Bird watching is a hobby that people of all ages enjoy and there are plenty of places in the UK where different species of bird can be seen and studied but some people are going a bit further afield to enjoy their hobby and look forward to seeing some more exotic species in their natural environment.

Travelling to the Pantanal in Brazil offers bird watchers an opportunity to see the world’s largest parrot and one of the rarest. The hyacinth macaw is breathtakingly beautiful with its intense cobalt blue plumage.  If you visit towards the end of the dry season, when water becomes a precious commodity, all manner of water-dependent birds such as storks, ibises and spoonbills squeeze on to the ever-shrinking water.

The BBC documentary Attenborough in Paradise episode filmed in Papua New Guinea has inspired many bird watchers to visit the area and get the opportunity to see some of its thirty-eight species of birds of paradise. Guides can escort visitors to the best spots to see the birds as they display their colourful courting dance competing for the female of the species attention.

The pinnacle of any serious bird watchers experience must surely be a visit to the Galapagos Islands where albatross, frigatebirds and tropicbirds can be seen in abundance. Darwin’s finches reported to be a key in his theory of evolution through natural selection can be spotted enjoying this little bit of paradise.