Miguel is one of the founders and co-owners of Trogon Tours, bringing decades of experience and a deep passion for wildlife to every adventure. His career began in Iguazú, where he served as a National Park Guard and Chief Naturalist for six years. This role allowed him to combine formal guard training with his personal dedication to understanding the diverse flora and fauna of the subtropical rainforests, building an impressive knowledge base in the process.

As a naturalist, Miguel has specialized in bird song identification. For nearly 20 years, he has been recording and cataloging bird calls, amassing an extensive collection that includes the vast majority of species found in northern Argentina and southern Brazil. Beyond his fieldwork, Miguel has made significant contributions to nature conservation and environmental education. One of his most notable projects was an expedition with Conservation International across northeastern Argentina and southern Brazil in search of the last surviving individuals of the now likely extinct Glaucous Macaw.

Miguel’s expertise has taken him beyond Argentina and Brazil. In Guyana, he worked with the Smithsonian Institution, training indigenous communities to become natural history tour guides. He also collaborated with the Kansas Museum on bird population monitoring projects. His passion for education continues at home, where he teaches professional tour guide training courses at the University of Misiones. Additionally, he is the co-author of the Inventory of the Birds of Iguazú National Park.

Miguel began leading nature tours in 1991, focusing on the birds and wildlife of southern Brazil, Bolivia, and northern Argentina. His deep knowledge of the Pantanal and the subtropical rainforests of northern Argentina has led to several significant discoveries. These include the first recorded sightings in Argentina of species like the American Pygmy Kingfisher and Capped Heron, as well as the discovery of one of the most visited Harpy Eagle nests in southern Brazil—an incredible find made over a decade ago, which has since drawn birders from around the world.

Fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, Miguel is passionate about sharing his love for wildlife with others. He lives with his wife Karina and their two sons, Ignacio and Félix, in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina, just a stone’s throw from the breathtaking Iguazú Falls.

Luis is a co-founder and co-owner of Trogon Tours, bringing over 40 years of experience to the nature tour industry. His lifelong passion for natural history and nature photography has taken him around the world in search of birds and other wildlife, experiences that have shaped both his career and the success of Trogon Tours.

Since 1982, Luis has been leading birding and wildlife tours throughout Argentina and South America, backed by extensive training in ornithology, birdwatching, marine mammals, flora, and geology through the Argentine Ornithological Society (AOP) and the Argentine Wildlife Foundation (FVSA). His ability to guide both local and international groups has connected countless travelers with the rich and diverse ecosystems of the Neotropics and beyond.

Luis’ expertise in tour planning and administration began in 1985 when he helped develop and manage the educational tours department for a Buenos Aires-based company. His efforts were pivotal in establishing Costanera Sur as a premier birding destination, leading tours there even before it was officially designated as a reserve!

In 1987, Luis returned to his hometown of Puerto Madryn in Patagonia, where he continued to guide tours worldwide while also serving as a local birding and nature guide. His skills in operational management expanded between 1995 and 1997 when he managed the operations department of a local tour company. These experiences laid the groundwork for the creation of Seebirds, a birding tour company designed to enhance the experiences of birders visiting Patagonia.

In 2000, Luis partnered with Miguel Castelino to launch Birding Argentina and Trogon Tours. Combining their field expertise and administrative skills, they expanded from Argentina-based birding tours to comprehensive nature tours across Latin America and beyond. By recruiting wildlife specialists from various disciplines, they diversified their offerings to meet the broad interests of naturalists worldwide.

Today, Luis remains deeply involved in guiding, planning, and managing tours globally. His commitment continues to drive the success of Trogon Tours while promoting sustainable and educational nature tourism.

Luis has also made significant contributions to wildlife conservation, with a focus on shorebirds and seabirds. He volunteered for four seasons with the Magellanic Penguin Project in Punta Tombo and managed a penguin rescue station in Puerto Madryn during the 1991 oil spill crisis.

Education is a cornerstone of Luis’ career. He organizes and leads birdwatching, natural history, and flora courses in Patagonia, sharing his knowledge and passion with aspiring guides and the wider public. His dedication to fostering a deeper appreciation for nature and conservation has left a lasting impact on the communities he serves.

Luis lives in Puerto Madryn with his wife, Nancy.

Lucas is one of Trogon Tours partners and senior tour leader for southern South America and Antarctica. Lucas got his diploma in Biology at the School of Natural Science and Museum of the National University of La Plata. His first work as a professional ornithologist was assessing the health of a bird community in a petrol refinery. Since then, he has worked as an ornithologist for the I.A.A. (Instituto Antárctico Argentino) in Antarctica for four different seasons; for the National University of La Plata in bird control at airports and landfills, assessing problems related to birds and power lines; and, for private companies in many ornithological inventories and assessments all along Argentina- in the field of mining, wind power, road constructions, urban developments and others. He has also been working as an environmental consultant for many different projects and fields of expertise.

With more than 15 trips to the white continent, he started leading birding and natural history tours to Antarctica in 2004. At the same time, he gave lectures on Antarctic fauna to then join Trogon Tours in 2005. He soon became one of the company’s senior leaders, guiding many of our tours in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Antarctica and Brazil. Throughout the years, Lucas has specialized in leading birding, mammal and photography journeys. He is very flexible and happy to work with the wide myriad of traveler profiles in the world of nature travel.

Lucas has finally became one of Trogon Tours’ partners and associate in 2016. Besides leading tours, Lucas is our sales manager, and therefore the person in charge of making true your nature travel adventures in Latin America and Antarctica with Trogon Tours.

Lucas also works as a Senior Lecturer in ornithology at the university and still does environmental assessments. He also loves reading, listening to music, playing guitar and rugby. He lives in the city of La Plata, with his wife and three sons.

Nicolas joined Trogon Tours in 2017. He started leading birding and nature tours since 2013, mainly working with birders in the Argentine provinces of Misiones, Corrientes, Entre Rios, Formosa, Neuquen and Buenos Aires. Birds are his main interest when traveling across the country but he loves finding mammals, reptiles, amphibians and arthropods as well. His love for birds and arthropods led to the publishing of numerous scientific publications, including the discovery of several new species of spiders for the country and the addition of new bird species to some Argentinian provinces. He spend one year living in a natural reserve located on the atlantic rainforest of Misiones province, guiding people from all over the world. He has also worked for two years at the Buenos Aires museum of natural history as a paleontology lab technician, preparing dinosaur skeletons for study.

Nicolas lives in Junín de los Andes, a town located in Northern Patagonia where he spends his free time exploring the Patagonian steppe and the Andes mountains in search for new areas where endemic Patagonian bird species may occur and identifying reptiles, mammals and artrophods from the Patagonian arid regions.

Raised in Tierra del Fuego, Esteban currently resides in its capital city, Ushuaia. He has a Degree in Tourism and he is Trogon Tours’ Senior Leader for Tierra del Fuego and southern Patagonia. As a professional guide, he has specialized in birdwatching, nature and wildlife photography. Esteban grew up in a sheep farm where he developed his love for nature and wildlife. He knows Tierra del Fuego and Patagonia first hand, and he’s proud to show clients all those secret places where special birds and wildlife live in the southernmost part of the Earth. Leading birding and nature tours is one of Esteban’s passions. Esteban is also involved in conservation and sustainable tourism projects in his homeland. Along with a group of local passionate nature lovers, he helped creating the first Urban Reserve in Ushuaia. This strategic place, located close to the city center, covers 35 hectares of grassland, wetlands and an enclosed bay -a perfect setting for birdwatchers and nature photographers! He helps building a nature sensitive conscience in the local community by leading educational tours for local students to this urban reserve, something that has has been doing for many years now. Esteban has also been a founding member and is an active participant of the local birdwatching club. He also loves exploring Patagonia, trekking, camping, fishing, skiing and horseback riding with his wife Susana and his son Juan.

Francisco Cornell lives in Jujuy, where he grew up, and since very young felt attracted by nature and started to explore the incredible landscapes and wildlife of this part of the Argentina. He became a self-educated birder at the age of 22, has taken part in projects related to the conservation of nature and biodiversity (one of his main interests), as well as worked for researchers in their field expeditions. He has a profound knowledge of the region and enjoys to share his experience with other people, so since 2000 has been guiding birders coming from all over the world. He is fluent in English, is official birding guide to the Calilegua National Park, the Lake Pozuelos, the Humahuaca gorge, and the Yala Provincial Park, among many other places; he has a degree in tourism, is married with his wife Andrea, and has two children.

Pablo joined Trogon Tours in 2012. He was born in Bahía Blanca, Argentina, and studied Zoology at the Faculty of Natural Science and the Museum of La Plata, specializing in marine and freshwater ecology and conservation biology, mostly on migratory birds. During 2003 he was the Coordinator of the “Migratory Bird Conservation Program” of Fundación Vida Silvestre Argentina, and from that year on, he cooperates with their “Marine Program”. Pablo worked at the Arctic Polar Circle in Alaska during 2002 and 2004 under the U.S. Geological Service and the National Park Service, where he conducted research on Nearctic migratory birds and seabirds ecology. Since 2006 Pablo has guided expeditions to Antarctica several times a year. At present he holds a position as assistant professor in “Vertebrates Zoology III” at the National University of La Plata. He also coordinates different projects on migratory endangered species (Olrog’s Gull and Austral Goose) and shorebirds (Red Knot) in Argentina. He has done field work and researched on penguins in Staten Island, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, and conducted several aerial shorebird surveys along the Patagonian coast. He published three books (two bird identification guides), four chapters of books, more than 40 scientific papers in national and international specialized magazines and renowned peer-reviewed journals, and gave several conferences and courses. Being in the wild is undoubtedly one of his greatest passions, and he enjoys sharing his knowledge and passion for wildlife and conservation biology with other people. Last but not least, he is a keen and knowledgeable nature photographer, sailor and kayaker. He has explored many Patagonian lakes and rivers by kayak. Pablo currently lives between the cities of La Plata and Bahía Blanca.

Patricio is a naturalist guide with a strong interest in flora, fauna, ecology, and conservation biology. He joined our company in 2006, specializing mainly on birding tours in Argentina and the Pantanal. Patrcio leads many of our tours in Argentina, a country he know as the back of his hand! He started his career as a naturalist by joining the Argentine Ornithological Society in 1992 where he took several courses on bird watching and made frequent field trips. He has been birding in every single ecological region of Argentina and has added several new species to the Argentine list of birds. Patricio has also specialized in recording bird songs, something he did for 9 years, and so developed excellent skills for bird recognition by song. Patricio obtained a naturalist degree from the Argentine School of Naturalists. He worked as a guide in Costanera Sur Nature Reserve in Buenos Aires for five years and also guided natural history and educational tours throughout Argentina. He has also given numerous lectures and courses on wildlife and bird watching. Patricio is also a biologist, with a degree from the University of Buenos Aires. He became a field biologist, and always kept the same passion for nature than he had since he became a naturalist. His first field research took him to the flooded forests of the Argentine Chaco for five summers, where he worked with Owls and Owl Monkeys. He then moved to the Atlantic Forest of Argentina to study vocal communication in infant Black Capuchin Monkeys. Nowadays Patricio lives in Iguazú.

Willy joined Trogon Tours in 2007. He is an agronomist who developed a strong interest and first hand knowledge on cacti by traveling intensively through his native Argentina and the rest of South America, working as a location scout for the film industry; a job he did for 20 years. As a result of this, some years ago, he started collecting cacti and now has a collection of more than 1,400 species and with over 6,000 plants, nearly all of them seed grown. He has written several articles for specialized journals of Argentina and Spain. Due to his knowledge of the cacti habitats he has been guiding cactus oriented tours since 2002 in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Brazil and Uruguay. Willy produced, directed and hosted a gardening show in Argentina for three years. He obtained his degree in Agricultural Engineer in the University of Buenos Aires and is fluent in English. Willy lives in Buenos Aires.

Alejandro was raised in the city of Buenos Aires, spending weekends and summer holidays outside the city, in the countyside, practicing all sorts of sports and enjoying horseback riding in the pampas. He finnished his Degree in Tourism, and with his wife Fernanda, they did a two month volunteering in the rainforest of Misiones, as Nature Guides. There, is where the passion for nature and birdwatching started, but their plans were in Patagonia. They moved to El Calafate in 2003, and since then, that is their hometown, and where Lucia, their daughter, was born in 2008. Alejandro is a Professional Tour Guide of Los Glaciares National Park and Santa Cruz Province with a deep passion for birds, nature and photography. With his familly, they enjoy nature, hiking and camping as much as possible. He teaches Geography of Argentina and Patagonia in the local Institute of Tourism for professional guides. Also, he is one of the main Coordinators of the local Birdwatching Club, from where they organize educational tours and birdwatching introductory courses for the guides and the community, seasonal censuses and cleaning days along the wetlands of El Calafate. Alejandro is a member of an Association of Nature Photographers of Argentina (Afona) and participated in different exhibitions with his photographs.

Victor is Trogon Tours’ senior leader for Peru. He joined the team in 2016 and besides leading tours, he actively participates in tour design and operations in his native Peru and also in Ecuador. Victor is and ornithologist, graduated from the Faculty of Biological Sciences, National University of San Agustin of Arequipa. He has a strong interest in evolution, ecology, and conservation biology, focusing mainly on Amazonian and Andean birds. Victor has carried out research on song evolution in Neotropical birds, spending lots of time studying bird voices, thus developing excellent skills for identifying birds by their calls. During his college student years, he worked as a volunteer park ranger in various Peruvian national parks and reserves, such as Salinas and Aguada Blanca National Reserve, near Arequipa, where he was in change of surveying bird populations in Andean wetlands, focusing mainly on Andean, Chilean, and James’s flamingos. He was also a participant and coordinator of the Neotropical water birds census in southern Peru from 2003 to 2006. Victor’s field research started in the Amazonian rainforests of southeastern Peru, where he worked in the Madre de Dios area, at the well renowned field station of ¨Los Amigos¨ (CICRA), from 2005 to 2007. During his time there, Victor worked on several projects funded by Amazon Conservation Association (ACA) and World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). As Scientific and Administrative Assistant of the Biological Station, he assisted in the project: “Determining minimum areas for the design of landscapes of conservation in the southwest Amazon,” monitoring populations of parrots and macaws, searching for nests and doing radio telemetry. He also studied the ecology of Forest Falcons in the Peruvian Amazon and was project Manager for a study on song evolution in the antbird species complex; a project of the Department of Zoology – University of Oxford and the Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology. Victor has also worked as an external consultant on evaluation, monitoring and inventory of birds for different Peruvian companies since 2008, a job that took him birding to a wide variety of Peruvian natural areas. He also participated in many ornithological expeditions organized by public and private institutions –including the Museum of Natural History, National University of San Agustin– throughout Peru; mainly to explore areas with information gaps. He has also been assistant, organizer, and field instructor in several ecology and ornithology courses for undergraduate students and general public. Victor has nearly 15 years of experience and involvement in biological expeditions, consulting assessments, biological monitoring and research projects in national institutions like SERNANP and international organizations including WWF, WCS, Smithsonian Institution and different universities, among others. Since 2012, he is also a Research Associate at the Museum of Natural History, National University of San Agustin and External Consultant in biodiversity and bird monitoring and Coordinator in the area of Ornithology of the Monitoring Program of Biodiversity in Camisea – PMB. Birds and bird watching are undoubtedly his main interests, but he also enjoys spending time afield, training students interested in ornithology and bird watching. He loves music and travel, and developed a strong interest in nature photography during the last few years.

Adrian is Trogon Tours’ main tour leader for Uruguay. He is a Uruguayan biologist with main interests in ornithology and conservation biology. He earned his M.Sc. and Ph.D degrees from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and has worked in many research and conservation projects in Uruguay and Argentina during the last 20 years. He has studied several threatened species and he is currently responsible of a Pampas birds ecology and conservation project (www.pampasbirds.com). This initiative combines research and education activities to increase public awareness related to grassland bird conservation throughout the region. Adrian has published many scientific contributions as well technical publications such as “Aves del Uruguay” (Birds of Uruguay, 2001) and “Birds of the Pampas and Campos of Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay: an identification guide” (2012). He currently lives in Uruguay and works as a scientific consultant for private companies.

Maynor is Trogon Tours’ main local leader in Guatemala. He is a civil engineer, but also a dedicated and passionate naturalist, who decided to leave his profession behind to work as a guide and find birds every single day of his life. His interest in nature started when he received a scholarship at the American School of Guatemala, where scientific education encouraged him to participate and become a finalist in the National Biology Olympiad. After this experience he became interested in birds as he developed Environmental Impact Assessments as part of his professional practice. Because of his knowledge of bird populations, Maynor actively contributed to the International Birdwatching Encounters promoted by Guatemalan Tourism Board, where he worked to design the different routes that showed the natural richness and diversity of birds of Guatemala to the guests and participants. He is a member of Birdwatching Trainers Program sponsored by Guatemalan Tourism Board, Organization of American States, Japanese International Cooperation Agency and the Guatemalan Birdwatching Board. He has also been active as a group leader in the Christmas Bird Counts in Atitlan, Tikal and Antigua Guatemala since 2007. Maynor is very active as a birding guide, he has traveled the entire country and when not in a tour, he is constantly looking for new birding destinations. He, as a keen birder, has the first record for Guatemala of a Southern Lapwing (Vanellus chilensis). He was chosen as instructor for The National Audubon Society and Asociación Vivamos Mejor to lead the Training Course for Birding Guides – Advanced Level around Atitlan Lake, and he works hard to share every sight through eBird to help ornithologists with accurate data from citizen science.

Regina joined Trogon Tours in 2010. Born and raised Brazilian, Regina graduated in Tourism Business and have concentrated her studies in biology and ecotourism. She has been leading wildlife and nature photography trips since 1997 in her native Brazil, and more recently in Chile and Argentina as well. Birding and mammal watching has led her to travel throughout South America. She is a popular and knowledgeable person, well known for her ability in wildlife spotting. Regina speaks fluent Portuguese, English and Spanish. Nowadays she is based in Belo Horizonte, the third largest city of Brazil.

Raphael Santos is a Brazilian professional guide specialized on birds and wildlife in general. He has been totally focused on birds since 2001 when he started his career as a field biologist at PUC University in South Brazil. Raphael began an endless series of trips all over Brazil as an environmental consultant which gave him a great experience with bird communities in different regions of the Brazilian territory (Amazon Forest, Pantanal, Atlantic Forest, Brazilian Savanna, Caatinga and Pampas). Raphael did everything about working with birds, from mist netting and banding, taxidermizing and reviewing museum collections, writing and publishing scientific papers or books, photographing birds and guiding. His experience in Brazil and other countries as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia, South Africa and Australia gives him an exceptional overview about the ecotourism, especially how to make a birding trip just phenomenal. His best skills as a tour leader are great knowledge of bird taxonomy, behavior and habitat needs, easy-going person who knows a lot about wildlife in general and ecological approaches; he’s main focus during the tours is to keep clients satisfied with their trip (enjoying the whole experience); he understands the clients’ main interest to make the tour better than their expectations.

Luis is Trogon Tours’ senior leader for Colombia. He is a biologist from the Tolima University with a vast experience in bird watching and scientific research on endangered species. He started leading birding tours in 2007, but from 2010 onwards he has highly specialized in leading English speaking naturalists and birders in his native Colombia. His field training as a birding tour leader was achieved through locally guiding and co-leading tours with international leaders, like Steven Hilty (Author of the book “Field Guide to the Birds of Colombia – 1986), Nick Athanas, Richard Webster and Frank Lambert to name but a few. In addition, he won a “watcher prize” from the British Petroleum Company Conservation Programme when he worked as director of an important project with the enigmatic Blue-billed Curassow in 2004. He looks after our tour logistics in Colombia, and he actively participates in the design of our Colombia tour itineraries.