We are proudly COVID-Accredited Operators open for business!
Enjoy our Flexible Booking Policies to Book With Confidence.
See our Frequently Asked Questions & Northern Territory Travel Updates.
Join award-winning birdwatching & photography tours skilfully guided by Luke Paterson, one of Australia's best bird guides & owner of NT Bird Specialists. Our world-class birding & ecotourism experiences are created with 35 years local expertise, immersing you in northern Australia's ancient wilderness (Northern Territory, Kimberley, outback Queensland) & Sri Lanka.
We tailor to all birders, nature/bird photographers, film-makers & naturalists during unique small group tours & private birdwatching itineraries.
World birders, listers & non-birders alike highly recommend our professional combination of specialist guiding, 400+ bird species (finding rare & endemic Australian birds like Gouldian Finch, Grasswrens & Red Goshawk), exquisite landscapes & bird photography, private photographic cruises, helicopters, bushwalking, rock art & more.
Our Top Tours
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5 Day East Kimberley & Mitchell Falls Bird Photography Tour
Join our exhilarating bird photography adventure to seek Kimberley endemics & local speciality targets in gorgeous settings. Limited availability in 2022. Ask about Special Offers.
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5 Day Purnululu East Kimberley Landscape Photography Workshop
Join our dramatic landscape photographic adventure with Jay Collier in East Kimberley wilderness sites. Limited availability in 2022. Maximum 10 guests. 2 Expert Tour leaders. Save $1,000.
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6 Night Top End Birds & Wildlife Photographic Workshop Immersion
Join our breath-taking bird & wildlife photography tour with Jay Collier in Kakadu’s World Heritage sites. Limited availability 2022. Maximum 8 guests. 2 Expert Tour leaders. Ask about Special Offers.
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8 Day Australian Outback Birdwatching Tour, Darwin (NT) to Mount Isa (QLD)
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17 Day Northern Australia Outback Birding Tour, Darwin (NT) to Cairns (QLD) via Mount Isa
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5 Day Wild Kakadu Nature & Landscape Photographic Expedition
Join our exclusive photographic expedition through the heart of Crocodile Dundee country. June 2022. Limited availability.
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10 Day Ultimate Top End Birding Adventure Tour
NT Bird Specialists’ ‘Ultimate Top End Birding Adventure’ tour discovers some of the most remote and impressive landscapes and targeted bird and wildlife species in one fowl swoop!
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15 Day Sri Lankan Birdwatching Tour plus Wildlife
Join NT Bird Specialists on a 15 day ‘Wild-Life’ Adventure through the biodiverse and culturally rich lands of Sri Lanka in February 2023. ‘Immerse yourself in World Heritage wilderness and ancient cultural sites while searching for unique and endemic birds and wildlife off the beaten track. Sri Lanka – the Wonder of Asia, the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.’
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7 Day North Australian Finch Frenzy Tour
Join NT Bird Specialists on a Grass ’Finch Frenzy’ of the best birding sites for Gouldian Finch, Star Finch, Pictorella Mannikin and up to 200 bird species spanning the Top End, Northern Territory. Start & finish in Darwin.
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9 Day Tropical Outback Top End Bird Photography Tour
Embark on our 9 Day ‘Tropical Outback’ Top End Bird Photography Tour to photograph an incredible range of colourful and unique northern Australian birds and wildlife in beautiful landscapes.
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5 Day Top End Birding and Wildlife Tour
Our 5 day ‘Top End Birding & Wildlife Experience’ provides fantastic chances to view many Top End specialty birds and wildlife, including Banded-fruit Dove (endemic), Rainbow Pitta, Hooded Parrot (endemic), Gouldian Finch and many waterbirds.
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4 Day Kakadu Birdwatching Tour ‘Djagarna Jaunt’
Our 4 day Kakadu Birdwatching tour ‘Djagarna Jaunt’ explores a 1200 kilometre circuit along the Arnhem, Kakadu and Stuart Highways, in the Top End of the Northern Territory.
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3 Day Kakadu Wildlife Tour ‘Ragul Run’
For those with a less time to visit the Top End, our 3 Day ‘Ragul Run’ wildlife tour presents a taste of Kakadu in two nights.
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2 Day Pine Creek Birdwatching Tour ‘Parrot and Finch Paradise’
10 species of parrots, including the (locally endemic) Hooded Parrot, Red-winged Parrot, Cockatiel and Northern Rosella, rightfully makes the historic gold mining and railway township of Pine Creek the ‘Top End’s home of parrots’.
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1 Day Kakadu Birdwatching Tours
Our 1 day Kakadu bird watching tours start and finish in the heart of the World Heritage Kakadu National Park.
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1 Day Darwin Birdwatching Tour ‘Sticky Beak’
Darwin’s urban landscapes retain an array of habitats for birds and wildlife to flourish in.
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Kakadu Bird Week Tours 2022
Get a fantastic taste of Kakadu’s birding highlights when Luke guides you to the best sites during Kakadu Bird Week 2022. Enquire and book Kakadu Bird Week tours today [email protected]
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About Us.
We have a united passion and experience in working for sustainable tourism businesses and conservation projects in northern Australia and SE Asia.
You can rest assured with our award-winning team, as we combine over 28 years experience in the Northern Territory and Kimberley regions when packaging our genuine small group and custom ecotours, so you have more time to view wildlife and soak in your surroundings in comfort.
Our services in special-interest nature tourism are amongst the best on offer. Come and experience it for yourself.
Reviews
My eyes were opened to this ancient landscape through the lens of watching birds - what a fabulous way to have ones eyes opened. Our guide Luke Paterson provided a superb blend of knowledge, skill and enthusiasm. His people skills and patience were as well developed as his bird knowledge - exceptional at times and breath-taking. this is a holiday to be remembered for the rest of our lives - a stand out!
I have been on many guided tours throughout the world and this one was absolutely stunning an outstanding in comparison. Luke was friendly; endlessly obliging; his ability in bird-spotting was amazing; everything was well organised; attention to detail extraordinary and food excellent and abundant. Luke's kindness and thoughtfulness in making sure everyone was ok and seeing the birds (and we saw way more than expected) was great. Luke was endlessly knowledgeable but modest in sharing his expertise and a great sense of warm humour. I would recommend this tour to anyone!
The expertise and patience of our guide was excellent. The choice of sites seemed (to a novice birder) very good, and beautiful as well. I loved the most active pieces of the daily schedule, along with the sightings.
We spent two days with Luke & Sarah in Kakadu and had a great time as well as being a successful birding outing. They are so friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and willing to go the extra mile to satisfy their client's wishes. They are obliging - Luke & Sarah constructed a tour to meet our time constraints, preferred locations, and particular birds we were after. The food was top quality, generous and well presented. Luke's birding skills are impressive and they both have so much knowledge of the cultural significance of the area and the history and all the wildlife and plants.
We booked because we found the package listing attractive. Luke is a very passionate, knowledgeable, considerate guide and the most pleasant company during the tour. He spared no pains to make our visit to the NT memorable and set and met goals way above our expectations. Well catered too. Luke was not only a kind, friendly person, but also patient and able to keep varying levels of backgrounds and ability engaged and enjoying the experience at an appropriate level. We enjoyed covering so much ground not only birds but also such a wide and varied range of NT so that one is eager to return and keep enjoying the NT experience.
Just sending a quick note from Peter & myself thanking you for an experience we will continue to talk about for a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all the birds over half of which I would have completely missed had I tried to observe them by doing the walks solo. One of my highlights was definitely the Rainbow Pitta. I was also wrapped with the Black Bittern and Pete got a good photo of this on the Yellow Water morning cruise. We are putting the photos together now and my favourite keeps changing. Peter is still joking about the elusive Yellow Chat ... we were hoping that one may have jumped in our suitcase for a free flight to Sydney but alas this wasn't the case. The whole trip culminated in winning the helicopter ride which Pete kindly gave to me. For a laugh I've attached a photo....zoom in on Pete's pocket if you can... LOL. Thanks again for a fabulous time and we will keep an eye out for other up and coming "NT Bird Specialists" tours. All the best.
3 Day AIPP Kakadu Photographic Workshop led by Peter Eastway
Sri Lankan Birding and Wildlife Tour: Trip Notes & Species Highlights with NT Bird Specialists
Effects of Australian bushfires on birdlife & birdwatching tours
Australian Geographic comes to Kakadu Bird Week
Australasian Ornithological Conference Darwin (AOC) 2019
The Urban Birder films Darwin and the Top End
Past Newsletter Highlights and Touring Specials
New Ownership for NT Bird Specialists
Please find the latest Northern Territory Government COVID-19 information here:
Update: Last edited 5 April 2022.
The Northern Territory is open for travel.
Please note the following border entry requirements for travellers to the Northern Territory via the latest Directions for COVID-19 via the Chief Health Officer for the Northern Territory:
Pre-travel & border entry requirements:
Rest assured that NT Bird Specialists are COVID-19 Ready accredited operators with a valid COVID-19 Safety Plan and we will work with our guests to make sure you have safe touring opportunities with us in the future.
For information on our COVID-19 Policies and Terms and Conditions updates, visit our FAQ Page here:
Please do not hesitate to contact Luke or Sarah if you would like to discuss any of this.
Ph: +61 (0) 421 651 122 (Luke Paterson)
Ph: +61 (0) 455 921 092 (Sarah Burgess)
