Zach Smith

I hold a B.Sc. Zoology from University of California, Davis (1994).

I started watching raptors in 1992 in the U.S.A.

I have watched raptors in seven countries including the U.S.A., Mexico, Canada, Spain (Canary Islands), Italy, Chile, and Cape Verde Islands.

I’ve published a small number papers dealing with raptors, especially wintering raptors in California. I've done some popular articles, as well.

I led my first raptor tour in 2011 to the Central Valley of California, and I am very excited to start building this experience in other countries as well.

My favorite raptor is the Merlin, especially Richardson’s subspecies. Males are so striking!

While I do keep a raptor life list, am not sure how many raptor species I've seen. I guess my raptor list must be somewhere between 60-90 species. Hoping to build that up in the next few years!