RAPTOURS® is now owned and operated by Sergio Seipke and was restarted as a revamped and expanded tour company at the suggestion, encouragement, and support of world raptor authority Bill Clark. Sergio started leading raptor tours in 2006 as a means to fund field research for his book project: Raptors of South America (Princeton University Press, in prep.), and decided to organize this activity in
to a formal business in 2012. RAPTOURS® often targets some of the most elusive, sought-after, and difficult-to-see species in the raptor world, as well as spectacular raptor concentrations, such as world-class migration bottlenecks. RAPTOURS® destinations, some current, some in the near future, include Argentina, Australia, Belize, Bolivia, Ecuador, Israel, Kenya, Madagascar, Mexico, Nepal, Tanzania, Thailand, Panamá, PNG & the Solomon Islands, Paraguay, Perú, the Philippines, South Africa, Spain, Sulawesi & Halmahera, and Venezuela. In addition to our international tours RAPTOURS® will continue to offer and expand on raptor tours in the USA as well. Examples are the Skagit Flats of Washington, The Snake River in Idaho, southeastern Arizona, the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, and Cape May, New Jersey. Group sizes at RAPTOURS® are smaller (usually 3-10) than those of most birding tours, guide-to-passenger ratio is usually 1:3 or better, we travel in 4-passenger vehicles whenever possible, share technical presentations and slide shows in the evenings, discuss field identification information (sometimes unpublished!) and raptor ecology and conservation as we watch the birds. We take pride in running intimate small tours at which people stop and watch the birds for long enough, and frequently enough, to actually learn something about them. RAPTOURS® also designs and runs custom raptor tours upon request. Contact us to discuss your group's goals and we'll put together a tour or expedition that will meet your needs. Visit http://raptoursllc.com to learn more about our coming raptor tours, or e-mail us at [email protected] to request information or to discuss your raptor-watching goals. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
