ABOUT US

Hutton’s Vireo © Liam Hutcheson

Professional Birding Guides

Washington Birding Guides is dedicated to helping you follow your passions—whether it’s discovering amazing birds, capturing that perfect photo, exploring beautiful places, or simply embracing your love of nature. Our expert guides specialize in creating personalized birding experiences tailored to your specific interests and skill level. Our unique approach combines the invaluable knowledge of local guides with the dedicated customer support provided by our administrative team. With a focus on flexibility and progressive client-centric policies regarding reservations, payments, and cancellations, we strive to create a smooth and unforgettable experience for you. We can’t wait to share our passion for Washington’s birds with you!

Liam Hutcheson – Guide

Liam was born in Olympia, Washington, where he first started noticing birds at a young age. Before long, birding became an obsession as he and his mom began traveling the state, exploring its extensive natural beauty and bird life. Around the age of 14, Liam got hooked on state listing in Washington, and in 2023, he broke the state big year record with 378 birds; it has been downhill ever since!... (expand for more)

Liam particularly enjoys pelagic birding and seawatching, as well as keeping county and patch lists. His favorite areas to bird in Washington are the rolling hills and scablands of the Palouse region, as well as around the Olympic Peninsula, where he has gained extensive experience with some of the state’s best migration hotspots and vagrant traps. Besides his fascination with bird vagrancy, he has developed a particular interest in underreported or difficult but resident birds, especially at the county level. He tries to find the spot in a specific county where a bird that might be common a few miles away can be located or takes on the challenge of some of Washington’s rarest and most cryptic species.

Liam has compiled a Christmas Bird Count (CBC) in the Chehalis Valley of Grays Harbor County for a few years now, as well as participating in many others. He has also supplied photos and written articles for a local news organization on birding and birds.

Charlie Wright – Guide

Charlie’s curiosity about birds began very early while growing up in Bonney Lake, Washington. He started leading birding field trips around Washington at age 11. Showing new birds to others has only increased his learning and enjoyment over the years. He’s also branched out into other areas of biodiversity: mushrooms, tidepool creatures, butterflies, and more...(expand for more)

Working on bird research projects has brought him to New England, the Intermountain West, and for over a decade to many remote parts of Alaska. Much of that time was spent on research vessels, surveying seabirds in the Chukchi and Bering Seas. Seabird surveys also brought him to Antarctica, where he worked on a Cornell Lab of Ornithology study involving pelagic eBird data in the Drake Passage. When not in the field, he is the Data Verifier for COASST, a citizen science program documenting beached seabird patterns on the Pacific Coast.

Besides pelagic voyages, Charlie’s favorite birding activities often involve opportunities to witness active migration, such as seawatching and morning flights. Neah Bay has long been a favorite destination and has proven itself to be an outstanding place for finding vagrant birds.

Charlie started the Neah Bay Christmas Bird Count in 2015. He has been a statewide eBird reviewer since 2007 and is also a member of the Washington Bird Records Committee.

Felipe Guerrero – Owner & Guide

Felipe started his birding career 18 years ago as a college student studying natural history and ecology in Prescott, Arizona. The more he learned about birds, the more he discovered about himself and his passion for exploring the natural world and sharing the experience with others...(expand for more).

After 12 years of avian field surveys, graduate school, adventures in non-profit environmental education, and countless birding trips across the U.S. and to destinations such as Chile, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, he started what would become American Birding Guides in 2018.

Felipe had the pleasure of living in Washington while working as lead bander for HawkWatch International on Chelan Ridge in the fall of 2011. During his three months there, he connected with the state’s unforgettable landscapes and diverse avifauna. He returned to Washington in 2022 to explore more around the areas of Mt. Rainier and the offshore waters near Westport, and he looks forward to his next opportunity to dive into the flora and fauna of this amazing state.

Felipe is the owner and lead guide of American Birding Guides and Washington Birding Guides. He is a former member of the Arizona Bird Committee and a former eBird reviewer for Yavapai, Navajo, and Apache Counties. In the past, he served as Field Expeditions Chair and board member for Arizona Field Ornithologists, as well as a board member for Prescott Audubon Society. He currently lives in Prescott, Arizona, with his wife and two kids.