About the Tours

List of Tours

Standards for Endorsement

Standards for Endorsement

Traveling in pursuit of birds is an important focus for many, perhaps most, ABA members, and for years we have partnered with some of the best companies in the business to bring especially promising tours to our members' attention. Recently, as part of an effort to update this program, we've done a thorough analysis of the existing ABA Tours policies and procedures, with major input from the Board of Directors (especially the members of the Conferences, Conventions and Tours Committee). We paid careful attention to tour evaluations by ABA members and to the tour preferences expressed by ABA members in the most recent ABA membership survey. Based on this analysis, we've clarified the nature and objectives of the program, and we've developed better controls to help ensure that ABA endorsement means the strongest possible guarantee of first-rate guides and organization, a well designed itinerary, and some great birds and birding.

First, we decided to limit the program to the endorsement of selected tours run by commercial tour companies - in other words, ABA does not run its own tours, nor do we handle all the details implied in officially "sponsoring" a tour. Instead, we limit our role to reviewing a tour company's qualifications and track record, examining tour itineraries and suggesting improvements where appropriate, and then endorsing individual, specific tours. Following each endorsed tour, we seek and act upon evaluations by ABA members of the tour and the tour operator, in an effort to improve future tours. 

We strive to offer a range of ABA-endorsed tours that fit the interests and desires of ABA members and helps them plan systematically to experience bird-rich habitats within North America and the world. This will always be "a work in progress," a goal rather than an end: there are just too many good birding places around the world, and too much diversity of birding goals and styles among ABA's members, for any fixed list of destinations to be definitive. But ABA is always eager to hear member preferences for destinations, tour companies, and specific tours.

Another element that is considered in selecting tours for endorsement is how well they mesh with ABA's larger objectives and goals. We want to ensure that all ABA-endorsed tours further habitat and species conservation objectives, and in some cases, we endorse tours that involve participants directly in bird conservation activities (see "Birding With A Larger Purpose" in the February 2001 Winging It). And we want to be sure that endorsed tours do their part to support sustainable, ecologically sound development of local economies.

New Standards for Endorsement

Most important for the newly redefined tour program is the assurance that each ABA-endorsed tour meets certain standards of quality. Over the past year, ABA has developed a set of standards that we send to all tour companies that are operating ABA-endorsed tours, or that may wish to do so in the future. These standards (the list runs to four pages in length) begin by spelling out what an ABA-endorsed tour should be: "first and foremost a birding tour . . . to see and appreciate an area's bird species, including finding birds that are truly memorable, localized or hard to locate." They also state that these tours will emphasize improving participants' birding skills and advancing the cause of bird conservation.

For the companies operating an ABA-endorsed tour, the standards require a demonstrated track record of running quality birding tours, financial stability, accurate advertising, and a responsive office staff. For tour guides, the standards call for exceptional ability to find and identify birds, including by vocalization. Guides should make a sincere effort to help every person in a group get a good look at a bird; they be able to call out field marks on flying birds and help participants improve their field birding skills and overall knowledge of birds. A guide "must put the interests of birds first, those of the participants second, and those of himself/herself last." The standards also stipulate that a guide needs to enforce birding etiquette throughout a trip and help participants minimize their impact as they bird in sensitive natural areas.

To follow up on how well each ABA-endorsed tour meets these standards, ABA relies on the evaluations it receives from its members after each tour. The tour evaluation form was revised to reflect these standards, and each response is carefully considered and discussed as necessary with the tour company operator.

For ABA members, the tour endorsement program will offer an assurance that a tour meets certain standards. For commercial tour companies, an ABA tour endorsement can offer an important cachet of approval, plus the benefits of ABA marketing to its membership through its publications. And for ABA, the tour endorsement program provides a helpful service to its members; moreover, in exchange for an endorsement, the tour company pays ABA a commission, which supports our education and conservation programs.

Birds and conditions are unpredictable, and no birding tour can ever be absolutely perfect for every member of a group. But we believe that a tour program that seeks out the highest quality tours can be a valuable service to ABA's sophisticated birders. With the recent changes to the ABA tour program - and with help of ABA members who travel on ABA-endorsed tours - we're making major strides toward reaching this goal.

For a copy of the complete "Standards for ABA-Endorsed Tours," members may e-mail .

From Winging It, May 2002