What Field Guides Incorporated does

Field Guides Incorporated is a privately held, for-profit tour operator headquartered in Austin, Texas (4425 South Mopac Expy, Bldg 3, Ste 505), founded in 2007 and operating under the 'Field Guides' trade name. The company organizes and sells guided birding expeditions to destinations across all continents, running approximately 150 annual departures across 136 itineraries that range from one-day outings to 20-day international expeditions. The core product is expert-led group birding tours priced per participant, with 2026 itineraries spanning $3,325 (Alaska Barrow Part Two) to $10,750 (New Guinea & Australia), inclusive of guide services, land transport, and accommodation, with separate single-supplement and deposit charges.

The underlying technology is a modest direct-to-consumer stack: a WordPress-based website (fieldguides.com) with online itinerary PDFs, space-request booking workflows, tour-status tracking, a payment-options page, and a SmugMug integration that hosts the Photo Gallery Archive and the Birds of a Feather series. Complementary products include annotated triplists and tour reports issued after each departure, private (customized) tours, and a Shopify-powered merchandise store. Distribution is entirely direct via website, toll-free phone (800-728-4953), and email, with marketing driven by the website, monthly newsletters, photo galleries, and client testimonials.

The business model is transactional and consumer-direct: revenue is generated from one-time per-participant tour fees with ancillary merchandise and private-tour revenue. The customer base is a single horizontal persona of individual birding enthusiasts (beginners through experienced birders) seeking expert-guided access to prime birding locations globally. The company is small (firmographic headcount 1–10), operates as an independent private corporation with no disclosed parent, institutional investors, or funding rounds, and has tours currently scheduled through December 2028.

Name

Field Guides Incorporated

Legal name

Field Guides Incorporated

Website

https://fieldguides.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Field Guides Incorporated is a privately held Austin, Texas-based tour operator that organizes guided birding expeditions to destinations across all continents. Founded in 2007, the company runs approximately 150 annual departures across 136 itineraries, selling directly to individual birding enthusiasts via its website, phone, and email channels.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ecotourism / Guided Birding Tours

NAICS

Tour Operators (56152)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Wildlife Viewing & Birdwatching Tours (THAAAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wildlife & Nature Interpretation Guides (Birding, Photography, Naturalist) (THAAALAE), Wildlife & Safari Tour Operators (THAKADAG)

Keywords

• Guided birdwatching tours
• Birding expeditions
• Wildlife travel
• Ecotourism tours
• Nature tour operator

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Guided Birding Tours: One-time tour fees charged per participant for guided birding experiences. Tours range from 1-day to 3-week expeditions across global destinations. Pricing includes expert guide services, land transportation, and accommodation as specified in itineraries. Single supplements and deposits are additional revenue streams.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Field Guides Incorporated organizes and sells guided birdwatching tours worldwide, offering 136 itineraries across multiple continents with approximately 150 annual departures. The Austin, Texas-based tour operator sells per-participant tour slots directly to birders, and supplements tour services with a photo gallery archive, triplist/tour reports, private/custom tours, and a branded merchandise store.

Product overview

Field Guides Incorporated operates as a single unified service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The company provides organized birding tours to destinations across all continents, with approximately 150 annual departures and 136 itineraries covering locations worldwide. The core offering consists of guided birding tours led by expert ornithologists, supplemented by Tour Reports and Triplists (annotated species lists with images and video), Photo Gallery Archives hosted on SmugMug, and The Field Guides Store (Shopify-powered e-commerce for birding merchandise). Private Tours offer customized experiences for individual or group preferences. Major tour products include New Guinea & Australia, Mexico: Veracruz River of Raptors, Cape May Fall Migration, Alaska Fall Goldmine, and California: Seabirds to Sierra tours.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Scheduled Birding Tours Multi-day, professionally guided small-group birdwatching trips to birding destinations worldwide, sold per participant and led by experienced tour leaders. Targeted at individual recreational birders and traveling naturalists who want access to expert local knowledge and species-rich locations.
• Private Tours Custom, privately arranged guided birding tours for small groups such as birding clubs, Audubon chapters, friends, or families seeking a tailored itinerary, dates, and destinations distinct from the scheduled catalog.
• Tour Reports / Triplists Written trip reports and species checklists (triplists) documenting birds observed and itinerary highlights from past departures, supporting prospective customers evaluating future trips.
• Photo Gallery Archive Searchable online photo archive of bird images and trip photography from past tours, hosted via SmugMug, available to website visitors.
• Field Guides Store Online retail store operated via Shopify selling branded Field Guides Incorporated merchandise and related birding gear/apparel.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Rockjumper Birding Tours: Global birding tour operator offering small-group guided birding trips on all continents, frequently mentioned alongside Field Guides as a comparable specialist. Overlaps heavily on destinations, guide roster, and per-person pricing.
• Birdquest: UK-based birding tour company offering worldwide guided birding tours with expert leaders. Direct competitor in the global guided birding space, overlapping significantly with Field Guides on premier destinations.
• WINGS Birding Tours: US-based birding tour operator running guided tours across the Americas and globally, with small group sizes and expert leaders. Directly comparable in product, customer base, and tour calendar model.
• Birding Ecotours: South Africa-based but globally operating birding tour company offering guided birding trips across all continents. Direct peer to Field Guides in itinerary depth, expert-led model, and worldwide tour calendar.
• Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT): One of the longest-running birding tour operators in the US, offering guided birding tours worldwide with expert leaders. Closest direct competitor to Field Guides in target market (avid birders), product format (small-group guided tours), and pricing tier.
• Eagle Eye Tours: Birding-focused tour company offering guided tours worldwide with expert leaders. Directly comparable to Field Guides in customer avatar, tour structure, and content marketing (trip reports and photo galleries).
• Tropical Birding Tours: Birding tour operator focused on the Neotropics and global destinations, offering small-group guided tours led by expert birders. Directly comparable to Field Guides in customer base and product format.
• Naturalist Journeys: Nature-focused tour company offering birding and natural history tours worldwide, led by expert naturalists. Directly comparable specialty, customer segment, and small-group format to Field Guides.

Regional players

• Quest Nature Tours: Canadian birding and nature tour operator with small-group guided tours primarily in the Americas. Comparable in product type (guided birding tours with experts) and customer demographic.

Emerging players

• High Lonesome Birding Tours: Smaller US-based birding tour operator offering guided tours in the Americas. Comparable specialty and small-group format to Field Guides, though with a narrower geographic footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/field-guides-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Field Guides Incorporated