American White Pelican in Bocas del Toro, a report by Natalia Decastro

During a birding trip to the Snyder Canal, hosted by Tranquilo Bay eco adventure Lodge on January 1st, we observed 2 American White Pelicans resting at the mouth of the Changuinola river. The day before we had strong winds and constant rain for over 24 hours.
Pictures credits Ann Fleck.

A species new for Panama: Russet-throated Puffbird in Tortí

On Sunday, December 30, Canopy Family guide Eliecer Rodríguez along with John Coons’ Field Guides group discovered a Russet-throated Puffbird at the Tortí River.

News of this latest addition to the Panama list spread like wildfire, and that same same afternoon Jan Axel Cubilla and Rolando Jordán drove out and found it again:

And on the morning of December 31, Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann and Delicia, Camilo and Darién Montañez drove out and found it again:

As the crow flies, this is a range expansion of about 175 km to the west of the species usual range along the Colombian sores of the Gulf of Atrato, and the first record for North America. Since puffbirds are not known for being active fliers, it's very possible the bird will stay put for a while, and that the species will be found at other spots further east, so go get it!

Western Kingbird in Isla Jicarón

On the morning of December 20, 2017, Pedro Castillo photographed this Western Kingbird at Isla Jicarón, Coiba National Park. The bird was at the forest edge in a beach on the eastern side of the south tip of the island.

Cassin's Kingbird in Sierra Llorona, a report by Ken Rosenberg

On October 20, while conducting migration surveys at Sierra Llorona in Colón Province, Pete Blancher (from Ottawa, CA) and I saw a distant, unusual-looking kingbird, snapped a few photos, and continued with our surveys. We were not able to relocate the bird later that day or on subsequent days in the same area. It wasn’t until we got back home and circulated the photos to other ebird folks (earlier today), that we confirmed the identity of this bird as a CASSIN’S KINGBIRD. Several Photos attached. I am about to update my eBird checklist from that day as well (Pete had already uploaded one of the photos as an odd Tropical Kingbird).

Cassin’s Kingbird breeds in the western United States and Mexico and winters mainly from Mexico to northern Central America, but has been reported as a vagrant in the Eastern US. A spectacular record of a species new to the Panama list, and possibly the first anywhere South of Nicaragua.

Gray-hooded Gull in Panamá Viejo

On the afternoon of October 24, Jan Axel Cubilla photographed this Gray-hooded Gull on the mudflat behind the Panamá Viejo visitor center.

Eared Dove at the Biomuseo

On October 17, Darién Montañez found an Eared Dove on the lawn of the Biomuseo. The bird was similar in size to a White-tipped Dove, but slimmer, with bold spots on the wing coverts, bright red legs, and a clear dark ear spot and post-ocular stripe. Its face and chest were faintly barred, so it may have been a young bird. It was also very tame and walked away when approached. When it flushed, the wings were long and slender, and with contrasting dark primaries. The tail showed bold white corners and a faint dark terminal band.

Later efforts to relocate the bird that afternoon and the next morning proved unfruitful.

Hudsonian Godwit en Sarigua, un reporte por Rosabel Miró

El viernes 13 de octubre en la mañana, regresando de de un taller en Volcán, paramos en el Parque Nacional Sarigua y encontramos un Hudsonian Godwit.

Hay muchas camaroneras por el área y varias tinas vacías, con algo de agua algunas.


Habían también muchos Lesser Yellowlegs, 150. No nos había tocado ver tantos.

Camino a Volcán paramos en Aguadulce y allí vimos muchos Stilt Sandpipers: 79, un número grandote. En la entrada de El Rincón de Santa María estaba un tractor removiendo la tierra y detrás del tractor contamos 806 Glossy Ibises, el número más grande que hemos tenido a la fecha. Parece que a esta especie le está yendo muy bien por allá.

Este White-rumped Sandpiper también andaba por ahí...

Detalles sobre el reporte de Eurasian Collared-Dove por Yasmín Cerrud

El día 3 de septiembre del 2017, en la carretera ya próxima a Playa La Barqueta, a unos 200 mts del hotel, divisamos a dos individuos de Eurasian Collared-dove o Tórtola Turca (Streptopelia decaocto)  que caminaban justamente en el pavimento.  La franja negra característica del el cuello y la terminación negra de las alas, nos permitió identificarlas.  El avistamiento ocurrió a eso de las 8:10 a.m. Parecían bastante familiarizadas a la gente.
Posteriormente, al salir del área de playa a eso de las 11:32 am, observamos nuevamente a otro individuo sostenido en los cables eléctricos.
Participaron en la observación tres personas:  Katiuska Cicilia, Emma Patiño y Yasmín Cerrud.

The Carib Grackles are here: a species new for Panama

Yesterday morning, the birding group of Jan Axel Cubilla, Venicio Wilson, Rolando Jordán and Mario Aguirre found a number of Carib Grackles mixed in with the ubiquitous Great-tailed Grackles around the Tanara end of the old road to Chepo. Says Jan Axel:

Mega. New species for Panama if accepted. At least two adult males with distinctive glossy black plumage, conspicuous  yellow eye and short (instead of long) strongly keel-shaped tail.  Seen with Great-tailed Grackles in a marshy, open area, where they feed in the ground (out of sight) and perched atop some low bushes and trees.  Heard once.

Then this morning, Carlos Bethancourt found some other ones at Tortí Abajo.

Raymond VanBuskirk reports:

We've been scrutinizing every grackle we've seen today since hearing about a Carib Grackle near Chepo yesterday. It appears that the scrutiny has paid off. Today while leaving the site known as Torti Abajo we encountered four grackles (two males and two females) that caught our eye when we realized their noticeably small size. They were seen near the houses along the road just before the Río Torti. As they flew up from the roadside Carlos Bethancourt's initial thought was "Bronzed Cowbird". When they perched my initial thought, being from the United States, was "Brewer's Blackbird". This is when we knew we had something different. The birds were noticeably small-bodied, round-headed, and short-tailed. Their bills were also distinctly slender and slightly down-curved (much different in appearance the thicker and heavier hills of Great-tailed Grackle). Another distinct difference was head shape... these birds had small heads and rounded crowns, again, quite different from the blocky, flat-headed appearance of the Great-tailed Grackle. The males plumage was all dark with flashes of blue-green iridescence, not purple like in a Great-tailed Grackles. Certainly this is variable depending on lighting but it was noted regardless. The female plumage was dark brown overall, with the face being the same color as the rest of the bird, more like that of a Common Grackle. As they flew they gave a soft liquid "jeer" call, repeated in sequence about once ever second. We heard about five call notes before they disappeared. It was only after the observation that we realized the males were also the same size as the females, another field mark suggesting that these birds are not Great-tailed Grackles. Here's some back-of-camera shots taken by Michael Retter.  

 

And then, upon looking at some photos of odd Grackles from Finca Bayano taken on August 15, Jan Axel found this one.

So, one more bird new for Panama, which was probably hiding in plain sight since who knows when. Moral of the story: check every Grackle!

Gleanings from eBird: Eurasian Collared-Dove in Playa La Barqueta

En la mañana del domingo 3 de agosto, Katiuska Sicilia y Yasmin Cerrud Henríquez encontaron una Eurasian Collared-Dove mientras

Caminaban en la calle que llega en línea recta al hotel.

Más tarde, vieron otra (tal vez el mismo individuo),

Perchada en los alambres ya en la ruta de salida de La Barqueta. Era clara la raya negra en la nuca y las alas tambien de punta oscura.