Xenornis

When I was doing birding with Arie Gilbert and Ian Resnick at Lake Bayano on July 12 on one of the many side trails after Rio Mono Bridge, a Grey-bellied Hawk (inmature), perched close where we were. I think this bird was 9 feets above the ground staying for a while in the area. This is the third record of this extremely rare raptor in Central America [and the second one from Panama]. We did some birding at Gorgona (july 15th) close to Malibu gated community. We headed there because one of my client was requesting a Masked Duck. I have seen female two years in a row there. We checked the small pond and found a male Masked Duck among a group of Least Grebes. We drove down road, pass the pond and you find a orange house to the right side. Both Whistling Herons flew in front of the car and landed on top of a tree. The sighting was around 6:00 p.m. Just adding a range expansion, a Cattle Tyrant was seen at Juan Hombron on July 16th. On July 20th, we saw a Sapayoa at ...

On February 9th of 2012, at 7:17 AM while guiding a birding program for Sendero Panama, we spotted a raptor on top of a Cuipo tree near the road in the way to El Salto, Darien. The bird was very similar to a Bicolored Hawk but inmediatly I noticed the paler gray on the belly and the lack of rufous on the thighs. Immediately our guest, Larry Wan took his 500mm camera and made several pictures of the bird which are the ones posted here. I also remembered a 2008 report of an immature Gray-bellied Hawk in Costa Rica and started pointing at the differences between both hawks. The lack of rufous on the thighs, the paller grey in the chest and belly, the contrast between black crown and dark cheeks were the immediate marks we noticed. While Larry and Sara were making pictures and observing the bird, I got to hear the bird call: 6 or maybe 7 notes, high pitch, 1 1/2 seconds apart from the other. I have heard and seen several times Bicolored Hawk in Bocas del Toro and this bird was lighte...