Reviews of Ornis Birding company? (1 Viewer)

[jurek]

Anybody has been on a tour with them?
Ornis Birding Expeditions | Welcome to Ornis Birding Expeditions! Our dream is to do more. ?
It seems to be a new company which advertises tours to some cool destinations. However, they provide no testimonials or reports.
You can also use private messaging.

 

[lgonz1008]

Leaving a post here because I'm also interested in them. I've seen their trip leaders upload pictures to eBird every so often (usually of rare species with great quality photos), so they are definitely traveling, but not sure who are their customers and their costs make me think they are high end ($4200 for an 11 day tour of Ecuadorian slopes).

 

[DMW]

It's basically most of the younger BirdQuest leaders who left and formed their own company, and I think it's a given that they will be top notch in the field. How well they deal with the logistics of running a tour company remains to be seen, I suppose, but I'm sure they will manage just fine.

 

[Jim M.]

Yes, I recognize three of the five tour leader names from Birdquest. Their motto about spending "maximum time in the field for the hardest species" is also reminiscent of Birdquest. I've only toured with one of the leaders listed on the site – Eduardo Patrial. My two cents on him: Top-notch birding skills; bottom of the barrel people/client skills. Just my opinion.

 

[Butty]

I'm sure they will manage just fine

Why? That's the purpose of the OP's question. If you have reasons for that assumption I think you should give them.

 

[DMW]

Why? That's the purpose of the OP's question. If you have reasons for that assumption I think you should give them.

Because they are all very experienced tour leaders with a proven ability to deal with the logistics of leading tours in remote areas, and with the same local contacts as BQ.

 

[Butty]

Being a tour-leader is very different from running a tour company.

 

[DMW]

Being a tour-leader is very different from running a tour company.

Whatever.

 

[Butty]

Whatever.

Useful 👍🏻

 

[simmojunior]

I know Josh Bergmark and years ago he organised a budget trip to Western India for a group of us and it was very well organised. Hope that helps!

One thing I'm slightly surprised/ disappointed that they are pitching at same sort of price point as Birdquest. There is such a gap in market for sensibly priced birding tours. Currently I estimate in most places using a local guide / company saves 40% and doing it independently saves 75%. I appreciate your companies need to make a profit but that is where gap seems to be.

 

[DMW]

I know Josh Bergmark and years ago he organised a budget trip to Western India for a group of us and it was very well organised. Hope that helps!

One thing I'm slightly surprised/ disappointed that they are pitching at same sort of price point as Birdquest. There is such a gap in market for sensibly priced birding tours. Currently I estimate in most places using a local guide / company saves 40% and doing it independently saves 75%. I appreciate your companies need to make a profit but that is where gap seems to be.

I suppose they believe they are offering a product of equivalent quality to the top tier bird tour companies, so why sell that product for below the market value. If a tour sells at $4,000 why would you offer it for $2,000?

 

[Rob Hunt]

Yes, I recognize three of the five tour leader names from Birdquest. Their motto about spending "maximum time in the field for the hardest species" is also reminiscent of Birdquest. I've only toured with one of the leaders listed on the site – Eduardo Patrial. My two cents on him: Top-notch birding skills; bottom of the barrel people/client skills. Just my opinion.

I’ve travelled with Eduardo Patrial and found him to be both a top-notch birder and also great with people/client skills. I would willingly travel with him again and have no hesitation in recommending him.

 

[simmojunior]

I suppose they believe they are offering a product of equivalent quality to the top tier bird tour companies, so why sell that product for below the market value. If a tour sells at $4,000 why would you offer it for $2,000?

Not disputing that. Just think there is an obvious gap in market. Not convinced "more time for hardest species" is really the gap. That said, I'd probably choose Ornis over one of other premium brands as they are more likely to attract relatively young customers and birders who want to find birds themselves rather than just be shown them.

 

[DMW]

Not disputing that. Just think there is an obvious gap in market. Not convinced "more time for hardest species" is really the gap. That said, I'd probably choose Ornis over one of other premium brands as they are more likely to attract relatively young customers and birders who want to find birds themselves rather than just be shown them.

I think that gap is probably being filled by local bird guides who have lower overheads and don't need to add the cost of flying out a tour leader.

 

[DMW]

I’ve travelled with Eduardo Patrial and found him to be both a top-notch birder and also great with people/client skills. I would willingly travel with him again and have no hesitation in recommending him.

I spent a day birding with Eduardo while he was leading a BQ group in Brazil, and that was my impression too.

 

[Ornisbirding]

Hi everyone, just wanted to address a few things for curious readers!

1: Yes, Ornis as a company has only started operating this year (our first official tour was to Sao Tome in early March 2023), but all of us have extensive experience leading tours worldwide with other companies. Tour reports will start being published on cloudbirders very soon.

2: Certainly it is a different thing running a tour company vs just leading tours, but we wouldn’t have gone this direction without confidence in our own abilities to produce an exceptional service. We’ll have to let our first year or two of operations and happy clients do the talking on this one. Six tours already completed with great results, seventh tour starting on Java in a few weeks.

3: One of the most important decisions we made in founding Ornis was to have local in-country guides and agents assisting with everything, wherever possible. I can confidently say that our style of leader-escorted small-group and highly-driven tours are priced as low as they can be without cutting these people out of the picture, which is an approach taken by some tour companies to save costs. Definitely cheaper to have an international leader hire a vehicle at Hertz and drive a group of ten around without tourism permits or guides!

Happy to answer any questions here, or feel free to email us anytime:

[email protected]

Cheers,
Josh

 

[Jim M.]

I’ve travelled with Eduardo Patrial and found him to be both a top-notch birder and also great with people/client skills. I would willingly travel with him again and have no hesitation in recommending him.

It's fine you had a good experience travelling with him and would recommend him; but saying you would do so "without hesitation" after hearing someone did not have a good experience with him on a tour seems rather imprudent.

By the way, here is an article by a tour operator who used Eduardo to help with a scouting trip who says "Eduardo is top-notch as a birding guide though we had issues with him in other respects." It's not clear from the article exactly what the other issues were (some discussion seems to have been removed), and I will note in fairness that the article is from 2011. But I think the fact that another professional would express reservations is notable.

 

[Jim M.]

By the way, I have no experience with Ornis but wish them the best.