Xenornis

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.

This happy Barred Puffbird, with a still-kicking Pacific Antwren in its jaws was photographed by Iván Hoyos last Tuesday, December 9th, at the enntrance of the Mine Trail, at Cana Field Station in Darién National Park. Several tanagers were agitated by the presence of what I presumed to be a Chocó Screech-Owl or similar. The reason was the Barred Puffbird, which I observed with the Pacific Antwren still alive in its bill for about 3-4 minutes. Shortly after, the antwren showed no motion and the Barred Puffbird then disappeared with the antwren into the forest.

I returned from a scouting trip to the Metetí, Darién area on Saturday, August 11. We visited a Crested Eagle nest with a juvenile and a dark-phase adult. I had never seen a dark-phase before: the head was almost black and the underparts were all barred. These photos were taken with my little Nikon point-and-shoot. The adult was high up a Cuipo tree near the nest, but the juvenile was lower down. We also visited a spot near La Palma and were lucky to see a few Blue-and-gold Macaws and a pair of Great Greens. We also visited a Harpy Eagle nest. We explored some nearby ponds hoping for Black-chested Hawk and maybe some interesting ducks, but didn't get lucky: all we got were two hours wading in waist-deep swampy vegetation. The locals we talked to did say they had seen these "ruddy" hawks flying around, though. The spot looks promising, and we're considering organizing an extraordinary fieldtrip for PAS.

I visited El Real, Darién from 15-18 June with a party including Robert Dean, Kevin Easley, Dev Joslin, Ron Hoff, and Holly Ann Myers. We found Large-billed Seed-Finch and Yellow-hooded Blackbird at the El Real airport, both evidently established and likely breeding. Photos of both species taken by Kevin Easley are attached. Large-billed Seed-Finch Oryzoborus crassirostris A male was seen on 15 June at about 4 PM at the airport (all party members except Easley). The bird was larger than a Lesser Seed-finch, almost entirely black, with a large whitish bill and a prominent small white speculum on the bend of the wing. It was seen perched from about 10 m away. The following morning the entire party returned to the airport and saw several additional males (at least three), some of them singing. One bird was noted to have white wing linings when it flew. I recorded the song and Easley obtained photographs. I saw a probable female on 17 June on the Pirre Road, but was not certain. A singing...