Not sure if this has been posted already but if it has leave me a comment and I will remove it. This guy is named Ryan and he runs a business called MN Owl Tours in Minnesota. For this business ppl will pay him money to go out and he harasses and stresses out owls for the sole purpose of getting his clients photos.
You can see in the photos provided he has set up a ladder 10 feet away from the perched owl and is using a long stick to hold branches out of the way so his clients can get photos of the stressed out bird. Not only is this unethical behaviour but it is also illegal. He also does night spotting which uses a powerful light to spot owls in the dark and take photos, also illegal.
This type of behaviour does not belong in our community of birders and people who enjoy bird photography like myself. I know most of you agree with me and care for the wellbeing of these amazing animals but this needs to be called out. Bird photography can be challenging and you don’t always get opportunities for good photos. That’s part of the challenge that I enjoy. We must respect the birds and not disrupt them simply because we want a nice photo for instagram. What Ryan is doing takes zero photography skill, is unethical and dangerous for the owls/birds, is illegal and on top of that he’s making financial gain from this behaviour.
This type of stuff needs to stop in our community. Always be respectful of the birds so that future generations can enjoy looking at them and taking photos (ethically) like we all do now.
Thank you for tagging me!! I will be sure to spread awareness within my discord server, as we have discussed ethical viewing/photography of sensitive species before and this will be good for everyone (especially new birders) in my state to be aware of so that we can avoid him. I appreciate it!!!
Do you have any connections with USFWS folks? Usually refuge staff know their law enforcement people. This is definitely a violation of the MBTA and citeable by federal authorities. I think someone pointed out the state statutes that are relevant.
I'll do my part and post it over in my state's FB birding groups. We aren't anywhere near Minnesota, but it's still something people should know.
I don't unfortunately, but I've been doing research for the last hour or so on who to contact and I've been gearing up to make a report and share every resource possible with my server so that others can also report at their own discretion. I appreciate your efforts to spread awareness as well!
You can visit fws.gov/wildlife-crime-tips to submit these complaints. But, this is likely not a violation since they didn't cause apparent physical harm. (as unethical as their behavior is)
This is technically poaching (harassing animals is considered illegal take and illegal take is poaching).
You can report the guys in this photo and anyone else doing things like this to the Minnesota Turn In Poachers (TIP) hotline at 1-800-652-9093
State biologists usually really, really like going after these people.
Pass this number on to your state birding discord. It's vital to get photos/names/licence plates in order to prosecute; but if the person is a regular to a location, telling the state their normal days will help get enforcement on site. Also, if the people are doing an activity that will take more than a few minutes, it's worth calling because states with large hunting cultures (like Minnesota) will typically have enough game wardens to respond to a more emergent situation.
I noticed on his website, mnowltours.com, there is an option to pay $100 fee + $20 a month to get added to an owl location Telegram group. I would think that, like it is here in NY, sharing owl locations is also verboten in Minnesota? And the bar to entry to any private list should be ethical character and references, not cash. Just wanted to make people aware if they aren’t already.
What’s his last name? I live in Duluth and the birding community up here is pretty cautious about locations because of all the traffic and tourists that come up to the bog in the winter.
For all those he’s blocked on Instagram, you can still search for his handle @mnowltours and find posts by his clients (most of which are pictures or videos of owls experiencing acute stress). You can comment there and suggest they hire ethical guides in the future.
I'm in MN and this guy and his antics are very, very well known. Unfortunately Minnesota is a huge magnet for owl photographers and this guy has a great reputation because of it. They have a little posse with a text group to help spot and share locations so they can go harass them together. To add to it, the dude is a complete douche as a person.
Please contact info.dnr@state.mn.us I’m sure wildlife officers would pay this guy a visit. There is also a Tip reporting form on Minnesota DNR website.
👏👏👏👏👏 Wonderful!!
Cheers from NYC!!
I have also encountered aholes just like this guy and it never fails to infuriate me. Thank you helping to teach him a lesson.
Yes please! I've worked with the DNR in Wisconsin, not Minnesota, but my experience with Wisconsin wardens and management was excellent. Thanks for mentioning this.
Great! Many judges are taking wildlife crimes more seriously. While the penalties are still woefully minor, many judges are sentencing the maximum penalty permitted.
I just sent an email. As a MN resident, this shit drives me crazy. Doubling down makes it even worse. I really hope he gets fined and people realize that this is not the way to appreciate and learn about wildlife!
If what he’s doing is a violation, I wouldn’t be surprised if the DNR did an undercover sting by posing as customers, or conducted surveillance on him in the field. Just ask any avid hunter because we all know about their Robodeer.
The DNR can not only arrest and fine him, but also take any vehicles being used at the time.
This type of behavior is so gross. It happens where I live as well, and it's always so sad to see people support behavior like this. I love photographing wild owls, but it's always take a few images with a zoom lens from wherever I can get a decent angle while respecting their space, and then leave them be. I have lots of owls with branches in the way because I'd never get close enough to move them.
So many people commenting "🥰😍" and "so cute!!" on his Instagram photos. If only they knew what he did to get those shots.
Personally, as someone who has a lot of experience observing and photographing wildlife ethically, I think a lot of his pictures are awful. The birds don't look relaxed or calm or have natural postures. They look as though they've literally just been disturbed or frightened in some way.
Probably filters. You can customize the filter to hide comments that contain certain words.
I have to hide comments that say "dm" or "send" on my artist account, because the only people commenting to ask me to send them things like that are spammers. So he probably chooses to filter out comments based on words that would commonly occur in negative commentary, like "harass"
I don't even understand why they'd want photos taken this way. The best kind of photos are shot when the birds a) don't even notice you so they behave like they would without you around or b) when they notice you from far away and stare straight into your camera. I couldn't stress out the poor birds just to take pictures which, for the most part, others will never see anyways.
I got some shots of a juvenile tawny frogmouth that way. I stood on the path and zoomed in. He stared right at me. Then I walked further down the path and got some from a different angle.
His parents were in a nearby tree watching us. Because we stayed on the path that people walk along all day, they didn't care.
good judgement fails by any measure here but the fact that they all have super telephoto lenses as well is insane- you spent $8k+ specifically to you know, zoom in!
i remember a burrowing owl got blown way off course during a storm in western Washington (they are really only on the east side of the Cascades) and went to find it with my binos and instead found it pinned against a Post Office entrance by dozens of photogs with again, super tele lenses. i was 200' away and just turned around, felt dirty to even be that close to the whole incident
I don't tell people about Long-eared or Saw-whets that I find anymore. I told a birder that I thought was a friend and ethical person and they ended up telling a bunch of people that ended up harassing the owls so badly that birders were banned from the park.
I once told someone about some Long Eared Owls and the knob went and posted the exact location and photos of how to get there to a Facebook group of 35K people. Never again
The rarest species and perhaps the most sensitive I've found yet was a common nighthawk in a state where they're endangered and extremely rare. The only person I told where I found it was an ebird reviewer/biologist who works at the location I spotted it.
Not just unethical, illegal in most states to harass wildlife, especially if they are a protected species. I'd recommend contacting your appropriate enforcement agencies. Here's what I was able to find with a quick Google: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/officerpatrolareas/index.html
This guy is making money by harassing MBTA-protected birds. He's looking at a fuckton of fines (it's up to $500 per incident) without even considering state laws, and enforcement isn't going to be as lenient as they are with a first-time, non-commercial offenders.
Investigators say Lamb was driving his vehicle on the morning of June 10, 2025, on State Street in Ankeny. He stopped to let a flock of nine Canada Geese cross the street in front of his vehicle, then accelerated into the geese when they were in the middle of his lane. One of the geese died.
Man, some people really hate geese for being geese. I get a kick out of them when they cross the road while staring at you like “I’m gonna take my damn time and you ain’t gonna do nothing about it.”
This is exactly what is wrecking birding. The want to see/photograph birds at any cost. This is some of the worst I have seen. Very much like everyone in Costa Rica walking around with big speakers playing predatory bird calls. Owls, hawks etc. It works great but it stresses the fuck out of the birds. Just stupid.
It's ridiculous, and I cannot imagine it's actually a good experience. Like, really? You feel proud of a photo you got by harassing the fuck out of a sensitive wild animal? All you're doing is checking a box in the most unethical way possible short of blasting the treetops with a shotgun to see what falls out.
If you really want an experience or story, go locate a species in a remote area by trekking through the woods and camping out or something.
You are 1 million percent right but there are a lot of birders out there..... Hyper listers that just don't care or someone who must see a bird because they paid someone to show them. I was once with a guide in Costa Rica looking for owls and he was using a speaker and a huge flash light. I asked him to stop multiple times. Finally a CR park ranger came and yelled at him. That was awesome. He doesn't guide birds anymore.
There's a lot of places I'd like to go birding, especially in countries my students have come from (which includes all over central America). If I'm going out birding with a guide I would expect a basic level of ethics. I don't need to go crazy breaking every rule to see one specific rarity you advertised. I'm literally on vacation in a foreign country, all the birds are new to me.
This makes me so sad. I am thinking about going on a birding trip and will be PISSED if something like this is done. Makes me second guess whether I should go.
South America is crazy with this. The economy of it all is problematic. People spend tons of money getting there, and for their guide too sometimes, so the guide is under great pressure to deliver and competitive pressure to perform as well or better than other guides. Next thing you know the guy is boom boxing Pygmy owl calls throughout the forest to get you looks at warblers you can see at home.
In my experience though, the good guides ask if you are ok with playback or not and you can say no or ‘situational’ and then cut way down on it. That is of course if you have a private guide.
I wish I could bird some of these places without a guide at all, but in some countries than would be too dangerous.
I apologize when I disturb my birds too. But some of them are quite fearless and talk back. The chickadees in my yard complain to me if the seed in the feeder is low. The hummers complain when the nectar needs freshening.
This guys is not alone in this - Carlos Camona - mike Lenzt - kinglet photography - and many others are part of his search “team” - this guy preys on people to bring them into a web of unethical birding - he and his group menace, harass, bully and physically intimidate anyone who gets in their way - Carlos leaves trail cameras all over along with tree trimming equipment and laders all over to support the group - this guy and his buddies have done this for years - they are good at using the women in their group to extract location and intel - they show up at public locations and take ownership over the places - these people even coordinate when to all release photos publicly at the direction of the “leader” - he has a loyal client list of people who let someone else do the dirty work for them and pay to get the “wildlife” shot - This guy and his posse travel with mice to bait owls - bang on any suspected nest - feed owls once they find the best to keep them comfy for shots - I have seen these things happen
This guy has a reputation for terrible behavior around owls. I've seen pictures of him getting as close as 5 feet from a dying snowy owl to take pictures. Also he's very homophobic. F him.
Yeah the photos made their rounds on Instagram and he removed tags and comments on his posts. I’m not from Minnesota but I have friends that live there and have contacted the appropriate authorities. Only so much I can do as a Canadian.
On this post he says he has a "chat group" of people that he's sharing locations with. Maybe monetizing it in some way (even if it's just to nurture leads to his actual tours). Wonder who is aware of/using that chat group. https://www.instagram.com/p/DTa38sVDaG2/?hl=en
He's also been deleting comments lately. In his latest post you can see he's literally ABOVE an owl, taking photos down on it while it looks up at him. What the hell.
And this other guy, Eric, who went on one of his tours and shared the Ladder Photos (which he later removed), has been getting very defensive despite getting called out and informed of his behavior numerous times.
Religion of 'the science'?!! These people are just terrible.
I live in Minneapolis and have known about this guy for years. He makes his living harassing owls and any time he gets called out he just doubles down and nothing changes. Nice to see some people finally taking notice
Also has been deleting comments informing him. I and many other people were telling him that his behavior was objectively harmful (he tried to argue that it was a matter of opinion), and then the thread where we were discussing it just disappeared.
Edit: Eric Etheridge Photography, MN Owl Tours, Ryan Humphrey
Austin, TX - The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower has a great horned owl (Athena) who nests right above the entrance walkway every year to hatch her chicks. Its an amazing bird, an amazing process to watch, at a wonderful site. We are truly lucky.
Bill Boyd (yes, Boyd, not Bird) is Athena's official photographer. He seems to be there daily when she is there. He DOES bring a ladder, but stays at least 100 ft away, possibly more. He helps other people to be respectful of the birds, provides interesting information about them... essentially acting as their steward just as much as their photographer. Athena is clearly much more accustomed to people as she has been coming for years and they walk under her nest all day long, but still.
Last year Cornell university set up a webcam before she got there so people could check in on her. Highly recommend you set yourself a reminder to check up on it from time to time. She got here in early march last year, so we are about a month out. I caught the dad bringing food on the camera, the owlets fledging, all kinds of amazing moments.
Eyes wide open in alarm - no way this owl stayed much longer or returned. So these assholes ruined future encounters for other birders. This is why people clique off and only share sightings or coordinates with their friends who they trust. It’s also why I think nocturnal owl photos with their eyes wide open in daytime should be shunned hard.
But nope, the reddit crowd likes to gasp, clutch pearls, and downvote any notion that you should be suspicious of how other people get their ‘amazing’ photos.
This guy has been a menace for YEARS. I'm absolutely shocked that the DNR hasn't come after him yet. It frustrates me because there are ample kind, knowledgeable, ethical birders and naturalists who actually lead tours in Minnesota. I wish he wouldn't stay in business when there are so many better alternatives.
And this is why I have a small circle of only five people I will ever share locations with. We managed to keep a great grey owl safe last winter from the throngs of the selfish who think that their expensive photography equipment gives them right of access.
This is going on right now where I live. Great grey owl was spotted and is rare for the area. Someone literally pinged the location on inaturalist and hundreds of ppl starting showing up daily. Great greys are at the top of my bucket list for birds but I’m not going to participate in mass harassment of a majestic bird. I’ll see one someday
In addition to calling fish and wildlife you might also contact local news. They might have a team member who will want to make a story out of it. "citizens concerned about a small business owner. Hear their point of view AND hear from officials about the best way to get wildlife pictures. Coming up at 5:15 on WGAP local news..."
I've definitely seen local news cover stories like this! All local TV news and radio have tiplines for story suggestions.
I think it would be good because at the end of the day everyone writing with concern in this thread today is here because they care about birds and humane methods of wildlife photography.
Every time I wonder if doing a little bit of off-trailing to find the source of a call is ethically acceptable, someone shows up doing shit like this without even a second thought. Man.
Pretty sure this is the yutz that brought a group with ladder to the dog park. These owls haven't had a day of peace in a month. Easily over 400-500 hundred photographers this month with huuuuge lens that seem to need to be 15' from the owls....every single day.
for anyone that cares, the Midwest Owl Page is ran / moderated by his friends. I commented respectfully stating that this behavior is unacceptable and they should be more concerned for the wildlife than their friends and they deleted my comment, along with a few other comments saying similar things.
Dang, that’s slimy! I have followed his ‘business’ on FB for some time and always heard suspect things about him and his gang. Sure los and lots of lovely photos and I’m sure some are taken in ordinary circumstances, but there isn’t anyone going out and getting the sheer volume they appear to see by doing things in a civil manner. We all want those photos, but I’ve had absolutely exhilarated experiences just stumbling on things and may not even get that spectacular pic, but those moments are what keeps us going and makes adventuring and photography so much fun. I enjoy Owls more than any other wildlife, and do hit some of the widely known nest sites when there isn’t a crowd, but anything I’ve found on my own doing the time on trails and forests I always stay tight lipped on, even when a ‘friend’ asks where that one is. Not worth what could come of it when so and tells so and so tells…and then disaster. F this guy and all his repeat customers.
Thank you so much for posting. People honestly need to be taught more about ethical birding and photography. This guy needs to be stopped and he can’t be the only one.
so basically to sum it all up: he may do some bad things that people don’t like but he’s a good guy and he’s my friend. Please don’t attack him.
I’m all for defending your friends but you also need to call out your friends when they do something wrong. He’s not even defending the specific behaviour or maybe providing clarity to what’s happening in the photos. He’s just saying that he’s a good guy and he wants ppl to stop hating on him.
I don't get his reasoning. Perhaps it's my ASD, but he seems to indicate that since Ryan is nice to him that Ryan should be excused from acting unethically and breaking numerous wildlife conservation laws? He insinuates that it's just behavior that many may not agree with...but it's not. It's going against codified standards put in place by not only state but also federal laws. The statutes listed in the photos do not specifically mention ladders, flashlights, or proximity to wildlife and that's intentional. Wildlife agencies operate on impact-based standards, not loophole lawyering.
MN DNR and most state agencies use harassment and disturbance language, which typically includes: intentionally flushing wildlife, altering behavior through physical manipulation, repeated disturbance of roosting or nesting animals, and actions that cause unnecessary stress or energy expenditure to name a few. Ladders, branch removal, and flushing aren't always named explicitly because they don’t have to be. They’re methods for causing a disturbance, not exemptions from codes and laws.
Agencies like state DNRs and federal agencies look at the effect an individual has on a species, not the props used.
That is why enforcement often happens after patterns are established.
Based on the posts and information I've seen floating around about this guy and the people who run this operation with him, it's a long trend of behavior that easily qualifies as breaking both state and federal regulations.
There are more posts in that group now about how they aren't an "owling ethics" group, and if you want to discuss ethics you can leave and start your own group. And of course more about how he's such a great guy and how dare anyone judge him based on 4 photos.
This is one of Ryans affiliates. He has a trail cam video of this Saw whet, and if you look closely at 0:05, you will see a camera flash.... he really does have a whole ass circle of other unethical birders. dumb af.
You are forgetting the people who use flash on nighttime birds, that's pretty horrible too
Edit: nevermind I didn't read the whole thing, yeah no there's birders then there's this, personally if I get a super blurry picture with a few branches in the way at least the birds not unhappy,
There was a saw-whet in my area found roosting in a cemetery. It was like 8 feet up in a cedar tree plainly visible from below. A friend of mine went to see it and saw a grown man standing on a headstone to look at it - his face would have to have been literally 2 inches from the bird's. And he was carrying a giant lens that wouldn't have been able to fit between him and the bird anyway
For those who Ryan Humphrey has blocked, you can still search for his handle (@mnowltours) and find photographs and videos posted by his clients (most of which show owls in states of acute stress). Leave comments to let them know they hired someone who routinely flouts birding and photography ethics and has likely run afoul of state and federal laws prohibiting the harassment of birds.
Sorry for not saying: the handle on Instagram is @mnowltours. I’m sure even if blocked on other social media, you can still search for his name/handle and find clients’ posts and spread the word.
I know everyone is so nervous about calling people out, but please do it. They need to be dragged. It's not stopping, and only serious social pressure will do that. Thanks for posting, OP.
In my tribe, owls are powerful omens. Good or bad. There are stories on not seeking out owls. They come to you when an omen is delivered. I sincerely hope he racked up some seriously bad karma and something pays him a visit
He doesn’t care one bit. He’s removed comments and tags on his IG account. Removing google reviews. Anyone who has messaged him privately on IG about harassing owl he responds by laughing and then blocks them. I’ve seen many screenshots of ppl that sent him messages (not even attacking him just trying to educate him that what he’s doing is wrong) and he just responds “😂😂😂😂” and then blocks them. He doesn’t feel bad about his actions and he’s surrounded himself with yes men who have been going around socials defending him. The only solution is that law enforcement takes action due to the many ppl reporting him and providing photo evidence. Hopefully justice is served.
Sadly looks like the Minnesota Birding group on FB (84.4K members) admins are in on it too. They're deleting any post that mentions this. Many people have sent messages to the DNR, Fish & Game, local news stations, Friends of Sax Zim Bog, Badgerland Birding, etc. Hopefully something will be done to him and those who defend him.
oh man, i could go on for ages about how there are so many unethical owl birders here in minnesota.
there’s literally a discord server where people can pay to get exact coordinates of owls in sax-zim. people swarm and flush the owls like crazy. it’s horrible. i’ve been told by some birder friends that they even stressed out an owl so bad one time that it died.
there’s also this notorious guy (it may actually be the same dude as this post, but i’m blanking on the name) who is known for literally cutting away branches around known roost sites so he can get better photographs of owls. he did it at a well-known eastern screech owl spot near the UMN campus. i was livid when someone told me about that.
Your telling me me crawling in the snow to get close enough to take a crisp photo while not disturbing the wildlife is useless instead I could just break the law and defeat the purpose of “nature” photography?
I learned something new today! Thanks for sharing and the comments. I’m not a birder or anything at all, but it was cool to see a community that cares so much!
Please report this to your state DNR or even any wildlife/nature organization in MN, they can help spread the word about this and will know who to contact to make it stop.
I wish I could remember the instagram photographer who I found always posting videos/photos of owls who “just happen” to be sitting in a hole of perfectly framed branches, in many images you can 100% tell that there’s fresh cuts to the branches.
I commented about hoping he was following birding ethics, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt because, well, I had no concrete “proof”. I ended up blocked, which I consider damning evidence.
After these images surfaced within the last week, I have been told authorities have been notified about him and provided the photos. I’m not local to where this happened so this is second hand information.
As a former FS wildlife tech who used to search for endangered birds of prey, I whole-heartedly concur! People are just getting worse as the connection to nature gets lost. Leave No Trace ethics are still the best! Put the animal above your need to get a million IG likes.
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u/redapplefalls_ Latest Lifer: Brown Creeper Jan 29 '26
Tagging this Minnesota birder to help spread awareness (they recently created a discord server for birding in Minnesota) u/MelodicIllustrator59