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Bird watching tours are a popular form of unconventional holiday.  Bird watching itself is one of the world’s most wide-ranging pastimes, especially in America, Europe and Asia and there are many different sorts of tours you can take.  Some combine wildlife viewing in general, while others are mainly devoted to actual birds.  Here are a few holiday alternatives you may like to consider:

Wildlife Reserves – tours hosted by wildlife reserves provide great opportunities for bird watching. You’ll be able to see the birds in their natural habitat, as well as enjoying the spectacle of their interaction with other forms of wildlife in the area. These tours require a keen eye though or a really good pair of binoculars, as birds in reserves can usually only be viewed from a some way away.

Aviaries and Bird Sanctuaries – these are dedicated tours for bird watchers that take place inside special types of wildlife reserves that house only birds. These tours are fun because they  are planned to showcase birds, full stop.  While in wildlife reserves one can see a variety of creatures, aviaries display birds in huge screened cages, making it easier to see them close to.

Wildlife and Bird Watching Tours – these are guided tours through wild areas which generally contain a lot of different indigenous species of birds. They are similar to trips taken through a wildlife reserve, except that this type of tour actually takes you on an extended trip into a jungle, forest, desert, or other area of wilderness. This is a little tough if you’re not an out of doors type of person, but it does offer bird watchers one of the most satisfying and personal experiences they can have.

Ecolodges – these have accommodation which can be reserved like hotel rooms. What makes them so different is that they are situated in an outdoor area where flocks of birds tend to congregate in large numbers allowing the guests in the lodge to view the birds to their heart’s content and at quite close quarters.  An added feature of the better-designed ecolodges is that their outsides are built to look like part of the scenery, so that animals and birds are not wary of the presence of concrete and steel. While this doesn’t work with animals that can detect alien items by smell, birds are usually duped by the look of an ecolodge, and will actually land within metres of it without taking fright.

Annual conferences – these offer unique chances for all bird watchers. Aside from socialising with fellow bird fanciers, some bird watcher conferences are held at times and in places that coincide with the migrations of certain species of birds. Attendees of these conferences often go to them just for the opportunity to see migrating flocks of birds that they would not see at regular times.

All in all, there are plenty of different bird watching tours available to suit all tastes and pockets.
Liz Canham is webmistress of Worldwide Bird Watching.

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