Local birdwatcher turns passion into business, opens storefront

Feeding the birds is for everyone, according to the owner of a new Kamloops birding shop — himself an avid avian enthusiast.

Kurtis Huston opened Wild Birds Unlimited at 760 Tranquille Rd. earlier this month, after two years of COVID-19-related setbacks.

“Typically, a process to do something like this, start to finish, you're going to be looking at six months to a year,” Huston said.

“But COVID got in in the way of that.”

Huston said he got into bird feeding a few years ago and it quickly took over his life.

“I was not only passionate about it and thought about it pretty much 24 hours a day, my life quickly became obsessed with the hobby of bird feeding and the joy that birds bring me and the entertainment they bring me,” he said.

“When I started getting involved in the hobby, I realized that Kamloops was really lacking on the product — but most importantly the education.”

Huston found a community of other bird enthusiasts with Wild Birds Unlimited, he said, and felt compelled to share his knowledge with his hometown.

“I became incredibly inspired to provide that [product and expertise] to this community,” Huston told Castanet Kamloops.

Huston was slated to open his store early last year, but the pandemic spoiled those plans. With COVID-19 at play, he said it was difficult securing a storefront and getting his operation off the ground.

The business owner was originally worried all the setbacks might cost the company customers.

“Considering how long we took to open, the patience [of the community] and just the overwhelming support from the community has just been touching in a way that's hard to describe with words,” Huston said.