tomseeley

I will surely research birding websites but I thought I'd ask here also, to see if other birders could point me in the direction of good birding tour guides in Hawaii. I can find lots of trips on individual islands but I'd also like to see multi-day multi-island trips. If anyone knows of orgs that offer such trips, pls point me to their websites. And thx.

Kathie

I don't know of any such trips, but unless you need constant hand-holding, you don't need this kind of trip, I assume you can get yourself from island to island, and you've already discovered you can find birding trips on each island. Just choose which islands you want to visit an contact the birding guides.

SusieQQ

Victor Emanuel Nature Tours offers trips to three islands. IMHO they are the best birding tour company. I've been on trips with them, but not to Hawaii.

www.vent.com

SusieQQ

Sorry that's www.ventbird.com

NewbE

Kathie, as a birder, I can tell you that having one guide to multiple islands would eliminate redundancy--that is, you would avoid searching for a bird you'd already seen on another island. So it's not about "constant hand holding".

SusieQQ

Kathie, obviously you are not a birder...going with a tour is the way to go if in a new area. It isn't "hand-holding"...it is smart.

Kathie

You are quite right - I am not a birder. It seems counter-intuitive to me that going with a group tour is the way to go, but I guess birders will be sufficiently socialized to be quiet and not scare the birds. But needing the same guide for all the islands? One can't hand the new guide the list of what you saw on the last island? Obviously, I'm not a group tour person.

I'm glad there are birders posting here to help out the OP.

mlgb

It has nothing to do with hand holding.

The next guide won't necessarily take into account what you've already seen. They often quote based on going to particular places in a specified order. Some get out of whack if they need to modify their plan.

Kathie

Really? Birder guides are more rigid and less flexible than other kinds of guides? Good to know.

SusieQQ

This is a typical example of someone posting information that they know nothing about!

mlgb

You have no idea, Kathie!

Plus, they charge more.

Kathie

Lol, mlgb

NewbE

Birding tours are nothing like any other tour. Now you know.

Songdoc

Gosh, some of you are really getting your feathers ruffled ;-). hehe.

I assume the guides on birding tours know where to find specific types of birds. I'm guessing that doing this every day they learn where the birds nest and which birds can be found in which areas. For example, I've only seen green parrots (parakeets?) on Kauai in one area of the South Shore.

I would love to do a one-day birding tour on Kauai, but have never seen anything like that advertised. I often go to the Hanalei Nature Reserve and see a few varieties of waterfowl. There is also great viewing of seabirds at the Kilauea Lighthouse (which re-opened today). But I've read about many other species that I've never seen. I love when I see Java sparrows--but that's pretty unusual.

There are some really beautiful birds on Kauai and I'd love to know where to spot more of them.

NewbE

Songdoc, there must be a local Audobon group, and they usually sponsor free birding walks organized according to skill level. Or the state and national parks info desks might have ideas.

I will warn you, dawn is the appointed hour, lol! I'm not an early riser, but I'll do it for the birds

NewbE

Btw, to answer your question about how bird guides find birds, it's habitat for sure, but then by ear within the habitat. I am always amazed at what the best birders can distinguish by ear.

You'll need a good pair of binos...

lcuy

By coincidence, there was an interview on the local radio today with David Kuhn, who is not only THE person who has been recording birds on all the islands of Hawaii for decades, but he also leads tours.

Here's the radio piece:
http://hawaiipublicradio.org/post/ha...-nature-sounds

And here are two of his websites:
http://www.birdquest-tours.com/ourteam.cfm?team=37
http://soundshawaiian.com

and this:
http://www.parrishkauai.com/blog/kau...ng-experience/

I'm not a birder, but he sounds like he'd be a great tour guide.

lcuy

This tour sounds like fun, if you can wait till 2018!

http://www.birdquest-tours.com/Hawai...ing-tours/2018

Songdoc

Thanks so much for all the info. I'm surprised that there are indeed no regularly scheduled birding tours on Kauai. I'm guessing that a private tour would be out of my budget. It sounds like there's a great opportunity for a guide.

NewbE

I wouldn't rule out a private guide, especially if you can scare up a few interested friends. If everyone is a beginner, a private guide would be just the thing, actually.

I hope you can figure something out to get into birding--I love it, and it's a great excuse for a walk