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I've gone on a few guided tours, mostly because ms bp has an almost neurotic insistence upon "structure". (the snafus that have occurred when winging it have nothing to do with it!) The results have been mixed.
Probably the best was the Amazon trip. It was out of Iquitos, Peru with an outfit with the incredibly cheezy name of Explorarama. We stayed at 3 sites, 25, 50 and 100k downstream from Iquitos and had a guide with us the whole way whose name was Amner. He was the best, the eyes that man had! Two hikes or excursions a day, 3 to 4 hours each. I didn't set the world on fire, listing about 100 species of birds, 90% lifers, but I spent a lot of time grubbing for reptiles and amphibians. A woman at one of the lodges we stayed at was on a 2 week trip and fully expected to get 200. Other than the set pieces, like the trip out to see the Hoatzin, the guide was indispensable, rain forest birding can be very tough, so many species and only brief glimpses of them.
A day trip in Belize was less satisfactory, the guide was not any better at spotting birds than I was and did not have a good handle on ID either. On the plus side he did have access to the Jaguar Preserve, often times that is reason enough to pay for a bird trip, it's the only way to gain access to the good spots.
Also did a dedicated bird trip to Cuba, partly at Zapata Swamp and the rest in Pindar Del Rio. At Zapata our local guide was good and had some tapes given to him by a previous client. With them we called in Greater Antillean Nightjar and a big owl, can't remember which. He was good but language was a problem. Our guide in Pindar del Rio was inexperienced but enthusiastic, he knew the area as a hiking guide and was eager to learn birding. He looked like Che's little brother and dressed like him too, the only person I saw in Cuba who did so.
For a one day time budget a payed trip is probably the way to go. Depending on the literature to guide you can be tricky because of the time lag. When I went to Panama I was all hot to work the famous Pipeline Trail, in the intervening years the trail had not been maintained, bridges were very dangerous and the secondary growth had grown up restricting visibility.
Try to get a guide for your party, I find birding with groups of strangers tedious. Book early if possible, especially in high season.
The 2 main aspects are location and the quality of your guide. As you cannot know the guide in advance I try to pick the area of most interest. That doesn't always pan out either as some areas will prove less spiffy than imagined but live and learn.
It also helps to sacrifice a chicken for good weather. But you know that.
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