You have many great options to choose from. I'm sure this list is incomplete. It is in no particular order - just the order they popped in my head.

• Canon R7 + RF 100-400mm, which I see has been suggested already
• Canon R10 + RF 100-500mm is probably out of budget, but might be close if you shop used
• Olympus OM-D E-M1 III or Panasonic G9 (or OM System OM-1) + Panasonic Leica or Olympus 100-400mm
• Sony a6400 or a6600 + Sony 70-350mm
• Sony a7 III + Sigma 150-600mm
• Fujifilm X-H2S + 70-300mm would not be my first choice, but a solid option if you think you'll spend more on a longer lens later
• Dark horse: Nikon D500 or D850 with your choice of lens

Well, the most expensive (bridge) camera on B&H is the Sony DSC-RX10 at around $1,700, sooo... guess you'll come in way under budget for the top of the line?

Mirrorless is the way to go. I'd personally get an R7 with the RF 100-400, or if you can squeeze it, the EF 100-400 L IS II USM. The EF lens is what I use on my R6II. It works very well and is a lot faster than the RF lens.

R7 + 100-400 + 1.4x

some thoughts:

1. focus your spending on the lens. lenses don't depreciate nearly as much as cameras do, so its less of a risk if you lose interest or whatever. that's especially true for long lenses. carefully shop for used lenses. i've had great luck on ebay, and i've had experiences where i had to return something i bought there, and ebay helped out. of course, there are other places to find used gear. camera bodies, on the other hand, depreciate quickly. i've heard it said that wildlife photography begins at 500mm (equivalent). so, somehow, speaking roughly, you need to get there. that could be a 300mm lens on a 1.5x crop factor body (ie APS-C), that gets you to 450mm, which is close. Nikon, Canon, Sony and Olympus (to name 4) make great camera bodies and lenses for wildlife, so i would choose a brand based NOT on the camera body, but on the line of lenses you can foresee in your possible future. if you look through the lens lineups of each brand, you will have a target lens (or lenses) that work for you. and understand, that once you buy into a system, it can be quite expensive to switch later on (its basically suck it up and start over). if you really think you're going to stick with wildilfe photography, i'm guessing that eventually you're going to go for a full frame sensor camera body down the line, so make sure you're buying lenses today that will work with them tomorrow.
2. in chosing a camera, consider the features that are best for wildlife photography. bird's eye autofocus is the newest trick in mirrorless camera bodies, and its wonderful, but it might not (presently) fit in your budget. you might want to stick with the T7 until you can grow your budget to accommodate some sort of mirrorless body. of course, that leaves you tied to Canon (which isn't a bad thing). another brand to consider is Olympus; they make some fabulous products even after becoming OM. there's a guy in australia who puts out a lot of review videos, many oriented at the budget conscious bird photographer, which, with a $3500 budget, you are. his name is Duade Paton. wildlife photography can get super expensive. (shhh, don't tell my wife!)
3. consider adding a teleconverter. i would recommend only the 1.4x. the 2x models from the various brands are more variable in image quality and their use is really kind of limited to narrow circumstances; they're good for making close subjects larger, and not very good at bringing far subjects closer. image quality can really suffer from a 2x and its usually better to just crop more.
4. if you decide you want to stay with Canon for the moment, look into a used EF 400mm f/5.6 lens. Canon doesn't make them any more, but they are a very fine lens. on a crop factor body with a 1.4x teleconverter, you've got the equivalent focal length of 840mm! that should set you back much less than the $3500, which down the road, makes adding a new mirrorless body (and an adapter, so you can use that lens) much easier on your wallet when you can comfortably afford it. if used doesn't align with your tastes, Canon also makes these fix focal length and fixed aperture lenses (600 and 800) that have gotten nice reviews and aren't too expensive, but i've never shot one, so i can't speak from experience on that count. but those fit only the R sytems mirrorless camera bodies.
5. I shoot manual, and so i have one dial for aperture, one dial for shutter speed, and a 3rd dial for ISO. not all cameras have 3 dials. your T7 is one of them. so, IMHO, that's another worthwhile feature to look for. and since you will be mostly shooting such long focal lengths, you need higher shutter speeds, which means you always need as wide an aperture as you can afford, and a camera body that can produce good image quality at high ISOs. those are often going to wind up in the range of 1600 to 3200.
6. good luck, and have patience and persistence.

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For lenses, i think the ttartisan 500mm f6.3 is going to be your best bet. 350usd. For the body, find any that fits on the ttartisan 500mm lens mount. I would recommend the sony a6000.

The Olympus EM1 Mark II is one of the better used cameras you’ll find for wildlife at around $500-600 for the body only in excellent condition.

There are a few budget options for long telephoto micro four thirds lenses and there are certainly some higher end as well. A used Olympus 40-150 f/4-5.6 would be a good affordable starter lens.

Olympus E-M1 Mark II - Best Camera Under $500? https://youtu.be/aOlCIgEh0bk

Nikon Z9 with 600mm 6.3

Check out your school's library. They might have cameras you can borrow for a day.

Wildlife photography is one of the most expensive areas of photography to get into because you generally need long and fast lenses. And "long and fast" in the world of lenses is pretty much the foundation "expensive" is built upon.

Additionally, you typically want a camera body with as fast a continuous shooting speed as you can get. And like lenses, fast continuous shooting is expensive as well.

If you had been interested in getting into portrait photography, you could absolutely with your budget range. For wildlife, I would recommend something like a Nikon D7200 and a 70-300mm lens to get you going, but im not sure if that would stay in your budget.

What’s your budget. the 250d is a very capable camera, rather than replacing the camera consider a lens like the sigma 150-600

Advice: provide specific information on your budget, and what sort of wildlife you photograph. The best is typically going to be whatever a brand's current flagship camera is - so unless you have thousands of dollars in your budget you need to tell us what you can afford.

I’m gonna go a little different and suggest a used Olympus camera and one of their 100-400 lenses. It’s lighter, gets DOUBLE (meaning 800mm) range and is pretty affordable new for $1,000 or used for $6-700

If you want to stick with Nikon, my pick would be a Z50ii with a 150-600mm or the 180-600mm (if the budget will stretch to it--how are used prices for the 180-600?).

Alternatively a D500 with a 200-500 (Nikon) or 150-600 (Sigma or Tamron).

A6700 + 200-600mm Sony lens. Unless you’re exclusively shooting large birds, the 70-350 is not enough — even with the crop.

Agree on both, I recently upgraded my a6400 to a6700 for better autofocus (animal and motorsports). 70-350 is awesome for both purposes.

OM-1 with om system 100-400mm f5-f6.3 mk2 (this one has sync image stabilization. The lens and camera cooperate to give a very stable image.) You'll need to buy used for both and it may still squeak past your budget.

Not a wildlife photographer, but just wanted to say that you should probably factor in a lens into your budget. Wildlife photography lenses could be ridiculously expensive, many of them are more costly than your entire budget

Wildlife for this budget, not a lot of crazy options but I immediately think of an Olympus EM1 mark ii and a telephoto lens like the 75-300 (less than 1000 for body+lens) or the more advanced 100-400 (around 1500 for the kit)

I would look at the Canon R10 + RF 100-400mm lens.

Thanks for all your advice! I looked at most of the options suggested and after watching some videos I bought a coolpix p1000. For $1K.

What got me was a video zooming in on a plane. The zoom is outrageous. I’m also obsessed with airplanes and we get cool military ones overhead all the time.

I know there are significant drawbacks to this camera, pixel quality isn’t gonna be crazy good. I’ll just have to get a interchangeable lens in the future!

Thanks

a used D500 in good condition (or D850 if you can fid one that fits your budget) with a 200-500 is the best Combo in that range.

Z50ii and 180-600

Z6iii and a 180-600 or 100-400, considering your budget.

Add a 40f2 for general use with the extra.

Z6iii refurb plus 100-400

Do you have a budget? Wildlife photography is sadly one of the more expensive types of photography to get started on, but you can do very well buying used bodies and lenses

canon has some fantastic lower end bodies that are capable for wildlife. they are relatively inexpensive for the niche. the problem is, they purposely undercut their body prices to lock you in their lens system. you end up paying more in the long run with lack of 3rd party lenses. i wouldn’t surprise him with a camera tho. what might feel good in your hands could feel terrible in his

It's very budget dependent... Personally if I were in his shoes I would buy an EOS R10 from Canon and the RF 100-400mm STM lens. It's about the Same price point than the Sony RX10 IV....

If I needed to go lower in price I would probably buy a Nikon P950 bridge camera. The Canon SX70 would be my last resort.... Papa Roach

If it's mostly for snapshots, sort of like shooting on a phone but with a long zoom lens, then a superzoom/bridge camera is the best solution. Among current cameras, I'd look first at the Nikon P950, Canon SX70, and Panasonic FZ300. For something smaller, that can just about fit in a pocket: Panasonic ZS80, Sony HX99. If those cameras are too expensive, shop used/refurbished and look for older models.

If it's for a creative pursuit, he will probably want a better camera than that, likely an interchangeable-lens camera eventually. In that case, how much are you looking to spend?

How much are you willing to spend? Wildlife photography mostly revolves around telephoto lenses, which can be extremely expensive.

Canon r7 + sigma 150-600mm contemporary + ef-rf adapter. Buy them used, except maybe the adapter

Honestly speaking, everyone will have a different opinion on this. My best advice is to go to a camera retailer and try out the various brands. Each manufacturer has unique ergonomic, different menu interfaces, and brand specific colors (in JPEG). Your best bet is to try a variety to see which one you like the feel of in your hands, which one is easy to navigate for settings, etc. The best camera is the one you yourself will want to use.

Lens wise, you’ll need 2 different lenses to accommodate both landscape and wildlife. For wildlife you’re looking at a lens with a focal length of 200mm - 600mm while for landscapes you’re generally looking at a 14-50mm focal range. You could get away with a super zoom like the Nikon 28-400mm (if you went with the Nikon Z system) or similar in other brands. However, ideally you’d want a something <24mm for landscapes unless you don’t mind stitching multiple photos into a panorama.