Panama: Spring at the Canopy Tower

Canopy Tower                                                                           

Day 1: The tour begins at 6:30 p.m. with an introductory meeting in the main room at the Canopy Tower. Night at the Canopy Tower.

Day 2: In early dawn light, coffee in hand, we’ll stand on the top deck of the Canopy Tower, enjoying the sunrise over the forested hillsides below us and scanning the skies and the trees for parrots, pigeons, mixed canopy flocks and the perhaps one or two of the true prizes of the forest canopy, such as Green Shrike-Viero or the stunning Blue Cotinga. After breakfast we’ll walk down the mile-long Canopy Tower entrance road, possibly encountering a troupe of Panamanian Capuchins Mantled Howler Monkeys or the very attractive Geoffrey’s Tamarin. The forest floor along the roadside is open in many places, greatly improving our chances of actually seeing such ground-dwelling species as Black-faced Antthrush and Great Tinamou. Three species of motmots, Crimson-crested, Black-cheeked, Lineated and Cinnamon Woodpeckers and a host of flycatchers and antbirds should help make for a very full morning of birding. We’ll return to the Canopy Tower for lunch and an early afternoon siesta (in our rooms or in hammocks on the top floor) — or to watch the hummingbird feeders for Blue-chested and Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, White-necked Jacobin and Long-billed and Stripe-throated Hermits. Later we’ll drive north along the Panama Canal to Gamboa and the justly famous but perhaps not-so-enchantingly named Ammo Dump Ponds. Here we’ll find our first waterbirds including numbers of Wattled Jacanas. White-throated Crake and Gray-colwed Wood-Rail lurk in the reed beds and there is always the chance of finding a motionless Rufescent Tiger-Heron along the pond margins. Here too large grass beds contain mixed groups of Yellow-bellied, Ruddy-breasted and Variable Seedeaters and Thick-billed Seed-Finch while the tangled vegetation around the larger pond holds Buff-breasted and Plain Wrens. Large concentrations of Gray-breasted Martin and Mangrove and Southern Rough-winged Swallows often gather along the canal, which also offers a corridor for pelagic species to cross the isthmus — overhead there could be passing Magnificent Frigatebirds, Brown Pelicans, Ospreys or terns. Night at the Canopy Tower.

Day 3: We’ll rise early for an all-day expedition to Pipeline Road, considered by many to be the premier lowland birding location in Central America. We’ll walk Pipeline, followed by our vehicles (with our picnic lunch), and make a particular effort to locate such difficult species as King Vulture, Streak-chested Antpitta, Black-striped Woodcreepers, Moustached (Pygmy) Antwren, Forest and Choco Elaenias, Velvety and Red-capped Manakins, Pied, White-necked, Black-breasted and White-whiskered Puffbirds and Song Wren. We will keep a close eye out for ant swarms attended by obligate ant followers such as Bicolored, Spotted and perhaps the superlative Ocellated Antbirds, as well as several species of Woodcreepers.  Watching dozens of birds in attendance on a swarm, seemingly oblivious to our presence, is an experience a naturalist can truly revel in. In addition to the birds the forest here is literally alive with butterflies, dragonflies and (depending on moisture levels) a host of frogs. Everywhere we look, there will be things of interest and it will not be easy to leave. Night at the Canopy Tower.

Day 4: We’ll again have an early-morning watch from the top of the tower. Canopy flocks containing birds such as Green Shrike-Vireo, Brown-capped Tyrannulet and White-shouldered Tanagers should be visible if we’re not distracted by the flocks of Red-lored, Mealy, Brown-hooded and/or Blue-headed Parrots wheeling around below us. Keel-billed Toucans and Collared Aracari are common around the tower early in the morning, often perching up in nearby Cecropias. After an hour on the deck, we’ll have breakfast and then drive to Plantation Road, a nearby forest trail. In this lowland forest we’ll hope to encounter flocks containing Dot-winged, White-flanked and Checker-throated Antwrens, Black-crowned Antshrike, Cocoa Woodcreeper and canopy species such as Yellow and Scarlet-rumped Caciques and Purple-throated Fruitcrow. This trail is often excellent for forest raptors such as Double-toothed and Gray-headed Kites, Black Hawk-Eagle, and Collared Forest-Falcon. In the mid-afternoon we’ll drive to the nearby Summit Ponds where edge specialists such as Buff-throated Saltator, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Jet Antbird and Golden-fronted Greenlet are often found along the access road. We should also encounter a few mixed flocks of open-country tanagers and flycatchers including the incredible Crimson-backed Tanager. Around the ponds we could see Boat-billed Heron, Greater and Lesser Kiskadees, and kingfishers including Amazon, Green and possibly even American Pygmy. After dinner we’ll offer an optional night tour back down the road to the ponds. The forest feels like a very different place when it’s dark, with a diverse frog chorus and with Western Night Monkeys, Kinkajou, Tamandua and bats competing with a long potential night bird list that includes Spectacled, Mottled, Crested, Black-and-white and Tropical Screech-Owls, Pauraque and Great and Common Potoos. Once at the ponds there is a good chance we’ll witness the antics of the Greater Bulldog Fishing Bat, a large golden bat that spends its evenings hunting surface fish in ponds close to forests. Night at the Canopy Tower.

Day 5: After an early breakfast we’ll pass Gatun Lock and the Panama Canal before reaching the Achiote Road on the Caribbean coast. Achiote is widely regarded as the best place in the canal area for diurnal raptors, and we’ll keep our eyes upward for White, Gray-lined, Common Black, Great Black, and Short-tailed Hawks and several kites and falcons. We’ll also look for local species such as White-headed Wren, Montezuma and Crested Oropendolas, Spot-crowned Barbet, Pacific Antwren, Long-tailed Tyrant, Bare-crowned Antbird and Red-breasted Meadowlark. We’ll have a picnic lunch at a scenic old Spanish fort located on a bluff above the mouth of the Chagres River, where it meets the sparkling Caribbean.  At a nearby mangrove forest in the late afternoon we can spend some time looking for birds such as Streak-headed Woodcreeper, Mangrove Cuckoo, Black-tailed Trogon and Muscovy Duck.  Afterwards we’ll head back across the country to the Canopy Tower. Night at the Canopy Tower.

Day 6: We’ll leave early this morning for Cerro Azul. Though only about two hours away, these highlands present a whole new world where trees are laden with epiphytes and colorful orchids. Mixed canopy flocks often include a variety of dazzling tanagers such as Emerald, Silver-throated, Bay-headed, Rufous-winged, Speckled and Black-and-yellow. We have reasonable expectations of seeing the endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, the beautiful (and near-endemic) Violet-capped Hummingbird and the amazingly colorful Yellow-eared Toucanet. We’ll visit a wonderful array of hummingbird feeders, where we regularly encounter over 9 species and hundreds of individuals over the course of a few hours.  After lunch we’ll drive toward Panama City to investigate the waterfront at Panama Viejo, which plays host to an amazing assemblage of shorebirds. We should encounter thousands of birds of over a dozen species, and we’ll look especially hard for Collared Plover and Cocoi Heron. Night at the Canopy Tower.

Day 7:  The main tour will conclude this morning with a drive to Panama City’s International airport in time to catch the 9 a.m. (and later) departures.  For those continuing on the extension (or those with much later flights out from Panama City) we’ll spend the morning atop the tower and then around the immediate vicinity with by now old bird friends and just perhaps something new.

Canopy Lodge Extension

Day 7: Those continuing on the Canopy Lodge Extension will drive toward the Talamancan Foothills of western Panama. A lush valley just above the lovely town of El Valle del Anton is home to the Canopy Lodge. This two-story lodge lies alongside the scenic Rio Guayabo and abuts both a large plot of privately owned forest and the Cerro Gaital Natural Monument. We’ll spend the rest of the daylight hours birding around the lodge grounds, which have been extensively planted with Heliconia, Erythrina and Verbena, and where there are several feeding stations continuously stocked with bananas. Hummingbirds abound: Violet-headed and Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds, Garden Emerald, Green, Stripe-throated and Rufous-breasted Hermits, White-vented Plumeleteer and Crowned Woodnymph are usually most common but with luck there’s even a chance for Long-billed Starthroat or Rufous-crested Coquette. The lodge verandah is a great place to watch for many of these species and to enjoy our excellent meals. Night at the Canopy Lodge.

Day 8: We’ll spend a relaxed day inspecting the nearby forested areas around the Macho Falls where, among large trees and a mix of open and tangled understory, we’ll have three main target birds: White-tipped Sicklebill, Tody Motmot and Rosy Thrush-Tanager. Other species of interest include Bay and Scaly-breasted Wrens, Flame-rumped Tanager, White-thighed Swallow and Black-headed and Streaked Saltators. In the afternoon we’ll explore a nearby trail in search of Whooping Motmot, Lesser Elaenia, Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant, Barred, Great and Fasciated Antshrikes, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, White-throated Robin, and Black-chested Jay. In recent years a pair of Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoos have become resident in the valley above the lodge, and if there has been any sign of recent activity from the pair we’ll take some time to look for this amazing species.  Night at the Canopy Lodge.

Day 9: We’ll spend this day birding several spots above the lodge, including the Cerro Gaital Natural Monument. At an elevation of 1,800 feet, Cerro Gaital encompasses a fine stand of lower cloud forest reminiscent of the forests around Cerro Azul although the birds are significantly different as we’re now in the western highland’s range of the local Orange-bellied Trogon as well as Barred Forest-Falcon, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, Tawny-crested Tanager, Black Guan, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Black-faced Grosbeak, Long-billed and Tawny-faced Antwrens, Plain Antvireo, White-ruffed Manakin and Silver-throated Tanager. After lunch we’ll stop briefly for shopping at a local market in El Valle and then spend the late afternoon birding one of the forest trails or roads below the lodge, where we’ll hope for birds such as Tody Motmot, White-thighed and Blue-and-White Swallows, White-lined Tanager and a wealth of wintering migrant species.  Night at the Canopy Lodge.

Day 10: Today we’ll explore the higher country of Los Altos del Maria. At roughly 4,000 feet above Sea Level, the forest here is often shrouded in fog and is perpetually wet. Even at the height of the “dry” season these epiphyte-laden, soggy forests are remarkable. The road is generally in good condition and we’ll spend the day in the upland areas and on a long road back through the mountains to El Valle del Anton. Species here that are likely to be new for us include Rufous-browed Tyrannulet, Spotted Barbtail, Red-faced Spinetail, Brown-billed Scythebill, Slaty Antwren, Spot-crowned Antvireo, Pale-vented Robin, Ochraceous Wren, Tufted Flycatcher, Silver-throated Tanager, Common Chlorospingus, Green-crowned Brilliant, and the exquisite Snowcap. The area supports a fine array of quite scarce species as well, and with some luck we might encounter gems such as Yellow-eared Toucanet, Black-eared Wood-Quail or Crimson-bellied Woodpecker. Night at the Canopy Lodge.

Day 11: On our final day of birding we’ll descend to the dry Pacific forests of coastal Cocle Province. Here a new host of birds awaits us, including Crested Bobwhite, Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Pearl Kite, Brown-throated Parakeet and Yellow-crowned Amazon, Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Savannah Hawk, Blue Ground-Dove, Sapphire-throated Hummingbird and Rufous-browed Peppershrike. A few less common species such as the endemic Veraguan Mango, Mouse-colored Tyrannulet and the very attractive Lance-tailed Manakin are at home here as well. We’ll spend the full morning in the lowlands, having a picnic lunch on the beach while frigatebirds and pelicans soar overhead and then transfer to our hotel in Panama City to prepare for our flights home the following day.  Night at the Amador Country Inn.

Day 12: The tour concludes this morning in Panama City.

2025 Narrative

IN BRIEF: The 2025 Spring Panama tour coincided with the early onset of the wet season, with higher humidity than normal and a lot of resident birds busily constructing nests or courting. Our week at the Canopy Tower produced 270 species of birds (354 species of birds and 15 species of mammals with the extension included). Some of the highlights included watching a male Blue Cotinga sitting on a canopy tree from the top deck of the tower, a simply mind-numbing encounter with a flock of migrating Mississippi Kites that literally darkened the skies around the tower as thousands of birds wheeled up in the morning thermals, a wonderful encounter with an active antswarm along Pipeline Road with attendant Bicolored, Spotted and Ocellated Antbirds, a nesting Tiny Hawk and perched Semiplumbeous Hawk and a memorable encounter with Spot-crowned Barbet and the tiny Pied Puffbird along Achiote Road.  

The lodge produced such highlights as a well-hidden but extremely cooperative Tody Motmot in a forested gully, studies of a gaudy male Rosy Thrush-Tanager in the suburbs of El Valle, White-tipped Sicklebill, Rufous-crested Coquette, Fasciated Tiger-Heron, Sunbittern and a nesting Common Potoo on the lodge grounds, both Spectacled and Tropical Screech Owls on day roosts, a soaring Barred Hawk and epic encounters with Black-eared Wood-Quail and Northern Blue-throated Toucanet, Snowcap and Green Thorntail up around the highlands of Altos de Maria. And who could fail to mention the fiesta of colorful tanagers including Rufous-winged, Bay-headed, Golden-hooded, Emerald, Black-and-Yellow, Crimson-backed and Flame-rumped? Beyond the color and diversity of the birds though, we enjoyed 15 species of mammals including day active Night Monkeys, foraging Kinkajou and a contentedly foraging Northern Tamandua, as well as an impressive array of Reptiles. This year’s trip participants each picked a different species as their bird of the trip, a testament to the sheer number of excellent species and sightings that we had. This tour continues to impress me, as the diversity and richness of the region, paired with ease of access and the comforts of the lodge make for a truly wonderful experience. 

IN DETAIL: As most of this year’s participants arrived a day early and transferred over to the tower in the late morning there was an opportunity for some light birding around the tower grounds before our introductory meeting at six pm. This provided a gentle introduction to the common birds around the tower. The hummingbird feeders at the base of the tower were hosting a constant parade of White-necked Jacobins. The males are quite sharp with snowy white bellies and tails and are quite a nice species to have as the most common hummingbird. Virtually as common were the much smaller and equally dazzling Violet-bellied Hummingbirds. Among the throngs we also noted a few Blue-chested and Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds and both Long-billed and Stripe-throated Hermit. While watching the hummingbird feeders we were also treated to an amazing array of active raptor migration. Large kettles of Swainson’s and Broad-winged Hawks and Turkey Vultures were visible passing right over the tower ball. Seeing migration in action is always remarkable, doubly so when the numbers of birds are so impressive. Smaller pulses of Cliff and Barn Swallows were passing through as well, and near the end of the daylight hours a flock of Mississippi Kites gave us a close pass by the windows of the dining hall. Around the tower top we also enjoyed up close and personal encounter with some quite tame Palm Tanagers. In the early evening, we met up for our introductory meeting and turned in for the night, looking forward to a week surrounded by birds. 

We greeted the sunrise on our first morning with an hour-and-a-half-long vigil from the top deck of the Canopy Tower. Perched atop the 500ft high hill in Soberiana National Park, the tower overlooks a great expanse of forested slopes and lowlands. From the top of the tower, one has a great view of the expansive forest canopy and of the canal. Early morning on the top deck is a special place, as the dawn’s light creeps across the canopy and the birds begin to wake. Every morning is a bit different from the deck, and on our first day we were treated to a bit of uncharacteristic March weather, with humid and hazy skies. This might have depressed the bird activity a bit but we were still treated to a nice array of species over the course of our vigil. Close views of Blue Dacnis, Green Honeycreepers and Plain-colored Tanagers as they fed in the tower-side Cercropia trees were a nice introduction to what would become quite a large list of tanagers for the tour. A fruiting Melostoma tree near the tower top was hosting a flock of migrants including a handsome male Scarlet Tanager, a pair of actually visible Green Shrike-Vireos (a handsome canopy species that vocalizes throughout the day but can be quite frustrating to see well as it tends to lurk in dense canopy leaf clusters) and a quite cooperative and attractive Black-headed Tody-Flycather. As is generally true in the mornings here,  we were also able to scope a nice assortment of birds as they perched up in the early morning light. Garrulous Red-lored and Mealy Parrots were perched quite close to the tower, feeding on some flower clusters in the canopy. A few Blue-headed and Brown-hooded Parrots flew by a couple of times as well, giving us a great start on central Panama’s parrot diversity. A bit further out we scoped several gaudy Keel-billed Toucans and more staid but still attractive Scaled Pigeons were admired in turn in the scopes. Perhaps the most memorable sighting of the morning though was the pair of Blue Cotingas that were perched fairly close to the tower. The scaly grey female stayed put for some time, offering good scope views, while the admittedly much gaudier male (which seemingly redefines the colour blue) unfortunately took off rather quickly, zipping underneath the tower deck and vanishing into the dense foliage downslope. It was a bit of a sensory overload really, and our heads were still spinning as we descended one floor to devour our plates of scrambled eggs, sausages and fresh local fruit juice.  

After breakfast, we spent the rest of the morning visiting the Plantation Trail. This trail is a wide graveled track that starts near the base of Semaphore Hill and winds northwards into Soberania National Park, roughly paralleling a small creek. In recent years the trail has been discovered by hordes of mountain bikers from Panama City, making it a poor option for birding on the weekends. A benefit to their use of the trail though is that the actual road conditions have vastly improved, with fresh gravel down in some of the often-muddy sections, and some rocks and roots smoothed out. In the parking lot we teased out a male Dusky Antbird that was lurking around the edges of the clearing. Here too was a perched Forest Elaenia and several more kettles of migrating Swainson’s Hawks and Turkey Vultures circling overhead. Over the course of the morning we enjoyed a nice array of antbirds in the understory, including several Black-crowned Antshrike, a few single Checker-throated Stipplethroat, a pair of White-flanked Antwren and an amazingly cooperative male Spotted Antbirds that was quietly foraging right along the trail seemingly oblivious to our presence. Two separate pairs of Golden-crowned Spadebills showed off to great effect along the trail; an unusually good showing for this relatively unobtrusive species. The trail was productive for larger and brighter birds too, with multiple Black-tailed Trogons, a White-whiskered Puffbirds, a quietly perched Broad-billed Motmot and a lovely pair of Cinnamon Woodpeckers. A couple of small mixed flocks crossed our path as well, and we particularly enjoyed excellent views of a foraging Northern Plain Xenops, Olivaceous and Plain-brown Woodcreepers, Song Wren and White-breasted Wood-Wren. The area was particularly excellent for flycatchers, and over the course of our walk we enjoyed several species such as Western Olivaceous and Yellow-winged Flatbill, Ruddy-tailed and Ochre-bellied Flycatchers, Southern Bentbill, and a couple of vocalizing Acadian Flycatchers on their wintering grounds. We spent some time enjoying a large troupe of White-faced Capuchin monkeys that were clambering around in the canopy and midstory, often stopping to watch us with a curious stare as we kept pace with them on the trail. As is often the case we spotted a Double-toothed Kite that was following the monkeys, hoping to pick off an errant lizard or large insect fleeing the foraging primates. A little further down the trail we spotted a single Central American Spider Monkey sitting high up in the canopy. This species has largely been extirpated from central Panama, with just a small population residing on Barro Colorado Island (a large island situated in Lake Gatun). This particular individual has been living along Plantation Trail for well over a decade, often associating with groups of Mantled Howler Monkeys. It’s generally thought that it was a released pet rather than a wandering wild individual, but after over a decade of life on its own in the wild it seems to be doing quite well out of captivity. On the walk back we picked up a single Long-billed Gnatwren that was bouncing around in some viney tangles over the trail and a few lucky folk glimpsed a circling Black Hawk-Eagle that popped into view a few times between gaps in the canopy. By the time we returned to the car the temperature had ramped up significantly, making our ensuing lunch and siesta quite rewarding.  

In the afternoon, we headed out to the nearby Ammo Dump Ponds just past the little town of Gamboa. This port town on the canal is a famous area historically as it represented the terminus of the French attempt at canal construction. Nowadays the town is largely used as a base for researchers from the Smithsonian Institution who have a large presence in Panama’s canal zone, although with every passing year it seems to gain a little bit more commerce (but thankfully not more traffic). Once out at the actual ponds I was surprised to see how low the water level was, quite in contrast to the massive flooding that we saw here a few years ago. The main lake has now effectively ceased to be, with a few small pools tucked into a wet savannah-like depression, and the normally shallow marshy area on the other side of the road was completely dry (for the first time in all of our March tours to the region). Despite the relative lack of water, we had a very enjoyable two hours slowly walking along the edge of the marsh. In the vegetation lining the road we watched a small group of Greater Anis as they clambered around in the shrubs, flashing their blue and purple highlights in the afternoon sun. Here too was a veritable parade of new birds such as the undeniably punk-rock Barred Antshrike, several handsome Yellow-rumped Cacique and a small flock of Ruddy-breasted Seedeaters.  

The area too was particularly good for flycatchers, and after teasing out some of the finer field marks that can be used to separate Greater and Lesser Kiskadee and Rusty-margined and Social Flycatchers most participants were confidently identifying them along the road edge. Here too we located our first Streaked Flycatcher, and lots of vocal Tropical Kingbirds, and a fantastic sighting of a close and relatively immobile Brown-capped Tyrannulet (a tiny but tubby species that is usually high up in the canopy). We found a shallow marsh near the end of the road that was hosting foraging Purple Gallinules and Wattled Jacanas (here of the black-backed subspecies that is restricted to a small area of eastern Panama and Northwestern Colombia), a trio of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks and a couple of Green Herons. Roadside wires were hosting an array of swallows including our first Southern Rough-winged and Mangrove Swallows and several hulking Gray-breasted Martins. As we were now birding in a more open habitat, we also enjoyed some of the more common edge species typical of the lowlands, such as Yellow-headed Caracara, Red-crowned Woodpeckers, White-tipped Dove, Great-tailed Grackle, Southern Lapwing and Clay-coloured Thrush. Out on the larger and drier marsh we managed to spot an adult and juvenile Rufescent Tiger-Heron quietly stalking the reeds, It seemed that new birds were in every direction, and over the course of the afternoon we walked at most 200m from the parked car!  

Our last stop for the day was along the banks of the Chagres River, near the small marina attached to the sprawling Gamboa Rainforest Resort. Initially we set up where we parked and scanned the river, picking up a perched Snail Kite, our first Little Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets, and a few passing Magnificent Frigatebirds. Our attentions soon turned to the small trees along the edge of the marina, and here our planned 20-minute stop soon stretched to nearly an hour. A wonderful mixed flock of mostly migrant species was bouncing around in some bare trees, and we spent some time enjoying views of birds such as Eastern Kingbird, Baltimore Oriole, Summer Tanager, and Tennessee, Bay-breasted, Yellow and Chestnut-sided Warblers on their wintering grounds or migratory routes. Not all the birds were migrants though, and we were quite happy to spot our first Panama Flycatchers, Red-legged Honeycreepers, Thick-billed Euphonia, Cinnamon Becard and Black-throated Mango all working the same bare trees. A less cooperative Purple-crowned Fairy put in a brief appearance here as it hunted for insects along the edge of the canopy. Across the small marina channel, we were also happy to pick out a Squirrel Cuckoo that seemed to be enjoying the late afternoon sunshine as it perched out in the open with fluffed-out feathers. A pair of Short-tailed Swifts showed well for us as they repeatedly came down to the river to splash into the water. With some final views of a little group of Blue-gray and Crimson-backed Tanagers that were gulping down small fruits in a little shrub at the edge of the parking lot we headed back to the tower in time for pre-dinner showers, our heads swimming a bit from a bird-rich first day (and perhaps a bit from the humidity as well). 

On our second day we set out for an all-day excursion (or so we thought) to the world-famous Pipeline Road. This cross-country dirt road passes through an extensive swath of Soberiana National Park and provides unparalleled access to high quality forest and almost 400 species of birds. The forest here is vast, stretching all the way to the Colombian border in a virtually untouched state. The region was protected during the canal construction era because some of the engineers had the foresight to realise that in order to have an even and continuous flow of water into the canal throughout the year, they had to protect the vegetation in the watershed. Such an expansive patch of lowland forest is unique in Central America and provides one of the best examples of how the ecology and economy of an area can mutually benefit. The forest near the entrance is mature, well-established second growth forest, with many large trees and an undulating topography. This first stretch of road gets some vehicular traffic (even school buses apparently) but in general is quiet, and once past the gate that lies about two kilometers in from the entrance the only traffic is the occasional walker, birding group or Smithsonian Biologist. We first stopped near the edge of the forest, where several huge fruiting Gumbo Limbo trees were lining the roadside. Here we spent a bird rich half hour or so combing through a host of birds that were perching up in the largely bare trees. A pair of Slate-colored Seedeaters were likely the least expected species here, as it is largely a nomadic species that shows up in areas of seeding bamboo. Here too was a hulking Boat-billed Flycatcher, Keel-billed and Yellow-throated Toucans, some very cooperative Cinnamon Woodpeckers and a single Yellow-olive Flycatcher.  

The rest of the morning we explored the first 8 kilometers or so of the Pipeline Road, finding a good diversity of antbirds, from the perky little Dot-winged Antwrens and larger Black-crowned Antshrikes which were somewhat common, to a few pairs of White-flanked Antwren and Checker-throated Stipplethroat, a couple of Spot-crowned Antvireos and excellent views of Bicolored, Spotted and Chestnut-backed Antbirds. At a particularly large understory flock late in the morning we also managed to tease out a pair of Fasciated Antshrikes, a wonderfully patterned species that frequents the mid canopy. These understory flocks brought a few birds without ant in their names as well, with some of the highlights including a rather sluggish pair of Black-bellied Wrens, our first Cocoa Woodcreeper, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, and several more Northern Plain Xenops. As is generally the case in the neotropics flycatchers were a prevalent part of the avifauna, and along with wintering Acadian and Great-crested Flycatchers we were thrilled to pick up a nesting pair of Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrants attending their messy and surprisingly large nest. This truly tiny species is generally regarded as the smallest species of passerine bird in the world; barely larger than a ping-pong ball, and just about as spherical. Large and flashy species were a definite highlight throughout the morning, with Slaty-tailed, White-tailed and Northern Black-throated Trogons sitting up over the road. A group of Purple-throated Fruitcrows joined us for a mid-morning snack, with the male flashing his wine-colored throat wonderfully as it sat up in the canopy on some bare branches. Nearby we found a big group of Scarlet-rumped and Yellow-rumped Caciques with at least one Chestnut-headed Oropendola along for company.  

Nearly every visit to Pipeline Road turns up a few unexpected species, and this year we were thrilled to spot a Great Tinamou crossing the road. Luckily the bird didn’t go far into the woods, and we were able to follow it for a few minutes as it wandered along in the understory. Another notable sighting was our amazingly close views of a singing Streak-chested Antpitta that was sitting on a low horizontal branch close to the road. The bird sat up near a huge buttressed tree root and stayed put as it occasionally sounded off with its ringing song. Our scope views were simply stunning, and many participants obtained digiscope images or video that would possibly make even a National Geographic photographer jealous. Near the Rio Frijoles Bridge we stopped to look at a small raptors nest high up in the canopy and after finding just the right angle managed to determine that the nest was occupied by a Tiny Hawk! This diminutive raptoris infrequently encountered and rather scarce across its range. Although they live up to their name, these small raptors are voracious predators, taking surprisingly large birds as prey items, and also dining on fast moving species such as hummingbirds. Our final “big” sighting of the morning was furnished by an eventually cooperative Pheasant Cuckoo that slowly moved towards us uttering its quavering three-part whistles at erratic intervals. Just when we were about to give up the bird shot overhead, perching not too far off the road edge on an open perch and then staying put and every preening a bit for several minutes; showing off its oddly shaped wide tail to great effect. Although resident in Panama these very cryptic large cuckoos are generally only seen when vocalizing in the dry season, going virtually undetected throughout the remainder of the year. In 2024 the cuckoos were oddly silent, and in the two years prior to that we only managed audio encounters, so it was a real treat to see one so well this year. A little after noon we set up a picnic lunch, and just after most participants had loaded up their plates and found a comfortable spot to sit the heavens opened with some impressively heavy and persistent rain. We scrambled to get inside the vehicles, or to find our tucked away umbrellas or raincoats, but after waiting nearly an hour without the rain letting up decided to pack it in, heading back for the tower. As we left the forest behind conditions dramatically improved, and indeed, around the town of Gamboa there was no sign of any rain at all. On the way back up to the tower we stopped at a known spot for a roosting Great Potoo and were quite happy to spot it perched high up in a large spreading tree. These large and vaguely muppet-like birds are masters of camouflage, with intricately marked feathers that closely match tree bark in color and pattern. It took a few minutes for everyone to spot the bird up in the canopy, but our views in the scope were superlative; good enough that we could even make out the small notch in the birds’ upper eyelid that allows them to remain partially vigilant for predators as they sleep through the day.  

Once back at the tower we took a bit of time off in the afternoon and then convened down at the hummingbird feeders for a session with the local hummers. We spent about an hour sitting on the shaded deck just a few meters away from the feeders, and were treated to a steady showing of birds, eventually tallying 9 species. As on our first afternoon when about half the group had the opportunity to scan the feeders, the most common species were White-necked Jacobin, and Blue-chested and Violet-bellied Hummingbirds. Periodic visits from Long-billed and Stripe-throated Hermits and a couple of showy Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds kept the species composition interesting. Over our vigil we were treated to a few visits from an aggressive White-vented Plumeleteer, a single female Black-throated Mango and a dazzling male Sapphire-throated Hummingbird. Once we had our fill of the hummingbirds we moved up to the top of the tower, where the light breeze and cooler temperatures were welcome. We spent about an hour up there as well, marveling at some distant masses of migrating Swainson’s Hawks and Turkey Vultures milling over the foothills to the west of the canal that easily numbered in the thousands (if not the tens of thousands). Passing groups of Cliff and Barn Swallows buzzed the tower at regular intervals, and we were happy to have repeated views of Short-tailed, Band-rumped and Lesser Swallow-tailed Swifts at eye level. Near the end of our time on the tower top a small mixed flock came in to forage in the canopy of a nearby fruiting Melastoma tree. Among the familiar species such a Summer Tanager, Palm Tanager and Green Honeycreeper we picked out a pair of stunning Golden-hooded Tanagers plucking the small purplish fruits. This is a truly wonderful bird, clad in shimmering turquoise, black and copper and the birds lingered for enough time to really enjoy. A male Red-capped Manakin put in an appearance too, repeatedly sallying out to pluck a fruit while hovering and then perching back in the canopy like a small black and crimson beacon. For an unscheduled late afternoon it was surprisingly productive! 

On day four we departed the tower early and ventured north towards the Atlantic slope lowlands and the Caribbean. These lowland forests along central Panama’s Atlantic coast support several species of birds not found around the lodge area, and the recent spate of developments that have occurred after the new bridge and locks were finished happily included some much-needed road repair around the western side of the canal. Our first stop was in the western edge of Colon, where a new petrol station provided an excellent comfort stop. As we skirted through town, we noted a couple of Saffron Finches perched up on a roadside fence as well as our first Feral Pigeons and some impressively adorned private buses. We crossed the Panama Canal using the recently finished and impressively high bridge that offers great views of both the old and new locks that step ships up and into Lake Gatun, and then headed a bit further west to our first planned stop along the recently repaved Achiote Road. We parked on the side of the Road near an entrance road to one of the many little coffee and chocolate farms that have sprung up over the last few years. The farmers have cleared a lot of the understory (in what is, on paper at least, San Lorenzo National Park) but happily they have generally left the overstory in place, although with the number of farms in the area a lot of the understory and habitat-specific birds have disappeared or become markedly rarer. The area supports an impressive diversity of birds, and although the high temperatures of the day and overall remarkably dry conditions didn’t help we spotted nearly 90 species during the walk! Within minutes of exiting the car though we were thrilled to spot one of the main targets of the area, with a pair of eventually very cooperative Spot-crowned Barbets in the roadside canopy. This is a spectacularly colorful species, but during the dry season when the birds are generally nesting they can be devilishly hard to encounter. The Barbets were in with a busy mixed flock, and along with the more expected species we were happy to spot a male White-vented Euphonia, our first Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds and Bananaquits and a quite handsome group of Masked Tityra. Below the flock we teased up a pair of Bay Wrens; a well-marked copper and black wren that has an impressively loud call. Some larger trees in the background were hosting several Yellow-throated and Keel-billed Toucans and a busy family group of Purple-throated Fruitcrows. We were surprised to spot a trio of Gartered Trogons sitting on a roadside wire and happily lingering for us to really take in their intense yellow, purple and blue plumage. Nearby we found a couple of White-tailed Trogons which were sitting down near eye-level, providing much better views than those high up in the canopy along Pipeline Road. A bit further down the road we were treated to a quick flyover from a Crane Hawk, an unusually cooperative pair of Black-chested Jays and spent a bit of time watching an active colony of Crested Oropendolas as they made repeated visits to their dangling pendulous nests high above one of the coffee farms. In an open pasture near the end of our planned walk a beautiful Savanah Hawk swept past flaring its stunningly rufous wings. The bird landed in a small tree at the edge of the field, allowing us to closely study it in some detail.  

By mid-morning we reached the small graveled side road to Providencia, where we enjoyed some shade, snacks, coffee and seats near the small bus stop. While enjoying our snack we picked up a soaring Plumbeous Kite patrolling a nearby forested ridge as well as some extremely cooperative Yellow-green Vireos and a pair of nesting Common Tody-Flycatchers. Feeling refreshed, we slowly walked back along this much quieter road (the only traffic during our hour stay was one horse). Near the end of the road, we found a large mixed flock and enjoyed close views of several Red-legged, Green and a single Shining Honeycreeper, a pair of very agitated Red-crowned Woodpeckers and a nice assortment of Euphonias including Fulvous-vented, Yellow-crowned and Thick-billed. Here too was a nice flyby from an adult Gray-lined Hawk that circled overhead a few times before zipping off up the forested slope. At the very end of the track we found another busy mixed flock, this time including Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet and Yellow-bellied Elaenia as well as a patchy red and yellow Summer Tanager, some White-shouldered and Golden-hooded Tanagers and a soaring Bat Falcon circling over the trees. Once back in the car we continued on into the small community of Achiote, where we made a short comfort stop at a roadside restaurant. The owners are fans of the local wildlife, with quite accurate birds painted all over the building and a small fruit feeding table just off the back of their patio. The table still had a few bananas sitting out, and while we used the facilities we were treated to excellent views of a female Flame-rumped Tanager and a pair of Thick-billed Euphonias that were busily shifting between the proffered fruit and their half-finished nest in a nearby clump of epiphytes (showing that euphonias too can appreciate a short commute between home and food). 

Pleased with our morning we headed for a picnic lunch on the banks of the Chagres River a bit downstream from the Gatun Spillway and, under the shade of a sprawling fig tree, devoured our lunches in the company of a few fishermen, some hunting Brown Pelicans, a few Spotted Sandpiper and a nesting Common Tody-Flycatcher. Just after lunch we walked across the old bridge near the spillway. In a clump of trees just before the bridge we teased up a pair of very vocal Scrub Greenlets and spotted our first Tropical Mockingbirds and American Kestrels for the tour. Once on the bridge we found a fairly large American Crocodile sunning itself below us, Tricolored, Great Blue and Little Blue Herons and a few groups of Least and Spotted Sandpipers foraging in the shallow water running down the spillway. In the mid-afternoon we drove to the coast, crossing over a small bridge that spans the only extant section of the original French-built canal and eventually reaching the picturesque Fort San Lorenzo, a 16th century Spanish fort perched on a bluff where the Chagres River meets the ocean, where walked out to take in the atmospheric surroundings and to scan the somewhat sun-glared Caribbean Sea. The site has been undergoing some extensive renovations for the last several years, but most of the work has seemingly been completed, and the new visitors center (complete with bathrooms and entrance fees) is now fully operational. We started our visit by watching the short English-language video detailing some of the highlights of the history of the fort. I suspect most participants quickly lost count of the number of times the structure had been flattened and overrun by various ambitious sea captains and cavaliers over its 400 plus year history. The view of the ocean and river mouth from the elevated vantage point of the forts ramparts is beautiful, but our visit also held some avian treats for us.  

The next morning, we were again atop the tower for an hour-long pre-breakfast vigil. On this occasion some steady breezes seemed to be depressing the activity of small birds around the tower, but we did pick up our first visible Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Black-cheeked Woodpecker and Lesser Greenlet, and enjoyed excellent views of a male White-browed Gnatcatcher that was gathering nesting material just off the deck. The fruiting melastoma trees again were attracting an array of tanagers, with a pair of Green Honeycreepers and a little flock of Plain-colored Tanagers showing particularly well. By scanning the distant treeline we were treated to distant but still perfectly identifiable views of a gleaming male Blue Cotinga, and a snow-white breasted Semiplumbeous Hawk that remained perched for most of our vigil. The really noteworthy birds of the morning though were the aerial migrants. At first we were just seeing pulses of Barn and Cliff Swallows coursing westwards below our vantage point, but soon began picking up small groups of migrating Mississippi Kites and Swainson’s Hawks. Their numbers began to build, and just before we headed downstairs for breakfast the floodgates opened. The sky was simply full with clouds of Mississippi Kites as they climbed some thermals quite close to the tower. A simple look through bins would reveal a hundred or more birds in just one field of view, and the overall effect was akin to being inside a shaken snowglobe, surrounded by flakes of drifting grey snow. It was a staggering site to behold, and one that will live long in our memories. As the kettle began to fade into the distance we pulled ourselves away and enjoyed a well-earned breakfast. 

After breakfast we set off for the sprawling Gamboa Rainforest Resort grounds. Abutting the Chagres River, right where the river meets the Panama Canal, the lodge has an abundance of birdlife and a surprising amount of forest. Some recent management decisions and the filming of a Survivor TV series have caused a bit of ecological damage to the primary birding area, but with the tv crew wrapping up a month or two before our visit the undergrowth was filling back in along the trails. Likely due to the particularly hot and dry year to date (our sudden rain squaw the prior day being the exception) we found the forest around the grounds to be much drier than usual, with no water in the small marshy impoundments, and a lot of bare trees, but the birding was still excellent. The car park near the edge of the forest proved quite productive, with some sprinklers attracting an array of birds including our first Ruddy Ground-Doves, Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds, some soaring Anhinga and a busy flock of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas and Yellow-rumped Caciques in the tall trees behind the orchid garden. With the increasing morning heat we headed for the shady loop trail near the back of the property. This track passes through a section of drier forest with a grassy understory; a new habitat for us on the tour. At the first trail junction we spent quite some time teasing out a male White-bellied Antbird from a patch of dense tangled vines and grasses. Eventually he popped up off the ground and showed well for most as it sang from an open perch about a foot up from the leaf litter. This is a quite-good-looking-but-often-devilishly-evasive species clad in a pleasing rust, cream, black and grey. I suspect that the favorite species of the walk would be the displaying group of male Golden-collared Manakins that we found with little effort in a dense vine patch just off the trail. We were able to watch the group of 5 or 6 males as they practiced their displays; zipping back and forth between perches just off the ground and making an impressive and loud array of sounds with their wings. A large mixed flock kept us busy for quite some time after we left the manakins behind. New species of birds kept popping up at all levels of the forest, from migrants like Black-and-White and Magnolia Warblers to our first White-winged Becards, displaying Dot-winged Antwrens, visible Lesser Greenlets, a pair of Yellow-olive Flycatchers, perched Squirrel Cuckoos and a lovely pair of Squirrel Cuckoos. As we were wrapping up our perusal of the flock Jorge’s cell phone dinged with a message from one of the other canopy guides who had just found an active swarm of army ants along the edge of Pipeline Road. We quickly consulted and decided that a chance to see a swarm in action could not be passed on, so we started heading for the car. Our journey was a bit delayed by a little group of Panama Night Monkeys that were staring down at us from a large roosting hole in a trailside tree. Incredibly this was our 5th primate species of the tour, and probably the cutest, as these small nocturnal monkeys possess large dark eyes and round fuzzy bodies; the classic cuteness markers. A tiny marsh that still held water also distracted us for a bit, as a juvenile Rufescent Tiger-Heron was stalking through the vegetation at close range and a nesting pair of Cinnamon Becards were busily putting the finishing touches on their large globular nest over the marsh. Eventually though we reached the car and after some cold drinks made the 15-minute drive over to the ant swarm along pipeline road. Our run of good luck held and the ants (and attendant birds) were still close to the road edge. Initially we enjoyed close studies of a small group of Greater Anis and a few Bicolored Antbirds that were feeding on the insects and small vertebrates fleeing from the army ants advances. The anis melted off into the forest in fairly short order, but the Bicolored Antbirds continued to feed just a few feet in front of us. The ants were attracting several other species as well, including a pair of quite tame Gray-headed Tanagers, some Song Wren and both Plain-brown and Northern Barred Woodcreepers. The real star of the show though arrived about ten minutes into our vigil when a trio of Ocellated Antbirds dropped into view. The Ocellated is perhaps the most attractively patterned species of antbird in the world. It’s a big species, clad in coppery-brown feathers with large dark centers, giving the back a highly patterned mosaic of scales. On top of this gaudy pattern, the species sports a large and bright blue patch of bare skin around the eyes offsetting a black face and throat, and an orange chest. Although they stayed a bit further back from the road the birds perched calmly in the open for us on several occasions, providing us with some of the best views that we have had in years. The ants were slowly moving uphill and away from the road, with the birds in tow so after the last Ocellated moved out of sight we did the same, heading back to the tower for lunch and a siesta.  

After our break, we set off for a nearby stretch of the Old Gamboa Rd., and the nearby Summit Ponds. We pulled into the parking lot area adjacent to the border police training center and were happy to find many fruiting Gumbo Limbo trees lining the edges of the road. Since it was still quite hot though we decided to go bird the shaded woods first, reserving some time to explore around the carpark for our return. Before we set off down the road though our attentions were caught by a perched Collared Aracari sitting in the midstory. The bird soon flew across the clearing and landed on a small tree, promptly disappearing into a remarkably small looking nest cavity. It was hard to believe that a bird with that long a bill and tail could fold itself into such a tight space! Once at the forested ponds our attentions turned towards more water-oriented birds, with a pair of perched Green Kingfishers, a male Amazon Kingfisher, foraging Green Herons and a nesting Mangrove Swallows that was using a semi-submerged hollow log as its nest cavity. It didn’t take long to find our hoped-for Boat-billed Herons, with three adult birds in view around the margins of the pond. Rather uncharacteristically for a largely nocturnal species two of the birds were out in the sun and wide awake, showing off their oversized bills as they panted in the midday heat.  

Past the ponds the old road traverses some viney second growth forest and then out into patches of more open forest with an extensive grassy understory. Although only a few miles away from the tower this quite different forest type supports a number of species that are not found in the taller and more humid forest of the National Park. In the first grassy clearing along the walk we managed to locate a long-reliable pair of Jet Antbirds that were lurking in their preferred dense vine tangles along the trail edge. Here too were two singing Rosy Thrush-Tanagers that stubbornly refused to budge from their chosen haunts in the undergrowth. Just why such a stunningly coloured bird prefers to stay so well hidden is a bit of a mystery; I suppose no one has told the species to flaunt it if you’ve got it. While scanning for the thrush-tanagers though we did find an accommodating Golden-fronted Greenlet foraging up in the mid-canopy, and we were treated to views of a pair of White-bellied Antbirds skirting through a small opening in the grasses. A bit further back on the trail we located a Chestnut-capped Warbler that was bouncing around at eye-level and spotted an Olivaceous Piculet in with a small mixed flock. Piculets are truly tiny woodpeckers, barely larger than a nuthatch, and specialize on feeding in the smaller terminal branches and vines that larger woodpeckers tend to ignore. Olivaceous Piculets are found right through the country in the lowlands and foothills but are quite scarce in the canal zone and this species was a write-in for our March tower tour cumulative list!  

On the walk back out to the car we found a marked uptick in bird activity. At one large flowering tree a host of migrant birds were fueling up in the late afternoon, perhaps readying themselves for a night of migration. Among the Tennessee, Chestnut-sided and Bay-breasted Warblers we picked out a group of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (including two or three dapper males) and several Summer Tanagers up in the canopy. The same tree held a showy Streaked Flycatcher and a pair of resident Lesser Goldfinches. The trees around the carpark were also quite busy, and before loading up and heading back to the tower we spent some time combing through a busy flock just over our parked vehicle. The repeated views of a foraging, and occasionally perching Purple-crowned Fairy were excellent, and we also added our only Greenish Elaenias of the trip, and an excellent comparison between female Fulvous-vented and Thick-billed Euphonias. 

Our last full day of the main tour was spent visiting Cerro Azul and Cerro Jeffe, east of Panama City. These mountains provided us with a taste of the highland/foothill forests of central Panama. The ridges and adjacent valleys around the top of the mountains here are privately owned by one of Panama’s wealthy families. Much of the developed land is set aside for chicken farming, but extensive forest remains away from the roads. The section that we visited has been turned into a large, gated community for locals and expats. The myriad paved roads that snake around various parts of the mountain are variably developed, with opulent and less exuberant houses interspersed with tracts of good forest or small cleared plots. With the lower slopes of the mountains clad in primary forest the road system allows a visiting birder to access a surprising diversity of birds in comfort.  

We first at the development office, where we dealt with our entrance fees, used their facilities and tallied our first Bay-headed Tanagers and a nice male Lesser Goldfinch that was busily dismembering some flowering sunflowers along the properties back fence. Here too we spent a bit of time watching a graceful Swallow-tailed Kite as it languidly circled over a nearby ridge. We then decided to walk a bit back through the housing development near the trail up to the ridgeline of Cerro Jeffe where there are sometimes some actively fruiting fig trees in March. Although we didn’t find any fruit we were happy to track down a pair of Isthmian Wrens that were bouncing around in a large thicket of bougainvillea. An adjacent bush held a couple of Bananaquits that deigned to stay put for long enough for the entire group to get onto them, and some quite cooperative Crimson-backed Tanagers.  

Once we arrived at the initially steep road that heads up to the Cerro Jeffe ridge we paused near the entrance and were eventually rewarded with views of a furtive Scaly-breasted Wren that was lurking in the undergrowth just a bit downslope from the road. The walk up to the flatter section of forested ridge was a bit uneventful, with wispy fog adding to the atmosphere and keeping the temperature down. Along our normal flat stretch of road we located a male Violet-capped Hummingbird quietly perched in the undergrowth, glowing a glittering green even with the relatively dull lighting. This small and striking species is virtually a Panama endemic, occurring in a narrow elevation band from Cerro Azul to just across the Colombian border. As most of this foothill/pre-montane habitat is virtually inaccessible Cerro Azul may well be the best place to observe this species. Since it was still quite early and cool we decided to take a longer walk than normal and head up to the observation platform about a mile from the carpark. This platform was constructed to provide unobstructed views of both the Caribbean and Pacific, but given the cloudy conditions we didn’t even attempt the view. Near the platform though we did finally find a fruiting tree, and our walk was rewarded with point blank views of several Hepatic Tanagers (here of the very distinctive, and surely to be split, highland subspecies), a little flock of Black-and-Yellow Tanagers and a female Rufous-winged Tanager. On the walk back we admired a female Thick-billed Seedfinch (at a much higher elevation than normal) and also paused to study a huge network of spider webs that were spun by colonial Golden Silk Spiders. Each of the females (which are roughly 4 inches in diameter) spins an individual web, but the webs are all close together and the network stretched along roughly a hundred meters of trail edge. Once back at the car we bumped into a mixed feeding flock that contained a half-dozen or so Carmiol’s Tanagers and a remarkably cooperative pair of Slate-colored Grosbeaks which were perched motionless at about eye-level. While devouring some mid-morning snacks and coffee we were also happy to spot a pair of tiny Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrants around the clearing, often uttering their loud stuttering calls before zipping off to some other semi-hidden perch.  

We still had a bit of time before lunch and decided to try walking down one of the older roads in the development, where larger houses on much larger lots result in a nice mix of clearings and tall epiphyte-laden trees. We started off at a spot where we had enjoyed a pair of Stripe-cheeked Woodpeckers the previous November. Sadly we couldn’t repeat the experience, but we did enjoy excellent views of a Lineated Woodpecker instead, and also a confiding pair of Chestnut-capped Warblers and a responsive Southern Beardless Tyrannulet. The best birding along this stretch though was tied to mixed feeding flocks. In the course of an hour or so we came across two different flocks. Many of the birds were migrants or wintering birds such as Blackburnian, Magnolia, Tennessee Warblers, American Redstart, Swainson’s Thrush, Yellow-throated Vireo and Summer Tanager. Alongside these somewhat familiar species though we were treated to a host of resident life birds including Mistletoe Tyrannulet, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Golden-hooded and Plain-colored Tanagers and another seemingly tame pair of Chestnut-capped Warblers.  

Leaving the Calle Mono Road behind, we switched gears a bit and visited a private house that is nestled within the gated community adjacent to a nice patch of remaining forest in a sheltered valley. The house is owned by an ex-pat American couple that maintain an amazing array of feeders in their backyard. It was here that we realized just how many hummingbirds could fit onto a feeder. We estimated that 20-30 birds were visible at any given time, often zipping in and out right between us as we watched. The diversity here was impressive, and in about an hour’s vigil we tallied an amazing number of White-necked Jacobin, Rufous-tailed and Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds, lots of very attractive Crowned Woodnymphs, Bronze-tailed and White-vented Plumeleteer, Green and Long-billed Hermit, a single Blue-chested Hummingbird! The visual fiesta was not limited to hummingbirds here though as the feeders and some proffered bananas and rice attracted an excellent showing of honeycreepers, with lots of Red-legged, Green, and Shining Honeycreepers in constant view and regular visits from Thick-billed Euphonia, Summer, Bay-headed, and Hepatic Tanagers. The constant whorl of colour and activity was mesmerizing, somewhat akin to an open-air aquarium. Our gracious hosts were welcoming as always, and in addition to the birds we enjoyed a nice lunch spread out on the tables on their back patio.  

Eventually we managed to bid farewell to our hosts and tear ourselves away from the feeders, bound for the top section of the Maipo Trail. This somewhat neglected trail descends from the development and winds steeply down into the national park. It provides a rare opportunity to actually get under the canopy, and given the sunny and got conditions the shade was welcome. We found the trail a bit on the quiet side, but did turn up a striking Red-capped Manakin that was plucking some small fruits off a trailside shrub and a cooperative pair of Spotted Woodcreepers that clambered around on some large trunks at quite close range.  

Our last stop on the mountain was along a scenic rocky stream, where we stopped to admire a family group of Black Phoebes, here of the southern subspecies which sports more white in the wing than birds to the north show. The juvenile birds were sitting on the boulders in the middle of the creek, occasionally being fed by their parents. A fruiting tree just off the bridge kept us entertained for some time, as a parade of frugivores including three Carmiol’s Tanagers and a pair of Golden-hooded showed extremely well for us.  

We then headed down the mountain to stop along the coast just east of Panama City to take in the extensive mudflats and their attendant waders on the way back to the tower. Panama Bay is a RAMSAR-designated shorebird site that supports over a million birds during migration and several hundred thousand throughout the winter months. Although almost all of the species here are familiar to most North American birders, the abundance of birdlife here is often spectacular. We can’t gear our arrival for a specific tide condition, and this years trip coincided with a very high tide. At our first stop, along the shoreline at Costa de Esté the tide was high enough that no open mud remained. At first we were a bit disappointed, but we soon realized that the lack of mud for waders to settle on left the throngs of birds with the choice of tucking into a small alcove in the mangroves or to fly around en masse. The scene was, at times, breathtaking, with literally hundreds of Black-bellied Plovers, Willets, and Short-billed Dowitchers and a conservative ten thousand Western Sandpipers all in the air at once! The western flock was dense enough to appear almost as a unified solid, twisting and turning in a shimmering cloak of browns and whites. Along the tiny, exposed edge we picked out dozens of Black-necked Stilts and Marbled Godwits, as well as a few Semipalmated Sandpipers. A bit further offshore a mass of gulls, Black Skimmers, Brown Pelicans, Magnificent Frigatebirds and Neotropic Cormorants were flying to and fro over the breaking surf. The entire scene was remarkable, and left us a bit in awe, and thrilled to know that there still are places of great natural abundance left out there in this ever-depreciating world.  

Hoping that the tides might be a bit lower inland we moved over to Panama Viejo, a site about a kilometer away from the coast and near the at the very top of the bay. Although there was a distinct lack of open mudflats here too, the waters along the shore were very shallow, allowing birds to land and wait for the waters to recede. We scanned the flocks, finding our first Blue-winged Teal, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Semipalmated Plovers, Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs, and White Ibis amongst the sitting groups of several thousand birds. While we watched the tide did indeed begin to recede, with hordes of Willets, Short-billed Dowitchers and Southern Lapwings eagerly marching out onto the rapidly expanding mudflats. We likely could have poured over the flocks for hours, finding a few scarce species tucked into the masses, but given the rather late hour and our early start we decided to pack up the scopes and head for the tower, arriving in good time for a short break before dinner. 

We spent our last morning around the tower again with a pre-breakfast vigil from the top deck. The morning dawned cooler, with some intricately patterned low clouds and a very light breeze, making the vigil extremely comfortable. Once again, we turned up a few excellent sightings including another perched Green Shrike-Vireo, several foraging Brown-hooded Parrots, White-browed Gnatcatchers and Brown-capped Tyrannulets gathering nesting material and a bit of a colour show with Scarlet Tanager, Blue Dacnis and Green Honeycreeper all perched up in a bare tree near the tower’s upper deck.  

After breakfast we took a bit of time to get our luggage organized for our early afternoon transfer and then spent a few hours back along the first few kilometers of the Pipeline Road. On the way into the forest, we made a quick stop at the Canopy Bed and Breakfast in Gamboa, where the feeding station hosted some very tame Central American Agoutis, a male White-winged Becard and a trio of very busy Red-legged Honeycreepers. Larger trees around the town hosted some actually perched Orange-chinned Parakeets and overhead we admired some small groups of Short-tailed Swifts. A quick stop along the margins of the Ammo dump ponds we tried unsuccessfully to coax out a couple of vocalizing White-throated Crakes that stubbornly remained buried in the dense marsh vegetation. We had better luck with a Ringed Kingfisher that was perched out on an exposed bare tree in the marsh, and our only (oddly) Black-faced Grassquit of the main tour.  

The rest of the morning was reserved for a revisit to the first few kilometers of the Pipeline Road. We were particularly happy to find that the antswarm from a few days before was still feeding close to the road, with its attendant birds all showing extremely well. We probably spent more than an hour surrounded by this fascinating spectacle, with foraging army ants on both sides of the road and columns of ants occasionally crossing the road en masse. As before this activity was attracting Bicolored, Chestnut-backed and Ocellated Antbirds, Northern Barred, Cocoa and Plain-brown Woodcreepers, Song Wren and Gray-headed Tanagers, all regularly coming right up to the road edge and seemingly oblivious to our presence. Away from the swarm we turned up some excellent sightings including a pair of White-tailed Trogons, a little group of displaying Dot-winged Antrwren, quietly perched White-whiskered Puffbird and a noisy and confiding group of Song Wrens that foraged practically at our feet. Around the gate at Juan Grande we enjoyed a snack break in the company of a male Choco Elaenia calling from the canopy and a pair of Black-crowned Tityra (in the company of a male Masked Tityra) sitting high up over the creek. All to soon it was time to head back, with the roaring calls of a troupe of Howler Monkeys ushering us out of the forest. 

Once back at the tower we had our final lunch and bade farewell to our gracious local guide Jorge and readied ourselves for the roughly two-hour transfer over to the Canopy Lodge, where this year all of the participants had elected to take the optional extension to our Canopy tower week. The drive was a bit longer than usual as with an impressive rainstorm and in stretches local officials had reassigned one of the outbound lanes from the city into a makeshift third inbound lane. Seeing the huge lines of cars filled with weekenders returning to the city made us really happy that we were heading westwards!  

LODGE EXTENSION: Nestled in a forested valley just uphill from the picturesque town of El Valle de Anton, in the eastern (but isolated) edge of the Talamanca range that stretches westward into Costa Rica, the lodge offers a wealth of birds not accessible around the tower. Although the dry season is the time for a lot of the local birds to be off nesting, the daily show at the fruit feeders just outside the dining hall is still a treasure for the eyes. After we checked into our rooms, we decided to spend much of the late afternoon staking out a bank of flowering heliconias behind the main lodge building. The local lodge guides had informed us that a White-tipped Sicklebill was frequenting the area, and we hoped that a dedicated vigil would allow us to intersect with this unique and generally scarce species.  

Normally seeing one of these unique looking hummingbirds, with their heavily streaked underparts and an almost recurved bill is either a matter of extreme luck or great patience. Like hermits, Sicklebills are trapline feeders, visiting a series of flowers widely spaced around the forest, stopping at each only briefly at a time. Our run of good luck held, with a bird appearing only 15 minutes after we started our stakeout. Initially the bird came in and perched on a small bare branch, but then for the next five minutes or so it slowly visited all of the surrounding flowers, often perching on the flower bracts to get the correct angle of insertion for their specialized bills. Another fine stake out on the property this year was readily visible (with some help) from the front deck, with a nesting Common Potoo sitting high up in a largely bare tree near the creek. In the waning part of the day, we tracked down a pair of Buff-rumped Warblers flashing their apricot rumps and upper tails as they worked their way down the rocks along the creek edge. We enjoyed dinner on their open-air deck, and then headed off to bed, with the cooler foothills air providing a welcome respite from the heat and humidity of the tower and the white noise created by the rushing stream that passes through the property and the myriad frogs chortling away making for a most comfortable environment.

The next day we elected to spend the morning above the lodge exploring a few of the roads around La Mesa. Before breakfast we were treated to excellent views of an adult Sunbittern that was casually foraging upstream from the bridge for well over a half hour. It was working the edge of the creek, repeatedly turning over submerged leaves and grabbing small fish or invertebrates that had been hiding underneath, and the bird seemed completely unconcerned by our presence on the nearby bridge. There has been a pair of these unique and striking birds on the creek for several years, but as they tend to use more than a mile of creek, we do not always connect with them. To see one so easily, and for such length was truly special. An adult Fasciated Tiger-Heron was also in attendance, sometimes sitting motionless within just a few feet of the Sunbittern; providing quite a remarkable species pair! These well marked stocky herons prefer forested rocky creeks, where their slate-gray bodies blend into the wet rocks amazingly well. Both species slowly worked their way upstream, eventually vanishing behind distant rocks.  

After all the excitement we tucked into breakfast and then loaded up into our bus to head a short distance uphill. We set up for a short vigil near some flowering shrubs under a tall isolated tree. Over the past few weeks, a male Rufous-crested Coquette had been perching up in some bare branches and dropping down to feed on a bank of porterweeds that had been planted by the canopy lodge guides a few years before. Initially there was no sign of the coquette, but a handsome pair of Rufous-breasted Wrens, a quick visit from a Violet-headed Hummingbird and a duetting pair of Keel-billed Toucans kept us amply entertained while we waited. After ten minutes or so the Coquette appeared on his customary perch. With the rising sun behind him we managed to find a spot to scope the birds position that revealed a halo of spiky flame-orange crest feathers. These dazzling little hummingbirds attend flowering thickets around the lodge mainly in the dry season, and are generally shy around hordes of larger hummers, preferring to quietly sneak in and grab nectar undetected.  

A bit farther uphill we reached the La Mesa plateau, a region that has been partially developed for chicken farming but ringed with forested ridges that are largely protected as national park and significant intact forest remaining in the basin. At this elevation (roughly 3000ft) the relatively short forest is heavily laden with epiphytic growth and a lush undergrowth and we spent most of the morning slowly exploring the private loop trail that winds around a small farm. Although we were only just a few dozen meters into the forest for much of the walk it’s an extensive block of woods, supporting a wealth of birdlife. Along the entrance road through the open farm field, we spotted our first Black-striped Sparrow as it sang from a hedgerow, and were happy to get close views of a flock of Smooth-billed Ani, some circling pair of Swallow-tailed Kites and a handful of very confiding and confident looking Southern Lapwings that kept tabs on our progress as we made our way to the trailhead.  

Once in the wooded section of the trial we found mixed flocks to be fairly common, if hard to see well given the rather dense understory. Each flock contained one or two new species for our trip, such as Slaty Antwren, Tawny-faced Gantwren, Plain Antvireo, Wedge-billed Woodcreeper, Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher and Tawny-capped Euphonia. We spent quite some time trying to coax a very vocal Black-faced Antthrush out of its selected dense patch of forest, but although the bird was likely within 15 feet of us the whole time we never managed to even get a glimpse. I guess the lesson learned is to never accept an offer of a game of hide and seek from an Antthrush! Near the end of the trail loop though we were happy to spend some time with a busy and noisy group of Tawny-crested Tanagers that were rapidly foraging around in the understory. The dark brown females and satin black males (with their orange crests) are showy birds, and our vantage point along the edge of a slope meant that the birds were right at eye level. A pair of Northern Black-throated Trogons were present as well, affording excellent photo opportunities as they sat just a few meters off the trail. At this point in the morning our thoughts were turning towards lunch, so we set off back to the lodge for a meal and a bit of time off in the midday heat.  

In the afternoon we met up and set off downhill to the Las Mozas area, where a friend of the founder of the canopy family has allowed lodge guests to enter and bird a section of his quite large property. It’s a fairly open grass trail that winds around a large area of overgrown weedy second growth. Thankfully a significant number of the large spreading canopy trees remain, shading the understory and making the area useable for a wide array of local species. Right at the parking spot a flowering coral bean was hosting our only Long-billed Starthroat of the trip. It’s a rather plain but still attractive species, large, with a very long and nearly straight bill that is perfect for feeding in the long tubular flowers of coral beans. Nearby we also drummed up a foraging female Garden Emerald that was patrolling the canopy edge for insects with its small, spiked bill. 

Shortly after starting down the trail, we carefully checked a known roosting area for Spectacled Owls and were thrilled to spot one of these huge owls tucked into the dense shade of one of the largest trees. It’s a widespread but impressive species, in many ways filling the niche of the more familiar (in the temperate new world) Great Horned Owl. In roughly the same spot as the owls we could hear a calling Rosy Thrush-Tanager, and with a bit of patience and playback managed to get the male to start responding. They were, as usual, quite furtive, but with some patience we tracked the bird down as it sat up a bit off the forest floor in a patch of twisting vines. In the scope we could make out the hot pink chest of the male as it sat calling from its perch. Neither a thrush nor a tanager, this truly exceptionally beautiful bird is in a monotypic family and occurs in only a few scattered populations from Mexico to Venezuela. It is never common, and can be nigh on impossible to see if they stay hidden in the viny understory that they tend to inhabit. The rest of the trail system proved steadily productive, with some of the highlight species being a Lesson’s Motmot, wintering Golden-winged and Mourning Warblers and some perched Yellow-crowned Amazons. The Lesson’s Motmot is one of the newly recognized species that was split out of the old Blue-crowned Motmot complex. The El Valle area marks the eastern most part of the species range, which extends west and north from Panama into southern Mexico. Our views were quite occluded, but with some judicious scope placement we could see the birds head, with its bright blue brows and a large grasshopper in its bill as it twitched its tail back and forth like a cuckoo-clock pendulum. Some Rufous-and-White Wrens sounded off with their mellow and very distinctive musical tones off in the distance a few times, but sadly didn’t react at all to our obviously poor imitations. At one point we crossed a tiny and very shallow creek, and in the main pool by the road spent a few minutes looking at the many Green Swordtails (a relative of the familiar aquarium fish) and Blue-spotted Cichlids that were lethargically swimming around, likely hoping that the rains came before the pond completely dried up.  

Leaving the private area behind we stopped briefly at another nearby trail where some male Lance-tailed Manakins were audibly displaying. One or two males showed briefly, but stayed largely hidden in the understory, and with the dwindling light we decided to try for this quite spectacular species at another location on a later date. As we drove back to the lodge we ground to a halt when Tino spotted a Tropical Screech-Owl perched up (in still broad daylight) on the top of a stone post near the side of the road. The post was under the edge of a metal roof, so the bird was shaded, but it still seemed a remarkably exposed place to sit for a species which usually roosts tucked up under the canopy in fairly dense trees. We took a bunch of photos and even showed the bird off to some passing tourists from Belguim and France. Dinner was a fun affair, with lots of high-quality birds to chat about over our well-seasoned meal. After dinner a few participants joined me on a short stroll around the grounds to look for frogs. In only about a half-hour, we tracked down several hulking Cane Toads, one truly gigantic Savage’s Jungle Frog, and a single Red-webbed Treefrog sitting over one of the lodge ponds; not a bad haul for the dry conditions. 

The next day we enjoyed a repeat visit from the Fasciated Tiger-Heron along the creek before breakfast and were also happy to spot a relatively tame group of handsome Black-chested Jays and a Gray-cowled Wood-Rail coming into the fruit table. After breakfast we headed back up to the La Mesa area; this time spending our time slowly walked along the road that leads to the town of Las Minas. Although partly lined with chicken farms and pastures there are significant patches of cloud forest along both sides of the road and fairly extensive forest downslope. Around the intersection at the beginning of the walk we were treated to views of a very vocal Gray-capped Flycatcher that, at one point, obligingly perched beside a Social Flycatcher for a useful direct comparison. Here too was an overwintering Yellow-rumped Warbler, a species that is generally quite scarce in Panama. Once on the trail we were pleased to find that mixed flocks were common along our walk, with each flock contained one or two species new for our trip including a very responsive Russet Antshrike, our first good views of a male Tawny-capped Euphonia and a striking Canada Warbler. A patch of fruiting trees was attracting Collared Aracaris and Keel-billed Toucans, and by carefully scanning for motion we picked out a single Northern Emerald Toucanet that was slowly clambering around in the canopy. Perhaps also attracted by the fruit we were happy to see a placidly perched male Collared Trogon, here of the distinctive orange-bellied subspecies that is endemic to the Talamanca Highlands of Costa Rica and Panama. We walked out as far as the first open pastures, where we found the persistent winds to be too strong to coax Wedge-tailed Grassfinches up out of the grass. Some calmly feeding Thick-billed Seedfinches were accompanying a group of Yellow-faced Grassquits and Variable Seedeaters along the road edge though, providing excellent comparison views as they nibbled on seeding grass heads. On our walk back a lone Barred Hawk soared over us, providing only our second ever WINGS spring sighting of this uncommon foothills raptor.  

Once back at the van we enjoyed a mid-morning snack in the company of a pair of amazingly patient local dogs that were hoping to share in our bounty. Since we still had some time available before heading back to the lodge we decided to take the short trip over to the base of Cerro Gaital, a well-forested mountain that dominates the skyline above El Valle. The forests here are laden with epiphytic growth, with stands of bamboo in the understory and moss and tree ferns seemingly everywhere, although like everywhere else that we visited this year the understory seemed much drier than normal; even for the tail end of the dry season. We had to skirt the edge of the closed (as usual) ranger station fence near the trailhead, and as we did the front of the line flushed a pair of stout dark grey birds from the forest floor. One participant noted red legs with a quick view of one of the birds as it settled briefly just a bit off the trail edge. I mounted a chase and was rewarded with quick views of the birds, which proved to be Purplish-backed Quail-Doves. Unfortunately, the birds disappeared before we could organize views for the group; sometimes the stochastic nature of birding can be frustrating! The actual trail provided us with another cooperative flock of Tawny-crested Tanagers, a small understory flock with Plain Antvireo, Slaty Antwren, and Spotted Woodcreeper and a brilliantly perched male White-ruffed Manakin. This handsome indigo-black and starch-white species is a striking one, and one with a particularly incredible breeding display. Our bird was sitting over what was likely its display site; a large moss-covered log in a bit of a clearing on the forest floor. Tino regaled us with his story of witnessing the species displaying. Males make a fluttering butterfly-like series of passes over their chosen logs, occasionally landing with a crouched posture, flickering wings and flared throats. Especially if an admiring female is around the male will then sometimes shoot up, well above the forest canopy before undertaking a spectacular dive back down to the log! We didn’t get to witness this acrobatic feat firsthand, but were able to really study the male as it quietly sat on the edge of his arena.  

That afternoon, after lunch and another midday break, we headed downhill, passing through the town of El Valle and then over to an adjacent valley with the small agricultural community of Mata Ahogado nestled along a shallow creek. Along a short side road with a few small watercress gardens, we found a spot with steep slopes above the road where we could see well up and into the undergrowth. Our hoped-for quarry was the small and secretive Tody Motmot, a bird which eschews the customary extravagant nature of the other species in its family and spends most of its time in dense tangles in the understory. Within a minute or so of our quest we succeeded in eliciting a response, although it took a bit of time to spot the bird as it sat motionless on a small vine just above our vantage point. In the end we managed scope views from multiple angles, the birds’ blue mascara glinting in a patch of bright sunlight. Often it takes us several attempts to track this species (which features on the lodge T-shirts) down, so to see it performing uncharacteristically well and quickly was a real treat. 

Leaving the side valley and its wonderful troglodytic Motmots behind we carried on through the small town and then birded a stretch of road that passed through some small patches of brushy fields and pockets of forest. Some flowering bushes near the road held our only Rufous-breasted Hermit of the trip, and we enjoyed scope views to boot, when the bird returned and sat in the shade for several minutes. Across the street in the brushy field, we teased up a pair of cute Yellow Tyrannulets and enjoyed a rare sight with a mixed group of Streaked, Buff-throated and Black-headed Saltators perched up in a fruiting bush. We were especially pleased with the latter species, as this is a species that we used to encounter more often on the tour but now see only once or not at all. After admiring a Gray-lined Hawk that was lazily circling over the road in the afternoon heat we moved on a little farther to a private house owned by the parents of one of the canopy tower guides. In recent months the family has set up an impressively attractive feeder set up in their yard, opening up the space to visiting birding groups. The yard and lighting were nearly perfect in the late afternoon, with lots of potted ornamental plants strewn around, long log-style feeders with lots of available perches for the birds, and ample seating under the comfort of their porch. We settled in for a very enjoyable hour or so, picking up our first White-lined Tanagers, and going over some of the identification features of the species on offer. The real prize here though was the Motmot show. Within a few minutes of our arrival a stunning Lesson’s Motmot appeared to gobble down the newly placed treats. After having its fill, it lingered around the edge of the feeders, and soon enough a Rufous Motmot showed up. Apparently, there can be only one motmot at a time, for an epic battle ensued with the Rufous making repeated attempts at getting to the feeders, only to be chased away by the smaller but obviously more belligerent Lesson’s. After not seeing very many individual motmots around the tower, likely due their earlier-than-normal start to their breeding season it was great to have such amazingly close views of two species concurrently, and many participants risked filling up their camera cards while we watched the show. Eventually we bade farewell to our gracious hosts and headed back to the lodge for a well-deserved and particularly tasty dinner of cilantro chicken.  

The next day was reserved for spending our time in the highlands around Altos de Maria, a large housing development several thousand feet above El Valle. Here the orchids and bromeliads seem to outweigh the trees, and a profusion of flowers play host to hummingbirds and an array of butterflies. We set off in three four by four pickup trucks, as our customary van was not up to the task of the steep paved roads in the highlands. The drive up soon proved the worth of our vehicles, as we slowly crawled up the sometimes incredibly steep grades laid down by some particularly overambitious civil engineer with a mandate to use as little asphalt as possible. Our first stop was at a bend close to the gatehouse of the development where we spent about an hour birding a short stretch of mostly level road, finding several small mixed flocks working the sides of the adjacent valley. Our first new bird of the day was furnished almost upon exiting the trucks, with a cute pair of Tufted Flycatchers sallying out over the road at repeated intervals before landing with quivering tails on exposed bare branches. A couple of fruiting trees in the area attracted a small flock of tanagers which included a half-dozen Common Chlorospingus (a type of tanager-like social sparrow) and several dapper Silver-throated and Black-and-Yellow Tanagers. Here too we enjoyed more views of very calm and well-behaved Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrants (among the best views I have had of this normally frenetic species). We also successfully teased up a pair of Gray-breasted Woodwrens from the understory and picked up a perched Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer near a bank of flowers. While watching the wrens our eyes were distracted by a flash of motion above us which revealed itself to be a tiny hummingbird. We quickly shifted focus and could make out the point-like long tail, white rump band and short bill that cemented the identification as a male Green Thorntail, a species we very rarely encounter in the area. This first stop saved the marquee sighting for last though, when a racket of rollicking and loud calls came from a bit below the road. Such a noise could only have one author; the generally elusive and very retiring Black-eared Wood-Quail. Wood-Quail are near mythical birds, generally uncommon to rare across Central and northern South America. They have loud calls, but as they tend to occur in dense forests, often in mountainous areas with poor access they are seldom seen. We set up carefully and tried our luck with a bit of playback, and incredibly one individual actually left the forest; coming right to the semi-cleared road edge and even out into the sunlight! It didn’t linger long, but we had enough time to take in its attractive chestnut and black plumage and short bushy rust-toned crest. This is a little-known species (even for a Wood-Quail), with only one described nest and scant natural history information available.  

Our next stop was near the entrance to the Valle Bonito subdivision, where we found a few fruiting trees that were attracting a host of frugivores. Clay-colored and Pale-vented Thrushes joined Thick-billed and Tawny-capped Euphonias and several Keel-billed Toucans, Black-cheeked Woodpeckers and various tanagers for the feast. We then started to walk up into the subdivision, where most of the lots are undeveloped, although some have cleared understories but do have a network of well-maintained roads, lined with streetlights which provide excellent (if a bit eerie) access. Just a few dozen feet past the gatehouse we heard the unmistakable wing rattle of a Black Guan. A pair of these elegantly dressed highland guans soon appeared in the canopy, moving across the road and showing repeatedly as they clambered along the higher branches in the trees. This is a good-looking bird, satiny black with an electric blue cere, crimson eye and brick-red legs. It is a Costa Rica/Panama shared endemic through the Talamanca Highlands and the birds around Altos are right on the far eastern edge of their range. After the guans exited, we spent a bit more time around the grove, locating a pair of Tufted Flycatchers that were putting the finishing touches on their amazing mossy nest that was woven into a vertical patch of mosses and ferns on a small trunk; almost impossible to discern when the birds were not present. We then walked a bit down the road, finding a lovely female Snowcap that was perched over a small pool, making repeated dives down to splash in the water before landing on her chosen perch and preening.  

After a mid-morning snack we tracked down a pair of Red-faced Spinetails (a brightly marked furnariid that occurs in the canopy) that were busily foraging near our parked cars. We then moved over to a secluded and undeveloped side road for what we had initially planned would be a quick stop. We soon determined though that the road edge was hosting an active army ant swarm, a phenomenon that we usually only encounter in the lowlands. Although the swarm was on both sides of the road and fairly spread out we couldn’t find any evidence of attendant Black-crowned Antpittas or Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoos (two particularly legendary species that often attend swarms in the foothills) we did enjoy repeat views of Spotted and Bicolored Antbirds, White-breasted Woodwrens, Canada Warbler and Spotted and Plain-brown Woodcreepers over the ants. Here too we were happy to see a pair of Red-crowned Ant-Tanagers, oddly our only ones of this years’ tour, as they moved around well above the swarm. The trail at the end of the road revealed a partially visible and very vocal Northern Schiffornis and a quite stunning dragonfly called an Amber-banded Clubskimmer that was hawking insects over a tiny creek.  

We then enjoyed a picnic lunch at a gazebo at the nearby lake recently installed by the developers as a bit of a social hub, with a single Neotropic Cormorant, garrulous Kiskadees and Social Flycatchers and a busy colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas (with a few attending Giant Cowbirds) for company. Here too was a lovely male Long-tailed Tyrant sitting up on the top of a tall snag above the gazebo. This is a unique little flycatcher, jet black with silver trim and amazingly long uppertail coverts that are significantly longer than the bird itself. After our picnic lunch we took a stroll down the (paved!) continental divide nature trail that winds along a small, forested creek at the bottom of a large protected swath of forest. The trail was incredibly tranquil, a nearly perfect place for the quintessential forest bathing experience, but in the midday wasn’t particularly birdy, so after a little while we decided to move on, heading to the Caribbean slope side of the development known as La Galicia. This section of the development is a bit higher than Valle Bonito, and we reached about 3600ft at the peak of the road. The cul-de-sac that we usually visit here has been developed a bit since 2024, but even with a few new houses we turned up some excellent birds. Likely the most memorable was the pair of Northern Emerald Toucanets that were perched out in the open just over the road. Unlike our previous sightings these birds were out in the sun, so we could appreciate their bright and varied coloration to full effect. A beautiful Rufous Mourner appeared here too, like an elegant supermodel as it laid about in the vegetation, glowing rusty against the dark greens of the background. Nearby we found a little flock which gave us point-blank views of Ochraceous Wren, a little orange sprite of a wren that is closely related to the more familiar (to northern hemisphere birders) Winter Wren although with a preference for investigating epiphytic clusters in the montane canopy. A bank of fruiting Cercropias was being visited by a mixed flock of tanagers and finches, and amongst the crowd we picked up two male White-vented Euphonia and a diminutive Mistletoe Tyrannulet. Our final stop in the area was right at the top, where along a forested two-track we found a fruiting avocado tree that was hosting another group of Black Guan, some more Pale-vented Thrushes and a little troupe of Keel-billed Toucans. 

On the way back down towards the lodge we made a final stop at a little creek that crosses under the road. Here our main quarry showed well, with a pair of the normally furtive Dull-mantled Antbirds foraging nearly out in the open on the slopes above the creek. These poorly named antbirds are quite bright, with a ruby red eye and bright silver-white flashes on their backs. The stop also produced a noisy and eventually cooperative pair of Chestnut-capped Brushfinch; a generally shy species of tropical sparrow that somewhat resembles a skinny towhee in overall comportment. Above the small creek we spotted a tightly woven nest that was stuck around and underneath some overhanging broad leaves. It proved to be a hermit nest (which are often tucked under the protective shelter of overhanging leaves), although our views were occluded, and we could not determine exactly which species was involved.  

The next morning, our last of the tour, we set out for the dry savannah-like lowlands along the pacific coast, with white sandy beaches, rice fields in the lower swales, and dense hedgerows were a completely new habitat type for us, and we added a remarkable number of species (over 20) to our trip. Our first stop was along a patch of grassland near the ridgeline of the caldera, where we found the winds already a bit of an issue just after sunrise. Happily for us though, a Wedge-tailed Grassfinch ignored the blustery conditions and showed extremely well, perching up chattering angrily at us from just a few feet away. 

About halfway down from the ridge we stopped to look on a weedy slope for Bran-colored Flycatchers. Not only were we successful with excellent views of one of these pleasingly brown flycatchers at it sat up in a spindly tree, but we also found several Lesser Elaenias, with a Yellow-bellied nearby providing good comparison views, and a quite bold pair of Scrub Greenlets. Further downhill we stopped when we heard the low-pitched calls of some Brown-throated Parakeets and were rewarded with a pair busily checking out a large cavity in a stump. This is a species that seems to have become much more common along the dry Pacific slope in recent times, even moving into the more wooded areas along the coast in Panama City itself. This proved a fortuitous stop, as while watching the parakeets we drummed up an incredible mix of birds in the surrounding garden, with more than a dozen Red-legged Honeycreepers, several Panama and Common Tody- Flycatchers, Rufous-tailed and Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds and a pair of irate Yellow-green Vireos. Nearby we stopped to admire a little group of Groove-billed Anis along the road, completing the sweep of the world’s ani species over the course of the trip.  

A much-needed mid-morning stop along the Pan-American Highway revealed the hoped-for restroom facilities as well as our first, and only, House Sparrows. After our comfort stop, we spent much of the rest of the morning slowly exploring a network of roads to the south of Anton that eventually reach some shrimp ponds and mangrove forest along the coast. We stopped a bit south of the end of the paved section of road where we spotted a large and dark hummingbird sitting on the roadside wires over a small garden. The bird stayed put, revealing itself to be an immature male Veraguan Mango! This species is restricted to these dry lowlands and is nearly endemic to Panama. A Sapphire-throated Hummingbird showed well here too, perched low in some bare branches on the road edge. We passed through an area of open fields and hedgerows and found a nice selection of raptors including a nesting White-tailed Kite, hunting Savannah and Common Black-Hawks, and a quietly perched Roadside Hawk living up to its name.  

A few kilometers further to the south we stopped for a late-morning snack under the shade of an impressively large fig tree. The densely tangled understory here contained a couple of jet-black, powder blue and scarlet male Lance-tailed Manakins which several participants managed to see even while holding their sandwiches. Here too we were happy to spot two Straight-billed Woodcreepers clambering around on some of the larger tree trunks in the hedgerow. This is a particularly attractive woodcreeper, with a distinctive and straight pink bill and bright rufous mantle. We reached the shrimp ponds by late morning, stopping to admire a few White-winged Doves (a recent colonizer from Costa Rica) as we entered the complex of shallow ponds. It can be an excellent area for shorebirds if the water level is correct, but most of the ponds were much too dry for our purposes on this occasion. A few good-sized flocks of Black-necked Stilts were joined by a smattering of Whimbrel and Willet and a little group of Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers in one of the impoundments. Tricolored, Little Blue Herons, Snowy and Great Egrets and White Ibis were about as well, and overhead we spotted a pair of soaring Wood Storks. 

We then moved over to another coastal road that leads eventually down to the Pacific Ocean and a scenic sandy beach. Recent road improvements here likely belie that other folk have some development ideas for the beachfront here (likely part of the slow but steady spread of increased development all along the central Pacific coast of the country), but at least for now it just meant that our customary bumpy and slow drive to the rice fields was much quicker. Enroute to the rice we took a small side road where the lodge guides had recently located a nesting pair of Aplomado Falcons. Our luck held, with one bird (likely the female) perched in a bare tree near the nest site. These elegant falcons are resident but scarce in Panama, and this sighting marked the first in nearly a decade of WINGS tours. Eventually a pair of Fork-tailed Flycatchers appeared on the scene, harassing the falcon and prompting it to fly low and fast across the road. Once out in the rice fields we noted that most of the fields were bone-dry although a few had been recently burned and replanted, with just enough surface water to attract a few wading birds. We picked up a Solitary Sandpiper, lots of Southern Lapwing and Wattled Jacanas and a striking adult Purple Gallinule in the wet swales of the fields. The chief prize here though was a little group of Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures that were perched on the ground at the edge of one of the rice field cells, allowing us to fully appreciate their rainbow-hued heads. 

As it was at this point past noon we headed back to the main highway and then drove east towards Panama City, bound for another beach access point in the small town of Santa Clara, where the owners of the Canopy Tower and Lodge have a small beach house. Here too were huge numbers of Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Pelicans, and a flock of loafing Laughing Gulls and Royal and Sandwich Terns sitting on the shore. Some small fishing boats were coming ashore, and the fisherman would regularly throw out scraps for the birds, causing a whirling mass of Frigates and Vultures milling over the fish frames. There’s a small island a bit offshore from the house, and on an adjacent sea stack we could make out a flock of seven Cocos Boobies sitting atop it. This is a recent split from the globally distributed Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster). The common name is based upon the Cocos tectonic plate in the Eastern Tropical Pacific where the bird breeds on scattered islands. This proved to be the final addition to this year’s triplist, which officially stands at 354 species.  

Our trip back to Panama City took a bit longer than expected, with some construction and heavy traffic closing one of the two bridges across the canal, but we arrived at our comfortable hotel at the base of the Amador Causeway in time for some time off and a final meal out on the patio, with the occasional cruise or container ship passing by just to remind us of exactly where we were. I want thank this year’s wonderful participants and our two local leaders, Jorge and Tino, for making this such a rewarding and bird-rich tour. I look forward to many more trips to this dynamic and rich country in the coming years.

 - Gavin Bieber

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