If you are a guest in our programmed tour, or have one or more free days to visit Turkey, we are very happy to introduce to you our guides.

We choose them because of their knowledge, their experience, and their attitude towards birds. Our guides are independent, usually not trained as biologists, but their hobby is birding and they spent most of their time just birdwatching and discovering new bird species. Many of them have recorded and photographed many rarities in Turkey.

If you are visiting Turkey and you have a few free days, take advantage of DogaTours and go out birdwatching with our experienced guides. We know the birds, we know the places and we know how to get there more easily.

Our fundamental aims:
-to have leisurely trips,
-to help to see and enjoy birds,

Help birds by:
-providing income for local guides,
-providing income for local people,
-providing funds for Doga Dernegi's nature conservation projects.

Fees: It is possible to arrange any escorted trip to any birding site in Turkey. Fees depend on duration of your visit and the number of participants. For one-day excursion, click here to see the details and prices.

Thank you for your interest in birding in Turkey.

Our Birding Guides in Turkey

Emin Yogurtcuoglu

Emin Yogurtcuoglu started birdwatching in 2002 when he was only 15 years old because of his curious nature and interest in birds. He has one of the top three bird lists in the country, having seen over 369 species including two new species for Turkey (Sandgrouse 28(2) 172-173).

He has participated in most of the bird conferences and meetings in Turkey and in an Exchange program with a special invitation by NAJU (Naturschutzbund Jugend) in Germany in 2004. He managed the mid-winter waterfowl census in Turkey in 2006. He is also the president of ANKA(Ankara Bird-watching club) and Ted Ankara College birding club at present .He really enjoys to spend time with bird-watchers and is known by many birders throughout Turkey with his discoveries and comments on birds. For example, he discovered, the first nesting area of Cream-coloured Courser in Turkey in 2004. With his enjoyable character and successes achieved at such a young age, he has been an inspiration and has influenced many others to start bird-watching with a great enthusiasm.

He is considered as one of the best expert birders of passerines of Turkey. He gain a huge experience in his regulary visits to Altýnpark, a city park in Ankara where he has recorded 142 species and only within this park has made over 200 observations in three years. He is also the leader of Kusbank, an internet based data base for bird sightings in Turkey with over 11.000 records and 450 observations made throughout Turkey (www.kusbank.org).


Onder Cirik

Onder Cirik started birdwatching in 1999 in his university birdwatching club and has been in birding and conservation sector since then. He studied business in Ege University. He was among the people who established Ege University Birdwatching Club. He participated in many birding meetings, tours and monitoring projects at several places in Turkey.

After he graduated from university, he was accepted to an internship program in Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, in PA, USA. He was trained on raptors, raptor migration monitoring, satellite tracking and environmental education for 4 months. After he came back to Turkey, he was accepted to a certificate program on NGO management and training in Bilgi University and he followed these courses for 4 months.

After the completion of this certificate program, he was hired by Doga Dernegi, which is the affiliate partner of Birdlife International in Turkey, as the eco-tourism officer for Caucasian Black Grouse Project in north-eastern Turkey. He also now carries out another Caucasian hotspot project in coordination with Birdlife partners in Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. He is training local guides and helping establish eco-tourism facilities in north-eastern Turkey mountains.

His special interest is raptors and raptor migration; however, he is very knowledgable about other species and their locations in Turkey. He speaks fluent English, likes history, web design and international relations.