Xenornis

Michael and Christian Gernez from Sendero Panama and Venicio Wilson visited the Caribbean side of the Panama Canal to scout some birding spots. Here are the most remarkable sightings: a very tame Yellow-throated Vireo in the garden at the mechanic who fixed our flat tire in Escobal a very shy family of White-headed Wrens in El Trogon Trail, Achiote Road a Black Hawk-eagle at Gatun Dam spillway a Crested Guan in the road to Fort San Lorenzo Yellow-rumped Warbler female Ruby-throated Hummingbird feeding in the flowers at the fort a pair of Indigo Buntings The Gatun Dam spillway had 3 gates open and hundreds of gulls and terns at the spillway and at the river mouth. At both places we had a large, dark-mantled gull which I believe was a Lesser Black-backed Gull . From fort San Lorenzo we watched a tern that seemed to me like a Bridled Tern : dark gray mantle, whitish narrow collar around neck, dark crown, white forehead, black bill. Anyone going that way keep an eye in tha...

In the early afternoon if Sunday 21 November 2010 on the Achiote road, I saw a Sharp-Shinned Hawk perched high in a moderately-foliaged roadside tree near the first bridge on the approach to the village. It did not move for at least half an hour, providing prolonged clear sightings from front and rear. Its plumage matched perfectly the illustration in Ridgely, except that the relative widths of the grey and white tail bands were reversed. From behind, the tail showed three narrow white bands and a narrow white tip. The iris at first appeared more yellow than the illustration but later, when it turned its head towards the hazy sun, it showed redder. The similar species mentioned by Ridgely, Tiny Hawk and Double-Toothed Kite, could confidently be ruled out. It twice uttered screechy two-tone calls. Amongst other sightings on or near the Achiote Road were Royal Flycatcher (crest folded but still unmistakable), Black-Breasted Puffbird, Bay Wren (with their buzzy chatter) and a floc...