Xenornis

Ben Lascelles sent in the highlights of his two-month stay in Panama: 10th June - A Colombian race American Kestrel in Parque Metropolitano. 16th June - At El Copé treated to some fine views of Black-crowned Antpitta, with one by the visitors centre being particularly approachable down to just a couple of metres, wished I'd had some meal worms! Also saw female Snowcap and Spotted Barbtail. 19th June - Spectacled Owl with a large chick at Old Gamboa Road, also 2 Capped Herons on Summit Ponds 28th-30th June - Around Birders' View, Cerro Azul. Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Black-eared Wood-quail and Violaceous Quail-Dove (both heard only.) The Blue-fronted Parrotlet nest fledged the days we were there, with 2 young seen to leave the nest and at least one more heard inside still. 4th July - Rainforest Discovery Centre, Pipeline Road. Great Black Hawk, and male Tiny Hawk. 12th and 13th July - Haven't seen a report from the Panama Audubon Society trip to Santa Fe, so here are a...

While visiting Birders' View in Cerro Azul on the morning of March 30, Octavio Rios found a pair of Blue-fronted Parrotlets attending a nest hole in an old termite nest. The tree is apparently in plain view from the parking lot, on the left side at the head of the loop trail through the garden.

The were antswarms - quite possibly the same one twice - on Calle Maipo on October 21 and again today. Apart from the usual trio of antbirds (Spotted, Bicolored and Ocellated) both were accompanied by a bit of a strange - but at times exciting - mixture of birds. The one last week had 4 species of woodcreeper - Barred, Spotted, Plain Brown and Ruddy. I have noticed before that whenever the latter two species are together, the Ruddies bully the Plain Browns, diving on them and taking over their tree trunk (possibly also their prey). Also, the Ruddies always keep their head feathers raised in such situations. The swarm was also attended by Swainson's Thrushes, a Nightingale Wren and a Kentucky Warbler. There was an immature Barred Forest-Falcon. It bore all the standard fieldmarks, and the collar was plain to see, but the underparts were quite different to those described in any book (though I have still to check Wetmore) being virtually immaculate pale creamy white except for some d...

José Tejada Spent the day birding around Cerro Azul. The best part of his morning at Calle Maipo was meeting a flock of about 15 Blue-fronted Parrotlets feeding at a fruiting tree. They were very hard to see, as they were perched on the top branches, but once located he got good scope views of this seldom (well-)seen species. Then he went to the Kaufmann Villa to look for the Hawk-Eagles, but he decided to check the garden trail first and found it was full of birds. Many trees were fruiting, and they were attended by flocks of the usual fruit-eating species. There were also lots of hummingbirds, including a pair of Garden Emerald, a Green-crowned Brilliant and a bunch of Bronze-tailed Plumeleteers. It was while waiting for hummingbirds, sitting down at the spot where the trail loops back, that he noticed a Barred Puffbird quietly perched in the undergrowth just beyond the trail. The heavy, greenish bill, yellow eyes and white throat were very evident, it was rufous above, buffy below a...

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann, Dodge and Lorna Engleman and Bill and Esther Adsett met on Altos de Cerro Azul for some midday birdwatching. Species seen included Barred Hawk, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Violet-capped Hummingbird, Spot-crowned Barbet and a pair of Blue-fronted Parrotlets that might have been looking for a nest site.