Not only did Tim deliver the birds, but he kept us in good spirits, even when hiking up a mountain at 3am.
Daniel T. Most Wanted, 2017
About Pitta Nature Tours
We. Find. Birds. And wildlife, amazing scenery, great food, etc
For over 15 years, we have been delighted to share unforgettable birding experiences and wildlife tours with fellow nature enthusiasts. When we proudly proclaim, "We. Find. Birds.", we genuinely mean it.
Our meticulously crafted tours are designed to spotlight some of the most highly coveted species in every destination we explore. Within the United States, we offer an enticing array of tours in the Mountain West, showcasing remarkable birds such as the Flammulated Owl, Cassia Crossbill, Himalayan Snowcock, Black Swift, Gray Vireo, and many more. On an international scale, our tours focus on regions abundant with endemic species and elusive treasures that challenge even the most seasoned birdwatchers. Entrust us with the opportunity, and we will work hard to find birds for you!
Our Guides
Nate Brown
Guide
Kenny Frisch
Guide
Josh Kreitzer
Guide
A Little History
2008 MWBirdCo is Born
After the initial foray into helping birders find Flammulated Owls, the opportunity to expand came a year later in 2008, when the ABA Convention lands at Snowbird, Utah. Owner, Tim Avery was asked to help lead a dual field trip with Steve Howell, Jeffrey Gordon, and Jeff Bouton for mid-elevation coniferous species and shorebirds. Seeing an opportunity, he put together a simple website and business cards and handed them out. He ended up leading several small groups to look for their lifer Flammulated Owls—and Mountain West Birding Company was born
2011 Retail Birding Shop
While guiding for Flammulated Owls was the primary focus, we attempted to break into the retail space with an online store in 2011. During the 2 years we operated our shop, we enjoyed making various contacts at optics brands, and with outdoor retailer industry experts that provided great insights into the industry and helped us try to be succefqll in our niche space
2013 Focus back on guiding
After our foray into online retail we decided to refocus on guiding introducing a number of 1/2 day and full day set itineraries, offering comprehensive custom itineraries, and figuring out how to grow our Flammy tour schedule. We developed a 10-year plan on how to grow from our single tour offering, to the new suite of set tours, eventually creating multi-day set itineraries, and one day offering tours around the world.
2015 Growth and Tour Expansion
As we focused on growing our brand and expanding our tour offerings we passed our first major milestone, showing our 100th Flammulated Owl on a tour in 2014. By 2016 we reached our 500th Flammy on a tour, exceeding our expectations, and offering 10-20 owl tours every summer for clients form around the world. In 2017 we offered our first Most Wanted Tours, providing multi-day targeted itineraries. We also partnered with The Travelling Naturalist to offer a Grand Teton & Yellowstone Solar Eclipse Tour during the Great American Eclipse.
2018 Flammy Mark Rebrand
Needing a fresh and unique look we rebranded, introducing the “Flammy Mark” to represent the species that helped grow our brand. A new, unique, and ultra modern website helped us highlight our tours, and bring focus to our firs international tours. In 2019, we showed our 1,000th Flammulated Owl on a tour, and took our first international tour group to Bali and the Lesser Sundas for 3 weeks. Hot off the heels of this tour we brought a group to the Yucatan and Cozumel for a week in January 2020. Our goal of launching an international birding tour company had come to fruition!
2021 Introducing Pitta Nature Tours
Shortly after our first international tours, we decided to make a change. As we expanded our tour offering to include more and more international destinations, with a focus on endemics and highly sought after birds in out of the way places, we wanted a name to match—and thus, Pitta Nature Tours was born. Why Pitta? Who doesn't love the "jewel birds"? We can only aspire to be as incredible as these birds, and that is our goal!
One year later we are finally announcing the change, with hopes that our international tours will pick back up during the winter of 2021-22!
Core Values
Reliable & Determined We. Find. Birds.
This was our first value, and the one which we built our business around. We. Find. Birds. It’s a simple concept that we stand by on every tour. We use reliable, time-tested methods, and are determined to seek out the birds our customers want to see.
Ethical & Sustainable We. Protect. Wildlife
Without wildlife, there would be no Pitta Tours. We. Protect. Wildlife. Whether supporting environmental causes, speaking out for conservation, or through our actions in the field, we insist on ethical birding to maintain a sustainable model for years to come.
Impactful & Collaborative We. Support. Local.
We are a small local business, so we try to support small local businesses whether through our partnerships for tours, frequenting local shops, and restaurants, or outreach through volunteer work in the community. Collaborative and impactful relationships for a better world.
Honest & Earnest We. Respect. Customers.
At the end of the day, we rely on our customers to be able to offer the tours we do, and share the experiences we are able to share. We are honest from the start, and earnest in our efforts. We’ll do what it takes to make sure you want to go birding with Pitta Tours again!
94 Reviews
2020, '22, & '23 Trip Advisor Travelers' Choice Award Consistently earning great reviews from birders!
Top Rated Wildlife Tour in Salt Lake City
Tim was passionate about the birds, enthusiastic about getting everyone on every bird, professional with planning and guiding, and extremely knowledgeable about the birds. We got all of our targets...
Becky L Most Wanted , 2019
Recent Photos from Our Tours
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