Sabrewing Nature Tours

Sabrewing Nature Tours We provide birding and photo tours with expert guides to exciting locations around the world. and international destinations.
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Sabrewing Nature Tours leads birding and photography tours to the best U.S. You can expect small groups, fantastic local leaders, and excellent accommodations on our exciting tours. We offer set departures, custom itineraries, and day trips in the Midwest.

On our last day of birding on our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour, we visited the high elevations of Antisana. We knew ...
04/06/2025

On our last day of birding on our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour, we visited the high elevations of Antisana. We knew we were going to have a good day when we made our first stop and had good looks at 4 Andean Condors! Throughout the rest of the day we had great looks at many of the other target species of this area. Tufted Tit-Tyrants showed well, but briefly, Carunculated Caracaras lined the road, and after many heard Many-striped Canasteros, we finally had great looks at one. It was a great day of birding in the high Andes!

Links in comments for more info on our upcoming Ecuador tours!

The sixth day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour brought us to the Birdwatcher's House. We arrived early to visit t...
04/05/2025

The sixth day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour brought us to the Birdwatcher's House. We arrived early to visit their moth blind. As soon as we sat down in their blind, the action started! Throughout our stay, the action never ceased, and we enjoyed amazing views of Masked Trogon, Strong-billed Woodcreeper, and Turquoise Jay just to name a few. We also spent time at their fruit feeder and enjoyed stunning views of Toucan Barbet, Flame-faced Tanager, Gorgeted Sunangel, and many more. It was a great morning of birding before we had to pack up and make our drive back to Quito!

Links in comments for more info on our upcoming Ecuador tours!

On our fifth day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour we visited the Umbrellabird Reserve! Our main target here was, ...
04/04/2025

On our fifth day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour we visited the Umbrellabird Reserve! Our main target here was, of course, the Long-wattled Umbrellabird. This species is uncommon to rare throughout its range in western Colombia and Ecuador. On this morning, we had good scope views, but they never approached closely. The Velvet-purple Coronets and Ornate Flycatchers showed off nearby as we waited on the umbrellabirds.

On our way out, we had long views of a Sunbittern as it foraged for grasshoppers along the road, and we had some nice flocks move through by our lodge before lunch. When you are in Ecuador, you have to always be ready for the next bird!

Our afternoon was spent at a small reserve in Mindo where we connected with our main target, the White-capped Dipper. We enjoyed great views of this stunning aquatic songbird! A couple of roosting Common Potoos rounded out our afternoon. This was our last full day in the Mindo area, and we had already seen almost 300 species!

Links in comments for more info on our tours that visit these areas!

Our fourth day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour spent the whole morning at ! The moth light at this location attr...
04/04/2025

Our fourth day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour spent the whole morning at ! The moth light at this location attracts many difficult-to-see birds in the early morning and their nearby plantain feeders attract tanagers and Rose-faced Parrots. Arriving early is well worth all of the activity!

Around mid-morning we headed over to their hummingbird feeders to look for a continuing, rare, Tooth-billed Hummingbird. It only took a few minutes and it flew up to a hummingbird feeder we were holding to feed. What a view! The rest of the morning saw many more highlights, but the several Orange-breasted Fruiteaters stole the show.

In the afternoon, we drove over to a cave/deep ravine where Oilbirds are known to occur. After a short, easy walk into the ravine, we were eye-to-eye with several Oilbirds! All counted we totaled 16 Oilbirds using this "cave"!

Links in comments for more information about visiting these great birding sites!

Our third day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour brought us to Refugio Paz de las Aves which is always one of the f...
04/02/2025

Our third day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour brought us to Refugio Paz de las Aves which is always one of the favorite stops on this tour. We spent the morning birding with Angel, the first person to start feeding antpittas. Some of the highlights of the morning included an Andean Cock-of-the-rock lek, 3 species of antpittas including Giant, a Cloud-forest Pygmy-Owl, many tanagers and hummingbirds, and a good number of Toucan Barbets!

In the afternoon we visited Milpe Bird Sanctuary where we were lucky to run into a mixed flock, a male Club-winged Manakin, and a Guayaquil Woodpecker. It was a great day of birding!

If you'd like to visit these locations check out our Ecuador: Exploring the Northern Andes with Schoodic Institute in September 2025 or Ecuador: A Week in Paradise in March 2026. Links in comments for more details!

On the second day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour we visited our lowest elevation at Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary...
04/01/2025

On the second day of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour we visited our lowest elevation at Rio Silanche Bird Sanctuary. We enjoyed our morning of birding from the top of their tower where tree-top specks turned into many stunning species. Orange-fronted Barbet and one of the smallest songbirds in the world, the Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant put on a show!

We had our lunch while watching the active feeders at Sendero Frutti. It started to rain heavily, but we enjoyed being sheltered and dry and the birds continued to come in! We enjoyed 11 species of hummingbirds including our only Violet-bellied Hummingbird, Long-billed Starthroat, and Bronzy Hermit of the trip. Several species of woodpeckers also visited and we had great looks at a pair of Lineateds!

Join us on our next visits to these locations on our tour in September or in March 2026! Links in comments for more info.

On our first morning of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour, we had a great visit to Zuro Loma Reserve located in the h...
03/31/2025

On our first morning of our Ecuador: A Week in Paradise tour, we had a great visit to Zuro Loma Reserve located in the high Andes, just west of the capital city, Quito. This reserve is great for high elevation hummingbirds, tanagers, and a couple species of antpittas! Our group had an excellent morning and enjoyed views of 12 species of hummingbirds, 9 species of tanagers, and both antpittas!

Join us on our next Ecuador tour this September or this same tour next March! Links in comments for more information.

Our Costa Rica: Quetzal Extravaganza was off to a great start today. Resplendent Quetzal, Sunbittern, a nesting Ornate H...
03/27/2025

Our Costa Rica: Quetzal Extravaganza was off to a great start today. Resplendent Quetzal, Sunbittern, a nesting Ornate Hawk-Eagle with a chick and the incredible Three-wattled Bellbirds were just a few of the many birds seen and photographed.

On our last day of our Costa Rica: Mountains, Marshes, and Mangroves tour last month we traveled back to the San Jose ar...
03/19/2025

On our last day of our Costa Rica: Mountains, Marshes, and Mangroves tour last month we traveled back to the San Jose area from La Fortuna. On our way to our first stop we lucked into a pair of Fork-tailed Flycatchers along the road which is a species not expected in this region of the country. Next up, we stopped at Soda Cinchona and enjoyed a delicious breakfast while watching resident and migrant species visiting the feeders just a few feet away. A couple of stops in high elevation forests produced a lot of birds, but the Scintillant Hummingbirds at our lunch stop stole the show for the afternoon. It was a great last day to a great tour.

We ended the tour with over 400 species of birds, several species of monkeys, Red-eyed Tree Frogs, Spectacled Caiman, and so much more!

Featured Tour:Costa Rica: With Black River Audubon SocietySeptember 20-28, 2025On this fundraising tour to raise money f...
03/18/2025

Featured Tour:
Costa Rica: With Black River Audubon Society
September 20-28, 2025

On this fundraising tour to raise money for Black River Audubon Society we will be visiting several locations along the southern Caribbean slope. We often get the question, "Isn't that the rainy season in Costa Rica?" While it is the rainy season on the Pacific slope, the Caribbean side of the country tends to be relatively dry at this time of year. Of course it is Costa Rica, so rain is possible at any time.

On this tour, we will be spending a couple of nights at Hotel Quelitales which has delicious food and comfortable rooms in a beautiful setting! The birding on the property can be superb and we'll be looking for some specialty hummingbirds such as Black-bellied Hummingbird, White-bellied Mountain-gem, and Green-fronted Lancebill.

For more information on this tour follow the link in the comments!

Featured Tour:Ecuador: A Tour with Schoodic InstituteSeptember 6-19, 2025There's still time to join our fundraising tour...
03/12/2025

Featured Tour:
Ecuador: A Tour with Schoodic Institute
September 6-19, 2025

There's still time to join our fundraising tour for Schoodic Institute to northern Ecuador this September! On this trip, we'll visit both the eastern and western slopes of the Andes which will give us a chance to experience an amazing amount of biodiversity!

On our first day, we'll visit the Zuro Loma Reserve in the high elevations just west of Quito. This private reserve has some great fruit and hummingbird feeders, and the owners also feed Equatorial and Chestnut-naped Antpittas and Ocellated Tapaculo. It's not every day that you can see these furtive species out in the open. It's sure to be a great morning of birding with scenic views of the high Andes surrounding us!

For more information, follow our link in the comments.

Featured Tour:Costa Rica: Raptor Migration SpectacularOctober 17-26, 2025Visiting the southern Caribbean Coast of Costa ...
03/10/2025

Featured Tour:
Costa Rica: Raptor Migration Spectacular
October 17-26, 2025

Visiting the southern Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica during raptor migration is one of the most mind-blowing experiences for any birder. Millions of raptors pass through this area each fall, and we'll visit two of the best viewing areas in the region; Kekoldi Hawkwatch and Casa Calateas.

On this tour, we hope to experience a peak day with hundreds of thousands of raptors migrating by! We'll also have a great chance to see many of the resident neotropical species while watching the migration. A Slaty-tailed Trogon visited our group on a past tour and spent a good ten minutes only several feet away. We also visit Rancho Naturalista and Hotel Quelitales on this tour; two of the best birding locations in Costa Rica!

Link in comments for more info on this tour!

Our group on our Costa Rica: Mountains, Marshes, and Mangroves tour in February had a great visit to Caño Negro Refuge i...
03/07/2025

Our group on our Costa Rica: Mountains, Marshes, and Mangroves tour in February had a great visit to Caño Negro Refuge in northern Costa Rica. Birding by boat is always a blast and when there are birds and other wildlife to watch all around you, it's even better!

There were too many highlights to mention, but having point blank views of Green-and-rufous Kingfisher and Yellow-breasted Crake were among them!

We had a great time at the San Diego Bird Festival over the last several days! It was great to reconnect with old friend...
03/03/2025

We had a great time at the San Diego Bird Festival over the last several days! It was great to reconnect with old friends and meet many new ones.

We spent much of our time leading field trips for the festival. And, as usual, the birding was great. Some of the highlights included nesting Great Horned Owls, a pair of Barn Owls, many of the California specialties such as Tricolored Blackbirds, Lawrence’s Goldfinch, California Gnatcatcher, and several rarities such as Zone-tailed Hawk, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, American Redstart, and Eastern Phoebe!

If you haven’t been to this festival, make sure to mark your calendars for next year.

Featured Tour:North Dakota: Prairie Birding at Its BestJune 1-7, 2025We usually see many Northern Harriers on this North...
02/25/2025

Featured Tour:
North Dakota: Prairie Birding at Its Best
June 1-7, 2025

We usually see many Northern Harriers on this North Dakota tour. The Red-winged Blackbirds don't enjoy seeing them as much as our groups. Watching Red-winged Blackbirds and other songbirds harass the raptors is always a highlight of this tour!

Link in the comments for more information on this tour.

Featured Tour: Peru: Pacific Coast and Andean EndemicsAugust 22 - September 4, 2025On this tour, we visit a wide range o...
02/25/2025

Featured Tour:
Peru: Pacific Coast and Andean Endemics
August 22 - September 4, 2025

On this tour, we visit a wide range of habitats. One of the more impressive landscapes is the Marañón Valley are the dry forests in the bottom of the valley. Everywhere you look there are beautiful views! The birding is also great with many specialized species using the varied habitats of the valley. The Black-necked Woodpecker and Buff-bridled Inca-Finch are just two of these many specialties!

We hope you'll join us in this fantastic area of Peru! See the link in the comments for more information on this tour.

We’ve had a great start to our Costa Rica: Mountains, Marshes, and Mangroves tour. In only a day and a half we’ve had go...
02/12/2025

We’ve had a great start to our Costa Rica: Mountains, Marshes, and Mangroves tour. In only a day and a half we’ve had good birding in the coffee farms of the Central Valley, the dry forests of the northwestern region, and the mangroves along the Pacific Coast!

Our highlight this morning were good looks at the endemic Mangrove Hummingbird!

All bird photos taken through a Kowa scope! Kowa Sporting Optics US

Participants enjoyed a great first day on our California Specialties Photography Workshop with lots of species diversity...
02/09/2025

Participants enjoyed a great first day on our California Specialties Photography Workshop with lots of species diversity. We ended the evening with stunning light and a large number of Yellow-billed Magpies, that gave us lots of flight shot opportunities.

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