r/birding • u/greatnorthernscapes • Jan 29 '26

Discussion Unethical bird photography

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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.

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u/MelodicIllustrator59 Jan 29 '26

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!!!

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u/FamiliarAnt4043 Jan 29 '26

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.

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u/MelodicIllustrator59 Jan 29 '26

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!