Xenornis

Last week Moyo Rodriguez and I (Venicio Wilson) guided a couple of dutch birdwatchers, Yvonne and Atze, into eastern Panama. We had and incredible luck finding birds we had not seen yet in the previous months of development of a new Canopy Tower tour to the Darien lowlands. Orange-breasted Falcon was seen near the ‘Mirador’ in Nusagandi, Guna Yala. A pair was spoted by the group and Moyo noticed the large size of the bird. Once we stopped the car we heard clearly the falcons' calling and realized the call was nothing similar to a Bat Falcon, which are much more common. After playing the Orange-breasted Falcon call the female flew some 40-50 meters above us allowing us to see her breast band! Later we saw the same couple perched and I made some crummy pictures that I still like to share with you. Nusagandi produced some great birds such as White-thighed Swallow , Rufous Piha, Crested Guan, Black-and-Yellow, Dusky-faced and Sulphur-rumped Tanagers . During our second day we b...

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann and Delicia and Darién Montañez spent their Sunday checking just how good the new and renewed El Llano-Cartí road was. And it was very good: all asphalt all the way to the Caribbean (except for the still unfinished bridge over the Cartí River, which should be done by August) The birding was good, too, as long as you don't mind no shoulders and cars zipping by at breakneck speed—but then we've all birded Achiote Road, right? The first stop, well before Burbayar, produced a few Sulphur-rumped Tanagers in the first of many tanager flocks, mostly of the Tawny-crested denomination. At Ina Igar we saw Striped Woodhaunter and an Olive-backed Quail Dove before being rained out. Back on the road, a culvert a few kilometers beyond the trailhead had an adult Fasciated Tiger-Heron, seen both on our way to Cartí and on our way back. Well in the lowlands we found plenty Blue Cotingas, a pair of calling Jet Antbirds and a fruiting shrub with four female Scarlet-...

In a recent visit to the Emberá community of Nuevo Vigía in Río Tuquesa, Darién, I got some interesting birds: Little Cuckoo, Barred Puffbird, Bare-crowned Antbird, Green-and-rufous Kingfisher, Saffron-headed Parrots, Black Oropendola and Brown-chested Martin . Here are some few photos I managed to take. Though this was not a birding trip, the place is full of good birds and worth a more in depth visit.

José Tejada drove out on the gravel road to Darién to look for Brown-chested Martins. At the ricefields beyond El Llano he found about 200 in two flocks, but the bird of the day was a Pale-bellied Hermit seen on a swampy clearing beyond the Bayano Bridge. On the way back to the city he found a few more Brown-chested Martins on a big flock of Gray-breasteds near Chepo.

Bill Porteous reports seeing at least 500 Brown-chested Martins perched on the transmission lines around El Llano, on the road out to the Darién. Last year large numbers were seen on the same area. Here is the report.

Just one small flock of Brown-chested Martins was seen today, a few miles beyond the spot where the big flocks were seen last sunday.

Large flocks of Brown-chested Martins were seen on the transmission lines besides the Interamerican Highway beyond Chepo. The Brown-chested Martin is the only austral landbird that migrates to Panama on a regular basis. Therefore, it is a shame that many birdwatchers still need that check on their life lists. But now, and for a limited time only, you can add this tick to your list. This morning, Loyda Sánchez, Judith Anguizola, Karl & Rosabel Kaufmann and Darién and Camilo Montañez went east of Chepo to see if they could find the species and, sure enough, their effort was rewarded with not one or ten, but about a thousand individuals on large flocks. The first one, of about 200 birds, was seen perched on the wires beside the road about halfway between El Llano (just past the turnoff to Nusagandi) and Polin (the next town on the Panamerican Highway). That flock flew off after a short while and joined an even larger flock (maybe 300 birds) on the high voltage transmission lines on th...