders can be charged by the generators.

DAILY ACTIVITIES

A trip with Toucan Birding Tours usually involves early morning starts to experience the peak bird activity period. In the warmer regions such as the Amazon we take a midday break and resume birding later in the afternoon.

THE TOUCAN BIRDING TOURS TEAM

Colin Bushell

Colin has been birding for more than 35 years now. He served his 'ornithological apprenticeship' on the lakes, gravel pits and reservoirs near north London and Hertfordshire before venturing further a field in search of new birds. After birding in most of the Western Palearctic, the Gambia, India, Nepal and Thailand, his attention turned to South America.

This led to a period on the launch committee of the Neotropical Bird Club as well as founder membership. He served time on the NBC council in an official role before tour leading in Latin America made this an impossible task to fulfil. Over the last decade he has led tours to Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, Panama, Guyana, Venezuela, Ecuador and the Galapagos, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil. Since 1995 Colin has led more than 30 tours in Peru, however his favourite destination is Brazil and birding in the Atlantic Forests, particularly Itatiaia NP (where he has been a regular visitor since 1994) is his passion.

Colin lives with his family in Lancashire in the UK where he has recently been employed by the RSPB as a field researcher conducting upland breeding bird surveys in Bowland. He finds time for local birding when he's not working in the Toucan Birding Tours office or in his second home on the Solway Firth in southwest Scotland.

Rick & Elis Simpson

Rick and Elis Simpson have recently returned to southeast Brazil and are living in Ubatuba. Together they now organise our Brazilian tours and Rick acts as driver, interpreter and guide for some of our groups there. Being able to visit the forests on an almost daily basis he has an intimate knowledge of the local forests and its birds.

Eduardo Patrial

Born in Londrina (Paraná), on February 6th 1982, Eduardo is a biologist who graduated at Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná and post-graduated in Fauna and Flora Evaluation in Environmental Studies at Universidade Federal de Lavras, Minas Gerais. He has worked on many research projects, surveying bird populations over much of Brazil.

Fluent in English, Eduardo is a superb guide with incredible bird vocalisation recognition skills. He has been an immensely popular with Toucan Birding Tours groups over the last few years, showing us the most important birds in Carajas, the Pantanal, Chapada dos Guimaraes and of course the Atlantic Forests of eastern Brazil. Toucan Birding Tours is delighted to welcome Eduardo as a member of our team in Brazil.

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