Tropical Audubon Society

South Florida’s Voice of Conservation

Get real, Joel! These days, I can't even get enough people to sign up for a trip to north Florida.

Sometimes it takes a lot of effort to get me to bird my backyard.

I know what you mean Brian. I stopped leading local and out of state tours because nobody wanted to go anywhere and had their own agendas. Times sure have changed from when I used to go on and lead trips in the 80's and 90's.

Just throwing my two cents here from someone that has many less years of birding through traveling, I think it depends a lot on the locations and also how much some people are willing to go to some places. TAS trips to Central and South America always end up full because they attract the view from birders outside of the normal TAS bubble and also because these places are known for their birds. Airfare and the way certain places are known for their birds and other attractions carry a lot of impact, hence why the Greece trip of a few years ago only had 6 birders plus the guide, people know and love birding, however they'll likely prefer and choose to bird with TAS and other tour companies in countries they wouldn't feel comfortable traveling on their own in or just don't have the time for. So Central and South America will always be targets, while the sites around the ABA area are dependent on the location, and places like Mexico, Europe and the Caribbean won't be as sought after when compared to the previously mentioned Latin America as well asmost of Australasia and Africa.

I could be wrong, but I honestly think that it's dependent on popularity of the destination, how much the place is known for it's birds, and whether this attracts people that aren't just inside of the TAS group.