Birds & Nature Tours is the first and only Portuguese company specifically dedicated to birds and birding field tours. Our guided field tours are designed to offer you the best of Portuguese birding, with a specific emphasis on what you want to see. Tours are adapted to cover a wide range of ability, from novice to expert.

Although focused on birding, our tours cater for the general naturalist and the visitor who wants to see something of the Portuguese countryside as well. The guides are ornithologists and birders with a deep knowledge of the birdlife of Iberia and the kind of local knowledge necessary to find those tricky or difficult species. For those without optics, quality binoculars and telescopes, as well as field guides, are available.

Birds & Nature is based in Lisbon, and most field trips depart from and return to Lisbon. Transport is by air conditioned vehicle (up to 7 participants), but smaller groups and individual clients are also welcome. The prices quoted for the tours include guide, transport (including fuel and tolls) and use of optical equipment, together with participant accident insurance.

Are you planning to visit Lisbon?

Lisbon is the only European capital located near such a rich Bird & Nature hotspot – the Tagus estuary. About 20 minutes from the city, this huge Nature Reserve, with its extensive area of protected wetland, offers excellent conditions for the observation of birds in rich natural surroundings.

The Tagus estuary is the most important wetland in Portugal and one of the most important in Europe. It is fascinating at all times of the year: in winter, it holds over 120.000 waders, waterfowl and other aquatic birds; during migratory periods, the bird diversity is at its maximum, and one can expect to observe more than 100 species in a single day; during the summer, the estuary is alive with breeding species more usually associated with the Mediterranean.

Besides the Tagus estuary, we have tours to other exciting locations, namely the Sado estuary, the Alentejo and the Algarve. Basically the selection of field trips included in the Birds & Nature menu is designed to bring you to the best birding locations in Portugal. Some bird species are so site specific, however, that you might like to consider a tailor-made field tour to other sites (for example, International Douro, Portas do Ródão, International Tagus, Santo André lagoon, Mourão, Moura and Barrancos area, Óbidos lagoon), or even to places outside Portugal, like Doñana or Monfrague Parks, in Spain. Please let us know, as we can then let you have a relevant price list depending on site distance and duration of the trip.

Birds & Nature is owned and managed by João Jara, who also guides the majority of the activities. João was born in Lisbon and studied biology at the Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa, from where he developed his professional career in the pharmaceutical industry, as senior manager and director of various multinational companies. With 25 years of field experience, he knows the field of Portuguese birding intimately and is a member of the board of SPEA (Sociedade Portuguesa para o Estudo das Aves – Birdlife in Portugal), as well as coordinator of the PRC (Portuguese Rarities Committee). Author and co-author of several articles about birds, João has led many field tours (in Portugal and abroad), as well as bird identification courses for SPEA. Besides birds, he has an active special interest in amphibians, reptiles and fishes. João is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

John is a professional local bird guide and author with over 35 years of birding and guiding experience both in England and Doñana, where he now lives.

Quality birding often depends on good local knowledge and experience and John has that in abundance, having operated over 700 day trips and many longer tours. He knows the breeding, feeding and roosting sites of all the more sought after species, he knows about migration patterns and he understands the effects that local climate conditions can have on the birds.

John operates sensibly-priced day tours around the Doñana Natural Park and also organizes inclusive two-centred package holidays for individuals and groups, combining the best sites in Doñana with those in Extremadura, Tarifa and Portugal.

John is now regarded as the most active and experienced guide in the Doñana region and is available for tours throughout the year. Whatever you require, John can arrange it!
Also available to Guide in: Spain

Click here for Notes on General Birding in Southern Portugal.

**Press Release**

Specialising in the Plains of the Alentejo, Frank is a long time resident of southern Portugal and also covers the Sado Estuary and Lagoa S. André, the Algarve, (including the Rio Formosa, Castro Marim and Sagres), and also sites such as Boquilobo Marsh near Lisbon.

He is available as a private guide but to get the best out of the experience it's best to stay at his guest lodge, Quinta do Barranco da Estrada (www.paradise-in-portugal.com).

Specialties of interest, regularly seen include Great and Little Bustards, Montagu's Harriers, Lesser Kestrels, Black-winged Kites, Black-bellied Sandgrouse, Purple Swamp-hen, Collared Pratincole, Stone Curlew, Great-spotted Cuckoo, European and Red-necked nightjars, Rollers, Thekla and Wood larks, Red-rumped swallow, Black-eared Wheatear, Blue Rock Thrush, Sub Alpine and Dartford Warblers, Azure-winged Magpie, Chough, Raven, Golden Oriole, Spanish Sparrow, Linnet, Serin, and Corn and Rock Buntings.