Xenornis

Between January 6-9 a party consisting of Bill Adsett, George Angehr, Charlotte Elton. Dave Klauber, and Les and Cindy Lieurance visited Darien, birding mostly around Canglon, and Yaviza. The following are some of the highlights (with photos by Bill Adsett). Pale-bellied Hermit . A few individuals seen on the El Salto Road and north of Yaviza on Jan 7. The hummingbird feeders at the Avicar Restaurant in Meteti on Jan 6 and 9 featured Scaly-breasted Hummingbird , Sapphire-throated Hummingbird , Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, Black-throated Mango, and Long-billed Starthroat. Spot-breasted Woodpecker . Two seen near Rio Iglesias on the afternoon of Jan 6. Barred Puffbird . Several pairs seen a few km north of Yaviza on Jan 8. Blue-and-yellow Macaw . A flyover by three individuals on Jan 6 about 7 km east of Rio Iglesias, on the south side of the Filo de Tallo, in a mostly deforested area. It's good to see the species still persists here. Spectacl...

About a week ago, May 27, my friend Raúl Arias invited me to check out some spots he has been birding the past 6 months; but not just any spot, it was in Darién! Also invited were one of the top guides in Panama, Beny Wilson, and Hernando ‘Nando.’ Raúl had invited me on their previous trip, but I was swamped with other birding work at the Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge and just could not pull myself away. Now I was free!  We agreed to bird the Darién area near Yaviza for at least 2 days, but at the last minute our plans changed. Instead of a two-day trip, we would have to cram it all in a 24-hour birding marathon! I was so mentally pumped that I was already daydreaming about finding a Black Oropendola, a lifer! I kept thinking, “Darién forest... NEW BIRDS... new birds... who knows what may pop up?” That is the exciting part, the not knowing!  We got to Metetí, one of the last major towns near the end of the paved part of the Inter-American Highway, around 3:30 p.m., dropped o...

El fin de semana del 23 de abril estuvimos explorando las cercanias del Darién, Jan Axel Cubilla y Gloriela Archbold, José Carlos García y Mahelis Rodríguez, y Rafael Luck. Nuestro destino final era el poblado de Nuevo Vigía, pero desafortunadamente SENAFRONT no nos autorizo visitar esa zona por razones de seguridad. Una verdadera lástima, ya que personas del pueblo invirtieron tiempo y fondos para transportarnos y alimentarnos sin poder obterner los frutos de nuestra visita. De todas formas hicimos nuestro acostumbrado paseo con algunos de los resultados fotograficos: El Salto : Black-capped Donacobius en abundancia y Spectacled Parrolet Filo del Tallo : Black Antshrike , Cinnamon Woodpecker, Golden-headed Manakin (muchos hermits: long-billed, stripe-throated, pale-bellied , rufous-breasted) Puente del Río Mono : Rufous-winged Antwren, Barred Puffbird, Red-rumped Woodpecker, One-colored Becard .

During the first months of 2011 Raul Arias de Para, Daniel Arias, George Angher and I have been birding the patches of forest along the Pan-American Highway from Torti, in eastern Panama province, to Yaviza in Darien Province and here are some our the best sightings: Double-banded Graytail was found nesting in Fundacion Tierra Nueva, near El Salto town. This is possible the first confirmed nest of this specie only found in Eastern Panama, northern Colombia and Northwestern Ecuador. We have seen a total of 3 active nests in different spots of Darien Province and near Torti. White-fronted Nunbirds where seen for about 15 minutes in the headwaters of Torti River, above San Jose Town. Spot-breasted Woodpecker in Torti. The bird seems to be a common resident of Torti Abajo area Barred Forest-Falcon was seen in Cañazas mountain range Rufous-winged Antwren was seen in Arimae Yellow-breasted Flycatcher was seen near El Salto town This extends the range of this specie and confirm i...

A group of hardy Panama Auduboners spent last weekend braving weather and lodging and birding around El Real, Darién. After waking up at an ungodly hour on June 12 we made a quick stop at the bridge over Río Mono in the Bayano, where we heard a Barred Puffbird and nothing more. The Pan-American Highway is in excellent condition, and most of the 260 km from the Riande Hotel to Yaviza are freshly-asphalted, thus making it a pleasant four-hour drive. A stop at the marsh just out of Yaviza that had Large-billed Seed-Finches last November was also futile. After a quick lunch at the always-sweltering Yaviza we hopped on our boat and headed for El Real under a light drizzle. Ten minutes later we were being pounded by the heaviest of rains, that didn't stop until we walked into our hotel. During a lull in the storm, about halfway from Yaviza to the point where the Chucunaque River meets the Tuira River, Jan Axel Cubilla looked up from under his raincoat and saw a Black-collared Hawk. Not ...

On November 6, Rosabel & Karl Kaufmann and Delicia & Darién Montañez drove out to Yaviza and El Real, Darién, in search of all those potential lifers they had been missing out on. As we approached Yaviza at around noon, we stopped at some promising marshes, about 7.5 km before town. After a few scorching minutes Rosabel spotted a female and young Large-billed Seed-Finches in the brush while a male or two sung from exposed branches nearby. Also heard at the spot was a Little Cuckoo. At El Real, no additional seed-finches were seen at the airstrip, which was also devoid of Yellow-hooded Blackbirds. As dusk approached, and after the rain stopped, a Donacobius scolded us from the grass while a singing Willow Flycatcher made brief appearances. The first of many flocks of Spectacled Parrotlet and Black Oropendola . The next day and a half produced Pale-bellied Hermit, Yellow-breasted Flycatcher, Red-billed Scythebill, possible first Darién records of Sharp-shinned Hawk, Tropica...