Experience the incredible diversity of the American Mountain West on this unforgettable birding adventure through Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, and Idaho. From the shores of the Great Salt Lake to alpine forests, high desert sagebrush, rugged mountain peaks, and sprawling wetlands, each day brings new habitats, spectacular scenery, and the chance to encounter an impressive variety of birds. Search for iconic western specialties like Flammulated Owl, Cassia Crossbill, Black Swift, Gray Vireo, and the elusive Himalayan Snowcock, while enjoying memorable moments with species ranging from colorful tanagers and hummingbirds to soaring Golden Eagles and dazzling shorebird flocks.

Designed for passionate birders, this tour combines rewarding field days with comfortable accommodations, scenic drives, picnic lunches, and opportunities to relax between adventures. Highlights include hiking into the Ruby Mountains before sunrise in search of Himalayan Snowcock, witnessing the breathtaking phalarope migration at Great Salt Lake, exploring the famous Bonneville Salt Flats, and birding some of the West's richest riparian forests, marshes, and mountain meadows. Whether you're adding sought-after lifers or simply taking in the remarkable landscapes and wildlife, this journey offers an unforgettable week of world-class birding and exploration with expert guides.

Photos by Tim Avery and Adam Betuel

Gabe Andrle, Director of Conservation, (Birds Georgia) & Tim Avery, (Pitta Tours)

Additional guide depending on group size.

Arrive in SLC no later than 4:00pm and transfer to the hotel. After dinner, we'll head out to do some birding, potentially checking a few local feeders and owling after sunset.

Today will be an all-around big-day of birding, we'll visit a montane agricultural area, we'll bird along the Provo River, enjoy a picnic lunch, descend into Wyoming , we'll do a little birding at a couple reservoirs, we may try to visit the

Bear River, and make our way back to Salt Lake City.

We'll rise early today to arrive at our location 60-minutes form Salt Lake City shortly after sunrise. The sage and juniper habitat provides a great chance to see a number of specialty species like Gray Vireo, Gray Flycatcher, Sagebrush Sparrow, and Juniper Titmouse. Making a loop through agricultural land and more desert will focus on raptors hoping to track down Swainson's Hawk, Golden Eagle, and Ferruginous Hawk. The afternoon is yours to relax, take a nap, go swimming, etc. After the afternoon break, we’ll grab dinner before heading out to look for Black Swift, followed by a follow up effort for Flammulated Owl and Common Poorwill.

After the long day yesterday we'll have a slower pace today. We'll visit Brighton, and the mid-elevation mixed forest. Here the focus will be on a variety of species that frequent the area. MacGillivray's Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, Cordilleran Flycatcher, and Steller's Jay. We'll take a mile hike to a nearby lake through the forest seeing what we can turn up. With some focus we might get to see Pika, Mule Deer, and Snowshoe Hare in addition to the birds! Heading back to the hotel we'll pack up and have a nice lunch before departing for Nevada. We will check out the incredible Bonneville Salt Flats and perhaps make a birding stop on the way. After we check in to our hotel in Elko, we will have dinner before doing a little birding before dark at a nearby reservoir. With sunset around 8:00 pm in Elko this time of year we will be back to the hotel by 8:30pm. And hope everyone can get 5-6 hours of sleep!

It will be a very early morning--departing by 3:00 am, we'll drive 45 minutes to the trailhead in the dark. The trek to the valley where we'll find Himalayan Snowcock takes about 90-120 minutes at a slow to moderate pace. The climb starts just under 9,000’, and goes up 10 switchbacks over 2 miles to just over 10,000’.The lead group of the pack will likely be in place to view by 5:15 with the rest of the group arriving as they can. We'll spend several hours in search of our target after which we'll make our way back down the trail and back to town. A quick stop at the hotel to shower, and check out, before we grab an early lunch in town. At this point you can relax while our guides drive us north through the desert to Southern Idaho. We’ll check into our hotel and allow everyone a chance to stretch out and recover before having dinner, and an early night to bed!

Today we’ll have a quick breakfast at the hotel before heading out into the fields south of town to look for Gray Partridge and other open country specialties. After a few hours we’ll ascend into the south hills for southern Idaho’s marquee species—the endemic Cassia Crossbill.

While the crossbills are the focus we will work on a number of species like Brown Creeper, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Western Tanager, and Golden-crowned Kinglet. Today we’ll have a picnic lunch in the hills as we look for other local goodies like Calliope Hummingbird and Lewis’s Woodpecker. As the day warms we’ll descend back to Twin Falls by mid-afternoon for a short break before dinner. Afterwards we’ll return to the southern fields to try our luck at the

agricultural areas and the targets from this morning one more time. If for some reason we missed Flammulated Owl earlier in the tour, tonight is a backup in the South Hills.

We'll visit Shoshone Falls for the falls at sunrise and a few specialty birds like Canyon Wren, Rock Wren, and Yellow-breasted Chat. Returning to Utah we'll have an early lunch before checking out Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. Large numbers of Western Grebe and Clark's Grebe breed here, as well as American White Pelican, Caspian Tern, and Franklin's Gulls. This time of year some shorebird migrants might be present and one never knows what may show up! After checking into our hotel and a taking a short break we'll have dinner before visiting the Antelope Island State Park to take in the incredible Phalarope migration at sunset.

We'll again visit Antelope Island this morning, making sure we arrive at first light for our best chance to track down the elusive Chukar. We should also see Rock Wren, Sage Thrasher, Burrowing Owl, and a few other birds during our search. We'll spend some time on the causeway heading out to see what other shorebirds are hanging out with the phalarope. We'll visit one last freshwater wildlife management area on the southeast shore of the Great Salt Lake. This stop should pick up any remaining wetland species we may not have. Sora and Virginia Rail, Cinnamon Teal, Yellow-headed Blackbird, and Neotropic Cormorant are typically seen. We'll have a late lunch at a local favorite Mexican restaurant before dropping everyone off at nearby hotels or the airport no later than 4:00 pm. We'll try to have a 2:30-4:00pm window to take care of drop-offs to give everyone enough time to catch flights, etc.