Ben Feltner is an accomplished birder and nature guide. He is known for having rediscovered the extremely rare, possibly now-extinct, Eskimo curlew in 1959. As well, he founded two ecotourism firms (Merlin Birding Tours, and Peregrine Birding Tours), and established several Audubon bird counts, including ones in El Naranjo, Catemaco, and Teziutlan in Mexico.