{"id":2011,"date":"2023-01-31T22:06:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-31T21:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/?p=2011"},"modified":"2023-01-11T18:09:41","modified_gmt":"2023-01-11T17:09:41","slug":"birding-in-spain-why-employ-a-bird-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/birds-in-spain\/birding-in-spain-why-employ-a-bird-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Birding In Spain &#8211; why employ a bird guide?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Why do I need a guide?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2065\" style=\"width: 378px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2065\" data-attachment-id=\"2065\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/birds-in-spain\/birding-in-spain-why-employ-a-bird-guide\/attachment\/guiding1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/guiding1.jpg?fit=283%2C356&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"283,356\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;13&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS REBEL T2i&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1439258759&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;18&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0025&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Birding is better with a guide\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Birding is better with a guide&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Birding is better with a guide&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/guiding1.jpg?fit=238%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/guiding1.jpg?fit=283%2C356&amp;ssl=1\" class=\" wp-image-2065\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/guiding1.jpg?resize=368%2C463&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"368\" height=\"463\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/guiding1.jpg?w=283&amp;ssl=1 283w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/guiding1.jpg?resize=238%2C300&amp;ssl=1 238w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 368px) 100vw, 368px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2065\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Birding is better with a guide<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>A bird guide is about finding and identifying birds, right? And you are good at identifying birds, so you don&#8217;t need a guide, right?<\/p>\n<p>Hmm&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Do you know all the birds&#8217; calls?<br \/>\nDo you know the birds&#8217; habitat and how they use it?<br \/>\nDo you know how they interact with other species?<br \/>\nDo you know how their movements are timed throughout the year?<br \/>\nDo you know if the habitat or the bird is still there?<\/p>\n<p>Then there are other considerations &#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>How to design the most efficient itinerary, getting the most birds for the least time and effort while maintaining a pace that suits you<\/li>\n<li>How to drive on Spanish roads full of Spanish drivers and road signs<\/li>\n<li>Where it may not be safe to park or leave a vehicle<\/li>\n<li>Do you know all the tracks and back roads?<\/li>\n<li>Do you have alternative sites for the species you came to see?<\/li>\n<li>Can you speak the language for whatever occasion (and don&#8217;t be surprised but a lot of people don&#8217;t speak English)<\/li>\n<li>Do you know what is private property and what is not?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Then, a good birding guide with roots in the country and culture will also have extensive knowledge of<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Food and drink<\/li>\n<li>History and culture<\/li>\n<li>What else is there to see or to do apart from the birds<\/li>\n<li>Where to stop for a good coffee and croissant or sandwich<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_2067\" style=\"width: 379px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2067\" data-attachment-id=\"2067\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/birds-in-spain\/birding-in-spain-why-employ-a-bird-guide\/attachment\/fivebirders\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/fivebirders.jpg?fit=567%2C341&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"567,341\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;X-T10&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1473048380&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;24.3&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;320&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0015625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Birding in Spain with your group and our guide\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;Birding in Spain with your group and our guide&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Birding in Spain with your group and our guide&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/fivebirders.jpg?fit=300%2C180&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/fivebirders.jpg?fit=567%2C341&amp;ssl=1\" class=\" wp-image-2067\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/fivebirders.jpg?resize=369%2C222&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"369\" height=\"222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/fivebirders.jpg?w=567&amp;ssl=1 567w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/fivebirders.jpg?resize=300%2C180&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 369px) 100vw, 369px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2067\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Birding in Spain with your group and our guide<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p>So in our opinion the question shouldn&#8217;t be whether you can afford a guide, but rather whether you can afford to come on the holiday of a lifetime and not to have one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Why do I need a guide? A bird guide is about finding and identifying birds, right? And you are good at identifying birds, so you don&#8217;t need a guide, right? Hmm&#8230; Do you know all the birds&#8217; calls? Do you know the birds&#8217; habitat and how they use it? Do you know how they interact [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[185,15,186],"class_list":["post-2011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birds-in-spain","tag-bird-guide","tag-spain","tag-spanish"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7I752-wr","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2011"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2069,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2011\/revisions\/2069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdinginspain.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}