About me
(Last update: August 2023)
I started birding when I was 10 years old (I'm now 39), when I got my first field guide and binoculars. And I've been a nature lover since I have memory. Growing up in a small town of Buenos Aires province helped me develop my birding skills in the field.
I have always loved identifying species (not only birds), and I have worked doing so in an institute of marine biology in Patagonia for several years. I wrote a field guide and identification key to the sharks and skates of the largest patagonian gulf, as well as an unpublished list of the fish of that area. I have also worked identifying mollusks and crustaceans of the same area, and worked as a biological catch sampler in fishing vessels of the Argentine Hake fishery. That was also a good training for pelagic birds, which I got to know well in those years.
Years later I moved to Buenos Aires city and started working as a tour guide at the Argentine Museum of Natural History "Bernardino Rivadavia", one of the most important museums of its kind in Latin America. Working at the museum I learnt my guiding skills, which I believe are as important as the birding skills for a so-called professional birding guide.
Birdwatching has been the main hobby of my life (although not the only one: I used to be a big fan of fishing -I seldom practice it currently- and I play guitar and other string instruments) but in 2010 I decided to combine my passion for birds and nature with my guiding skills, and since then I have developed a career in this subject: I first created (and still own and manage) "Birding Buenos Aires" (www.birdingbuenosaires.com), a website which provides information about birding places in Buenos Aires and surroundings, and a specialized birding tour agency which organizes tours to some of the best birding spots in the region. In 2020 (yes, in the middle of the worst crisis in the history of tourism...) I launched two other brands: "Birds Argentina & Southern South America" (www.birdsargentina.com) and "Natural Birding" (www.naturalbirding.com). The first one is aimed for all kinds of birders who are planning a trip to Argentina or other countries of the southernmost part of South America (tours which I have already been guiding for years under my first brand), and the second one is where I advertise my open gruop tours to other parts of the world, mostly for contemplative birders, plus my training and birding consultancy services.
I have guided tours for over 13 years now, with clients from many different parts of the world: USA, UK, Sweden, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, France, South Africa, Botswana, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Israel, Brazil, Mexico, Spain and more.
Having acquired such experience in the field of birding tourism, I decided to start training other birding guides, and did so first on site, and then (after Covid) online. I have currently trained guides from 8 different countries, including Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Mexico and El Salvador (and the list is rapidly increasing). I do so because I believe that true eco-tourism is key to conservation and sustainable development in natural areas, and I share my experience (including both my hits and my mistakes) so that others can have better chances of success in their own projects.
During a brief period of time I worked at "Aves Argentinas - Asociación Ornitológica del Plata" (the local partner of BirdLife International) as the Coordinator of "Birds & Tourism" program, meant to help developing and promoting birdwatching tourism in Argentina. My activities included training for local bird guides in developing touristic areas, helping designing the stand of Argentina for the British BirdFair 2015, and an advertising spot to promote Argentina as a birding destination called "1000 reasons to visit Argentina", among many others.
Other jobs I have had include working as a consultant for documentary film makers (international and local), and in 2015 a TV series about marine biology (where I was in charge of the scientific content) won an important Argentine prize ("Premio Nuevas Miradas en la Televisión") in the "popularizing science" category.
Although I have quite a good sight I like birding by ear, and know very well the calls and songs of the birds of the areas where I guide.
I
also like mammals, reptiles, fish, amphibians and butterflies, and know
general aspects about flora and geological history of the places I visit
while guiding.
When I'm birding, I like enjoying the birds and learning their natural behavior (I'm not a big fan of play back, but I do use it when needed), although of course I also love searching for target species and seeing new lifers (who doesn't?). In 2014 I participated in the first Argentine "Big Year" and got the second place with 652 species, without especially trying hard (all the species where seen while guiding except for one scouting trip to Jujuy). And in 2015 I guided Noah Strycker in his search for the "Worldwide Big Year" record (which he achieved) while he was in Buenos Aires area, where he had his first "big day" in the year when we went birding to the south of Entre Ríos province (my favourite birding place in Argentina). That day ended up to be the one when he added the highest number of new birds for his Big Year list in all 2015!
My current Argentina Bird Life List count is 898 species from the approximately 1000 species existing in the country, including some regular vagrants, following e-bird-Clements taxonomy (904 species following BirdLife International, and 906 following the taxonomy used in the last issue of the fieldguide "Birds of Argentina and the South-west Atlantic"). Some of them are extremely rare for the country, such as Fork-tailed Palm-swift (first photographic record for Argentina, of the first ever recorded individual) and Scaled Pigeon (second photo for the country), and others are rare almost everywhere such as the Harpy Eagle, Orange-breasted Falcon and the critically endangered Spectacled Petrel.
I'm a big fan of bird field guides (books) and try to get as many as I can, so that I can study every detail on them and learn more about birds worldwide (especially from the Neotropics). I have birded in most South American countries, from the Atlantic forest of south east Brazil, the Campos of Uruguay, the Paraguayan Cerrado, the tropical Yungas and amazing Amazon forest in Bolivia, the Colombian "Chocó" and the Tumbesian forest of northern Peru, to the Chilean Valdivian forest and Matorral.
My current Argentina Bird Life List count is 898 species from the approximately 1000 species existing in the country, including some regular vagrants, following e-bird-Clements taxonomy (904 species following BirdLife International, and 906 following the taxonomy used in the last issue of the fieldguide "Birds of Argentina and the South-west Atlantic"). Some of them are extremely rare for the country, such as Fork-tailed Palm-swift (first photographic record for Argentina, of the first ever recorded individual) and Scaled Pigeon (second photo for the country), and others are rare almost everywhere such as the Harpy Eagle, Orange-breasted Falcon and the critically endangered Spectacled Petrel.
I'm a big fan of bird field guides (books) and try to get as many as I can, so that I can study every detail on them and learn more about birds worldwide (especially from the Neotropics). I have birded in most South American countries, from the Atlantic forest of south east Brazil, the Campos of Uruguay, the Paraguayan Cerrado, the tropical Yungas and amazing Amazon forest in Bolivia, the Colombian "Chocó" and the Tumbesian forest of northern Peru, to the Chilean Valdivian forest and Matorral.
I love designing new birding tours/routes and experiences, and I have created fairly new birding itineraries, such as one across northern Patagonia, from the Atlantic to the Pacific (combining Argentina and Chile in a 2 weeks tour), a special tour to the Hooded Grebe on its wintering territories, a "Pumas & Penguins" tour in southern Patagonia, and helped designing (and promoting) the new "Jujuy birding route" in north-west Argentina.
I have recently realized that I have seen a big number of mammal species in Argentina (over 100), even though most of them were seen "accidentally" while birding, and I am discovering the world of mammal watching, so I am now very keen in developing this type of ecoturism in the places where I guide.
I try to use the best possible birding optics that I can afford, and I currently use a Swarovski ATS HD scope and Carl Zeiss Victory SF binoculars. I have a special interest for birding optics and write a blog in Spanish for people looking for guidance about binoculars and spotting scopes for birdwatching (www.binoculaves.blogspot.com). And I am really fond of digiscoping, which I do with a special handheld technique that I have perfected over the years (take a look at my digiscoping entry in this blog).
Finally, I studied English for many years since I was a kid, and improved it after a couple of trips to other countries such as the USA and England. I also speak Portuguese (and basic Hebrew).
I like meeting and guiding people, and look forward to being your birding guide during your next trip to Argentina and Southern South America!
Marcelo Gavensky
gavensmar@gmail.com