Xenornis

Euclides Campos spent Christmas at the town of Paya, Darién, and he returned with a number of interesting records. First and foremost is the addition of a new species to the Panama list (and, therefore, the AOU North America list): Bicolored Wren , an unmistakable open-area wren of the Magdalena valley. He saw a pair in Paya on December 23rd and heard it again at Boca de Cupe on the 28th. He also saw a female Cape May Warbler at Paya on December 25th and photographed Dusky Pigeons near the Colombia border on the 26th. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XduDZJjj6ZM

Hello, I thought I should write and let you know I found a Cape May Warbler at Fort Sherman/Shelter Bay Marina, this morning.

The male Cape May Warbler  that has established a winter territory right around the Audubon Panama Office in Llanos de Curundu is still around: Ovidio Jaramillo and Juan Pablo Ríos were there before dusk on Monday (Feb 28) and had good looks at it.

José Manuel Luciani photographed the male Cape May Warbler  in Gamboa on Tuesday, at the same spot where he saw it last week . The bird frequents the patch of pine trees on Morrow Boulevard in Santa Cruz, which is the last street on the right as you exit Gamboa, right before the now demolished Santa Cruz High School.

2011 is proving to be the year of the Cape May Warbler . José Manuel Luciani found a male in some pine trees in Gamboa this morning.

Osvaldo Quintero swung by the Audubon Panama office on Sunday morning and managed these great action photo of the male Cape May Warbler that has taken residence there. The bird was seen again that afternoon by a group of lucky local birders. Has anyone not seen it yet?

Breaking News: Expert opinion on the weird streaky warbler first seen on Thursday is that it's a female Cape May Warbler in winter plumage. Quoth George Angehr: Seems a little yellower than I remember. However, that doesn't make any difference for the ID. It seems completely consistent with fall female Cape May, and inconsistent with anything else. On not so breaking news, both birds are still being seen in front of the Audubon Panama office in Llanos de Curundu. Rafael Luck sent in he photo above, taken on Friday afternoon. Jan Axel Cubilla tells the story of his Wednesday afternoon hunt for the male over at his blog . Then on Saturday afternoon he was back, this time with Itzel Fong and Michael Froude, and found the male at 6:02 pm. Don't miss your chance to see these spectacularly pretty and spectacularly rare visitors. Come and get'em!

Proving that the third time's the charm, indeed, the Cape May Warbler that has taken residence in the trees immediately around the Audubon Panama office in Llanos de Curundu was seen again on Thursday evening and again on Friday evening. The hunt began Thursday morning, when George Angehr visited but didn't find it, quite. He tried again that afternoon, joined by Osvaldo Quintero and Darién Montañez, and after some minutes of checking every Tennessee Warbler a weird streaky warbler, seen in the morning by George, showed up. It was clearly not the male Cape May seen on the previous two days. Instead, it looked pretty much like a female Cape May Warbler, but what are the odds of not one but two of these rare, rare migrants showing up on our doorstep? Still, I can't think of any other i.d. options. What do you think? The bird was whitish below with distinct dusky streaks and a clear yellow wash on the throat, cheeks and supercillium. It had white undertail coverts, a faint y...

A bright male Cape May Warbler was seen yesterday in our backyard in Los Naranjos, a small town just north of Boquete at about 3700 ft.  It was seen very well, and repeatedly, from our terrace, with binoculars, as it moved around in the trees and shrubs.  Though I haven't seen this bird previously in Panama, I have seen it while birding in Florida on spring migration.

The Audubon Panama  Cape May Warbler (yes, we're calling it that) was seen again yesterday. Jan Axel Cubilla braved the rain and got the photo above. Same time, same place: 5:40 pm at the small trees in front of the Audubon Panama office in Llanos de Curundu. Please join us today (conveniently before our February monthly meeting) to see if the third time's the charm.

Hoy martes 8-FEB, a las 5:40pm, mientras un grupo de 13 turistas estaba observando aves en los jardines de la oficina de Audubon, llegó un Cape May Warbler al arbolito que está cerca de la entrada de la oficina. El warbler fue identificada por uno de los turistas y su identificación fue reconfirmada por Ariel Aguirre, el guía del grupo.

José Tejada sent a bunch of interesting reports: Jan. 17: Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a basic-plumaged Blackpoll Warbler at Mono Tití Rd, Metropolitan Nature Park. Jan. 21: Female Cerulean Warbler at Achiote Road. Feb. 13: Female Golden-cheeked Warbler seen on the road up to Respingo in Cerro Punta, at pretty much the same spot where he saw the first Panama record on 3 january 2005. Feb. 14: Warbling Vireo in Finca Hartmann. Second Panama record. Feb. 21: Female Cape May Warbler at a flowering guácimo colorado tree in front of the one-story bunker on the left at the base of Mono Tití Rd, Metropolitan Nature Park. Also on the same day, he had a Worm-eating Warbler from the lookout halfway in on Mono Tití Rd.

Marshall Iliff sent in reports for his three consecutive VENT tours to Panama. Highlights below: 2 Feb. Altos del María: 1 White-tipped Sicklebill, 12 Snowcaps, 4 Orange-bellied Trogons, 2 Spotted Barbtails, 3 Spotted Woodcreepers, 2 Plain Antvireos, 2 Black-crowned Antpittas, 2 White-ruffed Manakins, 1 Rufous-browed Tyrannulet, 15 Tufted Flycatchers, 12 Ochraceous Wrens, 5 Tawny-capped Euphonias, and two Black-and-yellow Tanagers, among more expected foothill species. Our one new sighting for the area was a single Brown Violet-ear singing from a high perch. We did not see this bird well, but I recognized it as a Violet-ear from its persistent single chip note that it delivered from a high perch. When we found the bird it was easily identifiable as Brown Violet-ear by its short bill and its brownish coloration with pale underparts without darker pattern or iridescence. Green Thorntail – We had three females and one adult male at El Valle 3 Feb. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker – We had two bi...