Birdwatching Tours

expertly guided birding tours exploring areas around Alice Springs, West MacDonnell Ranges and Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary, Central Australia

Duration: 6 days (or day-trips or multi-days on request)
Price: $1900 per person for the 6 day (other trips POA)
Tour starts and ends: Alice Springs
Group size: Min. 4 - Max. 6: both individual and group bookings welcome
Bookings: You can download the booking form here.
If tours are fully booked: Email us to ask about being on our wait-list

For more information on these trips, you can email Mark.

About this tour »

Australia’s desert bird communities are exceptional on a global scale for their nomadic behaviour: no other desert region can boast of having so many species that roam in search of good conditions.

This makes birding in the outback a real adventure: both risky and exciting in equal measure. Because a species is present one year does not mean it will be there the next, and vice versa! The rewards for birdwatchers in the Red Centre are quality not quantity: each and every one of these birds is a miracle of survival in one of the most hostile and unpredictable habitats on Earth.

Join us on this tour through a variety of Central Australian landscapes, from the prime bird sites surrounding Alice Springs to the West MacDonnell Ranges then on to the unique Newhaven Wildlife Sanctuary.

This will be no ordinary birdwatching tour. We will spend some time at an Aboriginal outstation to learn about desert birds as seen through the eyes of the Arrernte people, hearing stories and knowledge which has been accrued over thousands of years of direct experience living with the birdlife on this land. We also take part in gathering important data for a long term study of nesting Raptors. So little is known about the birdlife of the region. This is an exciting chance to take part in new research.

About your guide »

Mark Carter has worked for eight years and on three continents as a guide in the ecotourism industry. For the last five years, he has worked as a specialist wildlife guide in locations as diverse as the Scottish Hebridean Islands, the deserts and mountains of North Africa and the Tasmanian Tasman Sea before finally settling in the Red Centre of Australia.

“Its such a privilege to live here in Central Australia. Its undoubtedly one of the finest desert wildlife destinations on Earth," says Mark.

Mark is a relative of David Livingstone, the 19th Century Scottish explorer who travelled far and wide in Africa. “It certainly influenced me when I was younger. I always had the sense that there was a big world out there and that exploring it was the obvious thing to do when you grew up!”

A lifelong birdwatcher, Mark has a life list of well over 2000 species seen. He is passionate about sharing his knowledge and love of Australia’s desert birds.

For more information about this tour, download the intinerary »

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