Xenornis

This morning I went to Pipeline Road in search of the female Blue-winged Warbler that was found by Jan Axel Cubilla and others on Pipeline Road near the entrance to the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center. I failed to find it, but while I was looking I met Swiss birder Jerome Fischer, who told me that he had seen a male near the Pipeline Road entrance earlier in the morning. I went to the spot, played the call, and the bird immediately popped out. It's at the ACP gate on the road just beyond the entrance to Pipeline. When I saw it, the bird was in the scrubby clearing just before the gate. Jerome found it with a mixed flock just beyond the gate.

En primer lugar me uní al grupo de observadores que han encontrado el White-eyed Vireo en la entrada de los Summit Ponds, la primera vez que lo vi fue un sólo individuo el lunes 21 de febrero, acompañado de una Magnolia Warbler inmadura en las misma marañas.  El miércoles 23 de febrero regresé al mismo lugar, esta vez acompañado de Rosabel Miró y posteriormente por Karl. Nuevamente encontramos el White-eyed Vireo en el mismo sitio.  En el lugar estaba un grupo de observadores guiados por Carlos Bathancourt quien encontró una  Agami Heron  inmadura en el laguito de la derecha, el cual fue apreciado por todos. En el día de hoy (sábado 26 de febrero), fui a Pipeline junto a Osvaldo Quintero. En el parche de maleza (paja canalera) a la izquierda del camino antes de la desviación hacia el PRDC observamos una Blue-winged Warbler , probablemente una hembra a juzgar por parte de la corona oliva (sólo la frente era amarilla brillante). Las fotos de la Blue-winged Warbl...

Today [February 25], at approximately 10:30 am, an immature male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was seen around the Rio Mendoza area on Pipeline Road. The bird was just off the road creating holes on the trunk of trees extracting the sap. As we observed the surrounding trees, we noticed many small holes on the trunks of trees, which suggest the bird has been here for some time. Two other birders saw the bird and one photographed it.

Osvaldo Quintero photographed this Sunbittern at Pipeline Road yesterday. The bird was on a small creek on the left side of the road, a few meters beyond the bridge over quebrada Juan Grande, and was observed from the road for 15 minutes while it preened.

El día de ayer (domingo 11 de octubre), junto a Osvaldo Quintero, observamos un Martín Pescador Verdirrufo macho en el puente sobre la quebrada Juan Grande en Pipeline road. Se mantuvo sólo unos segundos para luego alejarse quebrada arriba posándose al descubierto sobre el agua por un instante y luego desapareció en el bosque. Caminamos por las riberas y lo reubicamos posado tranquilamente en una maraña (al mejor estilo de un hormiguero u otra ave similar por lo elusivo). Incluyo una foto en donde se ve de frente (nada de blanco en las partes ventrales inferiores).

Panama Rainforest Discovery Center 's Carmela Luciano reports that a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo was seen walking the walkways right by the visitor center last Friday morning. The bird, which was snapping its bill all along, had rather muted colors, so it might have been a young bird.

I just wanted to share a pic of a nesting Rufous Nightjar. As you notice on this pic it has two chicks. It's the first time I see a nightjar chick. About two years ago I found a nest on Old Gamboa Road with Jean Iron, a friend from Canada, but we were monitoring the bird and no chick wa seen. But this year we discovered this beautiful bird almost on the same spot! By the way Jean came back on March and Alexis found it with her too, so now Jean's nickname is the Nightjar. I took this photographs last Friday, April 17th while birding with the famous world traveler and blogger Charlie Moore. You can also check his report here. Early morning that same day we had also seen this Pheasant Cuckoo on Pipeline Road. This bird has been observed by our team of guides near Juan Grande creek and at the entrance of the road for the past month, even though it has not been very vocal this year! Finally, on March 30th while leading a birding trip with Sam Fried, we observed a Sunbittern ...

Jan Axel Cubilla photographed this adult Agami Heron at Pipeline Road's Río Frijolito this morning, while birding with Dr. Osvaldo Quintero. Also seen was a flock of half a dozen Rose-breasted Grosbeaks and two male Scarlet Tanagers in a Miconia, and two Brown-hooded Parrots over Quebrada Juan Grande. Later in the day he joined the team hunting for kittiwake in Costa del Este, where he photographed the Kelp Gull. Any ideas on the identity of this gull will be kindly appreciated.

Itzel fong photographed this nesting Black-capped Pygmy-Tyrant in Pipeline Road. The spot, on an uphill beyond Quebrada Juan Grande, is marked with three stones tied with pink flagging tape.

El sábado 17 de enero de 2009, Osvaldo Quintero, Rafael Luck y mi persona fuimos al Bayano para observar aves. Sobre el puente del río Mono localizamos un Barred Puffbird, primero notado por su característica llamada, que nos deleitó respondiendo a nuestras imitaciones. Aparte de un registro en Capira y otro en Cerro Azul, me parece que para la vertiente del Pacífico sólo se conoce en el Darién. Además, observamos al vuelo (y escuchamos) un Laughing Falcon, el cual se posó muy distante en un cuipo... aunque aún se puede reconocer en mi distante foto. Luego de despedirme de Rafael y Osvaldo entrada la tarde, fui hacia Pipeline road por un tip de Julia Sarco (de Avifauna) quien nos comentó que había pasado la mañana viendo un Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo en el camino principal, antes de la desviación hacia el centro de visitantes. Me tocó adentrarme un poco en la maleza y, con todo y lluvia, pude observar por unos 15 min un Ground-Cuckoo mientras se alimentaba en un enjambre de hor...

Margelys Barría reports on the last few months of notable sightings from the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center on Pipeline Road: 1. Nuestro primer gran avistamiento fue el del Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo en el camino de acceso a nuestro centro de Visitantes, que fue visto por Margelys Barria, guia del P.R.D.C. y por Alcibiades Sarco (personal de mantenimiento), eran como las 6:30 de la mañana y ambos lo pudimos observar sin necesidad de binoculares por lo cerca que estabamos. Dos dias despues estaba en la parte de atras del Centro de Visitantes detras de un grupo de hormigas guerreras el avistamiento fue hecho por Julia Sarco y Margelys Barria ambas guias del PRDC y por el señor Iván Muñoz (personal de mantenimiento), sin necesidad de binoculares, fue visto aproximadamente como a las 11:00 am. Luego una semana despues fue visto en uno de los senderos del PRDC. por Julia Sarco y un grupo aproximado de 15 estudiantes del Istituto Nacional. Al pasar dos semanas nuevamente avistado por d...

Last Thursday near the Pipeline Road gate, Jacobo Ortega discovered this female Fasciated Antshrike in flagrante delicto , impersonating a Secretary Bird. Then this morning on their way to the Cerro Ancón raptor count site with Ramiro Duque, Celeste Paiva, Lorena Garcia, Enrique Sánchez and Laura Reyes he photographed this juvenile Black-billed Cuckoo and, more interestingly, a Wilson's Warbler: a common winter resident in the western highlands but a very rare vagrant in central Panama. This is possibly the first record from the lowlands, as the three records in Ridgely are from foothills. The bird was an adult male that spent all morning in the bushes on the canal side of the mirador and was seen by all present.

During a recent assignment with visiting birders between July 15-28th, 2008, Advantage Tour's Euclides "Kilo" Campos reports some interesting bird sightings: While birding some patches of forest around Tortí, eastern Panama Province, they saw Black-crowned Antpitta, Western Syristes, White-eared conebill, White-ringed Flycatcher, Tawny-crowned Greenlet, Great Jacamar, Spot-crowned Barbet (Darien race), Yellow-green tyrannulet, Ocellated Antbird, Red-billed Scythebill, Pacific (Streaked) Antwren, Barred Puffbird, and Brown-chested Martin. Later around Burbayar and Nusagandi they recorded, among others, Sapayoa, Striped-cheeked Woodpecker, Dull-mantled Antbird, Slate-throated Gnatcatcher, Plumbeous Hawk, and Crimson-bellied woodpecker. While birding around Cerro Azul they saw Purplish-backed Quail-Dove, Blue-and-gold Tanager, Black-eared Wood-Quail, Tacarcuna Bush-Tanager, Schiffornis of the foothills form and heard Russet-crowned Quail-Dove. Along Pipeline Road they fou...

The Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt photographed this female Green-and-rufous Kingfisher on Thursday, May 29 on one of the creeks after Río La Seda on Pipeline Road. Also seen were a pair of Great Jacamars, King Vulture, Spot-crowned Antvireo and Slate-colored Grosbeak. Then on May 30 José Soto had great views of Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon, also on Pipeline.

The Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt reports that the Canopy Tower's José Pérez reported seeing a Marbled Wood-Quail in Pipeline Road, directly under the pipeline, about 500 m beyond the Juan Grande bridge. It's reassuring that this formerly-uncommon species still survives in the area. As far as I can remember, the last report was on a Christmas Bird Count sometime in the late nineties.

Carlos Bethancourt also forwarded these two photos from José Pérez: a Speckled Mourner seen on Pipeline Road March 3 and Mangrove Cuckoo seen March 4 at Fort Sherman.

Will Carter sent in the following report: My wife, Gill and I encountered this Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo at 8:15 on the morning of Jan 06 approx. 1 km in from the front gate on Pipieline Road. Probably the same individual that Panamanian guide Guido Berguido saw the day before. The antswarm paralleled the road for about 30 minutes and then began to cross. We then were treated to unobstructed views of this beautiful bird for nearly 3 hours. During a lull in activity, the bird roosted on a log and was motionless for 10 minutes or so. Traffic was kind enough to pause at our request and at times there were 15 spectators watching the swarm activity. Later, inside the forest, we watched the swarm and a Rufous Motmot was competing with the Ground-Cuckoo for insects—3 times the two birds collided as they dashed for insects—the Ground-Cuckoo seemed to come away with the food each time.

Guido Berguido sent in the following reports: Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo: On Saturday Jan 5th, 2008, while doing a nature walk with four Canadian folks along the Pipeline Road we hit a nice Eciton Army Ant Swarm. On it were all the usual suspects: Plain-brown and Northern Barred Woodcreeper, Bicolored, Spotted, and a few Ocellated Antbirds. Also along were a couple of Grey-headed Tanagers, and an opportunistic Black-breasted Puffbird; but the highlight at the swarm was an elusive Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo. The bird was first seen by Wiljem Zitman who was with us. He just said that a large "chicken" had ran along the back of the swarm. At first I thought it was just a Great Tinamou, but then he told me it had a long tail! This was only the third time I've seen this bird so it was exciting. Brown-throated Parakeet: On Monday Jan 7th while visiting relatives in the neighborhood of Parque Lefevre I heard a bunch of parakeets feeding on a blooming Erythrina tree. Amon...

Panama Rainforest Discovery Center's Venicio Wilson reports a pair of Hook-billed Kites seen soaring above their Pipeline Road observation tower: Durante la mañana de hoy, a eso de las 9:00 am avistamos una pareja de Elanios Piquiganchudos, Hook-billed Cites, Chondrohierax uncinatus . Lo interesante de la pareja es que el miembro de mayor tamaño (posiblemente la hembra) era de fase oscura. La mañana estaba soleada, sin brisa y con nubes blancas bien altas. La pareja fue vista por 4 personas, Julia Sarco, Margelys Barría, Marcial Caisamo y mi persona. Julia, Margelys y Marcial son los futuros guías del PRDC, el proyecto de Fundacion Avifauna en Pipeline Road y todos tienen bastante experiencia en campo identificando aves. Todos fueron estudiantes de Darién Montañez. Utilizamos binoculares Bushnell H20 8X42, Bushnell Birding Series 10x42, Nikon Action 7x35 y Leica Trinovid 10x42BN. Las aves fueron observadas por espacio de 3 minutos y sobrevolaban haciendo círculos lentamente. Par...

Darién Montañez took Patrick Homier's group to Pipeline Road. Had a female Great Jacamar about halfway from the gate to Juan Grande, and a male Hook-billed Kite 500 meters beyond Rio Limbo. When I first saw it fly and perch across the road I expected a plumbeous or Semiplumbeous Hawk, based on overall color, but this bird was light gray below, finely barred with white. The legs and cere were yellow, not orange, and the eye was pale gray. The buffy supraloral mark was very conspicuous, as was the heavy hooked bill. The bird stayed on its perch, about four meters above the ground, right next to the road, for about two minutes. When we approached, it turned its back on us and flew up to a tree about 10 meters high, then flew off into the forest. Even though Ii don't know of any other reports of the species from Pipeline, it's found every now and then at Plantation Road.