Red Dead Redemption 2 has 5 Exotics Quests, consisting of 19 Exotic Locations. They count as collectibles for 100% completion. To complete the Exotics in RDR2 you must first accept the Stranger Mission “Duchesses and other Animals” by Algernon Wasp in the north of Saint Denis. This becomes available in Chapter 4, after main mission “The Gilded Cage”.
The quest giver is found in the garden house in the north of town, see his location below (must start the quest to unlock the Exotics):
The quest giver will hand you a list of materials he needs. You can check this at any time in your Satchel 
under Documents, Notes, Exotic Collector’s List.
How Exotics Work
You will be given a series of 5 exotic quests in total. There are two types of exotics you’ll have to collect: bird feathers and plants. The birds (egrets, herons, spoonbills) all spawn in the Bayou area near the quest giver as the maps in the guide below will show. The birds can be farmed in specific places where they spawn at day.
The plants are not too bad if you know exactly where they are located. They only spawn in a few specific places. These are marked with red dots in the Exotics Maps below. Go to these locations and use eagle vision 
+ 
and you will easily spot them from afar. The plants have a blue “dust” around them in eagle vision. There are more of these plants than you need to fulfill the request and unlike birds they will always be there at any time.
After fulfilling an exotics request, return to Algernon Wasp to get the next one. You can keep track of how many exotic types you have completed by pressing 
to open the log, or view them individually in your satchel .
Exotic Request 1
5 x Snowy Egret Plumes: There are 3 types of egrets (birds) and you need to skin them for their feathers. They all can spawn within the red zone marked on the below map at daytime (west side of the Bayou). Herons can also spawn there, which are needed for the second Exotic Request. It’s by far the most reliable place to farm all Exotic Egrets. Getting all 15 Egret plumes takes about 1 hour in this spot. The best time to find them is at noon, so make a camp and advance time. They will be sitting all over this area. Use Deadeye to mark and kill them before they fly away. They die in one hit by any weapon. You can then see the “Carcass” symbol on the map and HUD which makes the bodies easy to find. To make them respawn, ride to Rhodes, fast travel to Emerald Station, make a camp to sleep as often as it lets you, then ride back to the farming spot. Repeat the process to farm all egret plumes in this area.
5 x Little Egret Plumes: There are 3 types of egrets (birds) and you need to skin them for their feathers. They all can spawn within the red zone marked on the below map at daytime (west side of the Bayou). Herons can also spawn there, which are needed for the second Exotic Request. It’s by far the most reliable place to farm all Exotic Egrets. Getting all 15 Egret plumes takes about 1 hour in this spot. The best time to find them is at noon, so make a camp and advance time. They will be sitting all over this area. Use Deadeye to mark and kill them before they fly away. They die in one hit by any weapon. You can then see the “Carcass” symbol on the map and HUD which makes the bodies easy to find. To make them respawn, ride to Rhodes, fast travel to Emerald Station, make a camp to sleep as often as it lets you, then ride back to the farming spot. Repeat the process to farm all egret plumes in this area.
5 x Reddish Egret Plumes: There are 3 types of egrets (birds) and you need to skin them for their feathers. They all can spawn within the red zone marked on the below map at daytime (west side of the Bayou). Herons can also spawn there, which are needed for the second Exotic Request. It’s by far the most reliable place to farm all Exotic Egrets. Getting all 15 Egret plumes takes about 1 hour in this spot. The best time to find them is at noon, so make a camp and advance time. They will be sitting all over this area. Use Deadeye to mark and kill them before they fly away. They die in one hit by any weapon. You can then see the “Carcass” symbol on the map and HUD which makes the bodies easy to find. To make them respawn, ride to Rhodes, fast travel to Emerald Station, make a camp to sleep as often as it lets you, then ride back to the farming spot. Repeat the process to farm all egret plumes in this area.
15 x Lady of the Night Orchids: These grow on trees, at fixed positions.
Exotic Request 2
20 x Heron Plumes: Herons are a type of bird. You need to skin them for their feathers. They all can spawn within the red zone marked on the below map (where you also found the egrets), only at day. At noon is the best time to find them. They will be sitting in that area. They die in one hit by any weapon. When you see flocks of birds flying together in the air, shoot down all of them! You can then see the “Carcass” symbol on the map and HUD which makes the bodies easy to find. To make them respawn, ride to Rhodes, fast travel to Emerald Station, make a camp to sleep as often as it lets you, then ride back to the farming spot. Repeat the process to farm all exotic Heron Plumes.
7 x Lady Slipper Orchids: These grow on the ground, at fixed positions.
10 x Moccasin Flower Orchids: These grow on the ground, at fixed positions.
Exotic Request 3
25 x Gator Eggs: These are the easiest on the list. There are gator egg nests at the swamps in the north and by the water in the south of the search area near Shady Belle (which is outlined in red, on the map below). The good thing is that each nest contains multiple eggs, usually between 3-5. So you only need to find around 6-7 nests. They are always near their fully grown parent alligators and always near water / swamp. Pretty easy to spot, in eagle vision ( + ) they got a golden shine on them. You may have already found these in your previous Exotic Quests while exploring the area.
3 x Acuna’s Star Orchids: These grow on trees, at fixed positions.
7 x Cigar Orchids: These grow on trees, at fixed positions.
5 x Ghost Orchids: These grow on trees, at fixed positions.
Exotic Request 4
30 x Spoonbill Plumes: Spoonbills are a type of bird that spawn at noon in the area circled below. Like the other birds, the map below has their fixed spawn area where they can be farmed. Go there at noon, use Deadeye to slow down time, mark and kill all Spoonbills before they fly away. Skin them, ride to Rhodes, fast travel from Rhodes to Emerald Station, sleep as often as it lets you at your camp, return to the farming spot. Repeat this until you have 30 Spoonbill Plumes. There are about 5 of them sitting in this spawn zone on each visit.
5 x Night Scented Orchids: These grow on trees, at fixed positions.
10 x Rat Tail Orchids: These grow on trees, at fixed positions.
5 x Spider’s Orchids: These grow on trees, at fixed positions.
Exotic Request 5
5 x Clamshell Orchids: These grow on trees, at fixed positions.
5 x Dragon’s Mouth Orchids: These grow on the ground, at fixed positions.
5 x Queen’s Orchids: These grow on the ground, at fixed positions.
10 x Sparrow’s Egg Orchids: These grow on the ground, at fixed positions.
That’s all 5 Exotic Requests in Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2). After completing the last one, return to the quest giver to check these collectibles off your 100% completion list.
For all other RDR2 Collectibles, check out our full 100% Completion Guide.
Thanks I thought there was only one type of orchid so I had no idea what to di for this lol. I’ll be sure to use it when i’m done with the infuriating chapter 5 animals. Is there any word on how many are missable there or if you even need them?
U don’t need them
A much quicker way to get the bird feathers is to go to the spawn location, shoot the birds (egrets) then save the game, reload the game and the birds will reappear. Went from 1 hour doing the fast travel and testing to less than five minutes per restart. Had all of the feathers in four tries (less than 20 minute).
I initially thought you got custom outfits after you complete these quests.
Ok guys or powerpyx if you still read this 🙂 I was going to do all these during chapter 4 to get the slog out the way. But I am now a bit concerned for herbalist challenge 9. In chapter 4 I obviously haven’t unlocked new Austin and there fore will not complete the 43 flowers till a later chapter. But I have read there are a lot of bugs surrounding the orchids. Will I still be able to get one of every orchid later on after completing the exotic questline earlier.
Does this need to be done in a certain chapter? I cant seem to get any of the plants to spawn?
i always wait to collect the orchids after Herbalist Challenge 9 is activated. that way I “kill 2 birds with the same stone”.
You should make a video showing the plant locations, I can only find a few and then the only plants I find after that are those vanilla flowers.
I had the same problem they respawn but it takes a long time picking picking vanilla
You should make a video showing plant locations, can’t find them?
isnt there an option to buy those feathers? like the cigarette cards.
im searching now for 7 hours straight for only egret feathers… got 4 now…
A little warning, if you collect orchids or gator eggs, and then go to Guarma chapter 5, they will disappear from inventory when you return and you will have to collect them again, they will respawn. In chapter 6 when you get all your items those exotics will be gone. Be careful.
Not true, I had all of mine and finished in chapter 6. I have 2 play throughs with both 100% and they have been there in chapter 6 both times
I gathered all the requests before delivering them, I delivered the first batch but it doesnt let me deliver the rest, and if I gather one of the required materials it says I only got 1, bug? Did it happen to anyone?
Its happening right now, i had everything for stage 5 before finishing 4. now everything is checked on my list but no option to deliver the goods. a did pass a few days in game and still nothing.
correction, i did pick up an extra orchid from the list and now i can deliver them
Thank you!!! Just finished this quest thanks to you,spent 10 hours for it?
So, still in chapter 4, decided to try get this done for the hat/gun.. all of my different orchids except for 4 of them are missing ONE orchid, literally not in any of the spawn points. Really hoping that the missing ones will spawn once I hand in the first set of exotic orchids and feathers? Because I just read that if I go into chapter 5-6 to try fix this, I’ll lose them all xD
I’m in your exact situation pretty much. I’ve found the Acuna’s Star Orchid twice randomly while looking for other plants. As soon as I started the 9th herbalist challenge (the one that asks you to collect 1 of every plant) it stopped spawning. I think it’s because you need 3 of those and they don’t allow you to complete an exotic request before having it as an active one. (at least I hope it’s like this)
I’ve beaten the game and Acuna’s Star Orchid aren’t respawning for me. I’m currently testing out Stiv’s theory. I’m hoping they respawn when I get to that point in the exotics quest. I’m on Herbalist 9 challenge as well with 42/43, Acuna’s Star Orchid being the only one I’m missing.
Stiv is correct. Once you get to that point in the Exotics quest line the plants will spawn.
I can’t find the one in Saint Denis, where exatcly is it?
South entrance on the stone sign after you cross the bridge heading into Saint Denis.
The section about Heron plumes, has the text for Egrets at the end of it by mistake.
Woops, good spotting. This is now fixed, thanks! (silly copy & paste mistake lol)
Yea I can’t get any of the lady slipper orchid, I’ve gone everywhere and boom there’s none, and some of the spots you have marked are either completely different plants or the plants are so many meters or so away so I’m kind of annoyed with this though it’s helped for the most part just hate having to decipher the dots and find out if it’s in the right spot or what
I went into blackwater and checked that whole area and from what I seen there was no lady slipper orchids like 0 so I dunno what’s up
Does the Acuna’s Star Orchid have a special Spawn Condition or is it glitched? I have 2 in my Inventory, and the compendium Says I picked them (it’s possible that I did, I’m not 100% sure) But none of the locations on the map have a single Acuna’s Star Orchid to be found.
Ok, I think I can pretty much confirm that Orchids Disappear from the map once you have all but 1 before the actual quest Starts.
That’s problematic. If you were to drop them from your inventory, you wouldn’t be able to find these again? Maybe they grow back after a while but I doubt it. They can definitely be found in other places too but there aren’t too many of them.
This quest is an absolute nightmare, one of the very few quests that are poorly designed due to spawn rates of the birds.
heres a good tip for the bird hunting: when you found a location where they sit next to the water just kill them and save your game and load it and usually u will spawn near more of the same birds
Can you still do this after you complete chapter 6?
Can i save this quest for chapter 6?
I cant find any birds seating near water on The swamp . It is a bug?
Found great method farming those birds or any animals.
Find one, kill, save, load -> you will appear close and they will most likely respawn. Good chance.
I was farming red egrets this way. on one spot, eventually there was a pile of corpses.
I’ve had a similar problem as Spineless confirmed: I was looking for Dragon’s mouth orchids before I started the quest. I got to 4 (need 5), but after the fourth at every location on the Pyx map, I searched my ass off.. I thought my Eagle eye was broken or that the map location was inaccurate..
But I found some French youtube dude, who showed the exact location of the orchids on vid.. And at every location, there was no orchid there.. Nothing on Eagle eye, nothing in plain sight, just not there..
Ah, no worries.. I just finished the 4th Exotics and started the 5th.. Went to 1 of the locations where the Dragon’s mouth orchid was missing before and now it was there, completing the 5 I needed.. So no need to drop them or anything, just wait for the mission to start to collect the last one(s)..
Important Note: If you’re collecting these early (before Wasp asks you to get them), the game will allow you to pick all BUT ONE of each item, so that you have to collect the last one when he asks you to. Exceptions: Plumes and Eggs. I noticed this after I superimposed all of these maps together in photoshop and was able to get 4/5, 2/3, 6/7, and 9/10 of everything before the spawns just gave me Vanilla Flowers instead. So, feel free to gather early but just know that you’ll have to go back for the last one every time.
This is really important. Powerpyx should add it to the top of page info. Very effed up mechanic on R*’s part.
PS. Powerpyx thanks for all the info. This website has been my no.1 goto for grinding all these collectables.
Is there a solution? I mistakenly collected all the orchids for next quest without finishing the 1st… i’m afraid to redo all of it again because i’ at 95.9% now…
It would appear that the plants will disappear if you have collected everyone except the last. The last will unlock once that section of the quest comes up. Vanilla will be in place of each orchid in their spawn spot.
Hey pyx,
Figured a way to easily get birds to spawn:
1- Must be day time
2- Save the game in a new slot.
3- Delete the older save file.
4- Exit the game to the main menu
5- Reload the game.
Some times you have to walk around for a bit and then try again, also after killing a few its good to skip some time by sleeping (2-3 days). Also, walk do not use the horse.
I did this east of kansas river by the railroad, and I managed to get all the plumes (heron,ergerts, spoonbill) in like 20 minutes.
Good luck 🙂
What’s the purpose of deleting the previous save? I’m trying to do this, but I’m not having much luck. You must experience time different than everyone else, because there’s no way you finished all that in 20 minutes.
It took just under 20 minutes, I timed it. You must be doing something wrong or looking in the wrong area. Also, to be fair, it could have been patched with the new update.
Takes like 4 minutes for me exit the game and reload so under 20 min is definitely not a possibility.
Just to add to help in finding the birds, I had decent success in finding most of the birds, but by the time I reached exotics challenge 4, I was having alot of trouble finding the last couple spoonbills. I had marked on the map where I had been finding them, sleeping for max amount of time and still it was getting harder and harder and there were less & less animals spawning all together. Then by chance I left the area and went up towards Van Horn and came back and the map was packed full of animals again including plenty of spoonbills. So my recommendation is, if you’re having Trouble, try leaving the region, and then returning. I think it helps respawn the area, the 3 days or Max sleeping helps, but nothing compared to this.
quit being a smart elic
Are there more gator eggs than needed or do they respawn?
They respawn, but in random areas like the crayfish holes. Usually, whenever I’ve found them there were around big Alligators, sometimes near Perfect/Pristine Skinned Gators (probably doesn’t matter but it’s something I noticed).
thank you for the amazing guide, the toughest part was the damn egret plumes
for anyone struggling, please find this guide, helped me to get all in 1 hour only
YouTube
Thanks man, that spot actually works really well! Just tried this and immediately got a bunch of egrets of every type. I updated the recommended location in the guide for these. Herons also spawn in same spot.
once you have completed the mission and wasp has left, is there anywhere to sell the orchids in the bag? or do they just sit in valuables forever?
Ugh, I’m stuck on the first of the quests. The log says I’ve collected 15/15 of the orchids but my inventory only shows 12 and the last 3 I’ve tried to collect all gave me vanilla flowers. Is there like a buffer built in? Do I have to wait to collect the other three?
Never mind, I saw a tip on Youtube. If this happens to you, set up camp and sleep in the area around the orchids that have stopped spawning and it should refresh the spawns.
Thank you so much man, you helped me a lot
Where is the orchid in the circle in Saint Denis?
Hey Pyx-
It should be pointed out that starting to pick the orchids and collecting plumes BEFORE meeting Algernon is NOT recommended.
*** The counters reset to zero when each request is given. ***
So even if you collect all the items for Request #1 trying to get a head start, you’ll have to do it all over again.
Pls consider mentioning this, as the comment section and Reddit are full of players who got tripped up by this.
YOU ARE DA MAN!
Not for me. I collected most of them early and my counters didn’t reset when getting the request. You may have had a bug or something.
Hey guys, Can somebody help me. This is my second playthrough and therefor had riding around, and suddenly captured all 5 spider orchids.. What i didnt know is you in herbalist 9 have to get all herbs (just one of every species) but that i’ve read around the channels and guides there only is 5 spider orchids Its a problem ! Its important for me to say that im only in chapter 2. = no exocits task or anything Else. But do the spawn again When Im done with the different quests? Or do they never respawn again? I want to complete my herbalist Challenge and everything Else. When i find the usual spots right now, is there only vanilla flowers. Help me! Please ??
Bjarke-
When you start “Duchess and Other Animals” part 4 (where you need 5 Spider Orchids) all 10 of the Spider Orchid locations Pyx has on his map above WILL spawn the correct orchid.
The game doesn’t spawn the orchids at these locations until you start the appropriate parts of “Duchess and Other Animals”. Besides, you can’t complete Herbalist 9 until the Epilogue anyway, patch 1.02 took care of the “Angelo Bronte, Man of Honor” glitch to enter New Austin as Arthur anyway.
Take your time & enjoy the game dude!
They respawn (all orchids) every quest from wasp, so list 1 / respawn list 2 respawn etc etc
Ya for collecting feathers egret/heron/spoonbill it’s best to save the game. Exit. Then reload story. All birds will respawn it definitely saves a lot of time.
I started collecting all of the items for all of the lists before we started the mission and my inventory says that I have everything but it won’t pop up for me to deliver it to him what do I do also I have finished the mission where we kidnapped Bronte and feed him to the alligator plz help
Might I suggest that to find Gator Eggs that by far the best location is the archipelago of islands just east of Shady Belle and south of Crawdad Willies. Saves anyone time running around the Bayou when there are lots at this location.
Yeah I found a lot while I was hunting with Pearson
This is BS. I have been looking for little egrets for HOURS. I have gone to the exact spot marked at the exact time. Not one bird around. I ride to roades, fast travel to emerald station to reset, no birds.
same problem here
This helped immensely and saved much frustration on my part, thank you.
TL;DR:
1.
5 Little Egret Plumes
5 Reddish Egret Plumes
5 Snowy Egret Plumes
15 Lady of the Night Orchids
2.
20 Heron Plumes
7 Lady Slipper Orchid
10 Moccasin Orchid
3.
25 Gator Eggs
3 Acuna’s Star Orchid
7 Cigar Orchid
5 Ghost Orchid
4.
30 Spoonbill Plumes
10 Rat Tail Orchid
5 Spider Orchid
5 Night scented Orchid
5.
5 Clam Shell Orchid
5 Queen’s Orchid
10 Sparrow Egg Orchid
5 Dragon’s Mouth Orchid
This has been my Go-To resource for this quest and has made it extra easy to find the necessary items. Thank you so much.