Xenornis

Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoos continue at Rainforest Discovery Center. Bill & Claudia Ahrens took us there today. With the help of Norteamericano birders we found the ant swarm, which seemed pretty quiet to me. The spot is found by walking from the parking lot, back up the entrance road and entering the trail system at the "Salida Exit" sign on the gate. Just past the observation platform at the Mirador we walked down the ravine to the flat portion at the bottom, where Cindy spotted the first bird. Also present were several Ocellated and Bicolored Antbirds. Soon, one of the Center's guides led 4 Dutch birders down to the spot who also saw the birds. Later, at the Center, the Dutchmen told me they eventually saw 3 birds.

A group of three Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoos have taken residence at an army ant swarm that's taken residence around the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center. First seen on Wednesday, the birds were still present as of this afternoon.

Björn Anderson photographed this Green Manakin at Nusagandi last weekend. Another highlight was a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo at Cerro Azul.

Olmedo Miró photographed this Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo at the entrance of Pipeline Road's Panama Rainforest Discovery Center today.

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.

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...

The best find in August was a Grayish Saltator found on the grounds of Villa Marita in Boquete on 8/13. I was hanging out waiting for a ride when I spotted this bird (there may have been two on the grounds) - I was quite surprised, and chased it for well over an hour before I finally collected a little evidence; a still from video is attached. I believe this is a first record for Chiriquí; given the location, I suspect this bird(s) came from the Pacific slope of Costa Rica, rather than crossing the Continental Divide from Bocas. Another highlight of the day was a Pearl Kite seen quite well from the bus on the way in. On 8/9, on the grounds of the Canopy Lodge in El Valle, I found Black-throated Mango (unexpected at the elevation), Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, and Eye-ringed Flatbill. On 8/14 I found Yellow-margined Flycatcher and Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch on private property north of La Estrella, east of Boquete. On 8/16, at Finca Lérida above Boquete, h...

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...

Canopy Lodge's Tino Sánchez and visiting birder Vince Parslow found a Scaled Antpitta at a large army ant swarm at the Canopy Adventure trail in El Valle. Unable to resist the temptation to see this bird, Sam Britton and Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt visited the antswarm two days later, but all they saw was Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo and Tody Motmot.

The Canopy Tower's Carlos Bethancourt sent in the following report, illustrated with stunning digiscoped photos. These photos of Cerulean Warbler were digiscoped with a Leica APO-Televid 77 scope and a C-LUX 2 Camera. The warbler was observed and photographed at Cerro Gaital, while doing a day tour to the Canopy Lodge. I think this is the second record of this bird observed at el Valle. There were three of them one female and two males. Another interesting bird observed in the same area was a Black-poll Warbler. Another interesting and rare bird that hung around the Canopy Lodge from late July to early September was a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo . This bird was first reported to us by Ken Allaire, who spent a good amount of time exploring El Valle and Canopy Lodge Grounds, and was seen often by the birders staying at the lodge. I was very lucky to get this pictures on July 20, 2007 (10:00 am), while leading the first Tropical Digiscoping Seminar with Jeff Bouton from Leica Sports ...

The were antswarms - quite possibly the same one twice - on Calle Maipo on October 21 and again today. Apart from the usual trio of antbirds (Spotted, Bicolored and Ocellated) both were accompanied by a bit of a strange - but at times exciting - mixture of birds. The one last week had 4 species of woodcreeper - Barred, Spotted, Plain Brown and Ruddy. I have noticed before that whenever the latter two species are together, the Ruddies bully the Plain Browns, diving on them and taking over their tree trunk (possibly also their prey). Also, the Ruddies always keep their head feathers raised in such situations. The swarm was also attended by Swainson's Thrushes, a Nightingale Wren and a Kentucky Warbler. There was an immature Barred Forest-Falcon. It bore all the standard fieldmarks, and the collar was plain to see, but the underparts were quite different to those described in any book (though I have still to check Wetmore) being virtually immaculate pale creamy white except for some d...

Carlos Betancourt, a guide for the Canopy Tower, and Josh and Lisa Bohls saw a Rufous-vented Ground-Cukoo while birding at the Pipeline Road, Gamboa. They even videotaped it as it crossed the road.

Raúl Arias de Para reports that a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo was seen by Danilo in the woods around Chorro El Macho, El Valle.

Bill Adsett, Gilles Seutin, Darién and Camilo Montañez and Jan Axel Cubilla spent most of the day at Cerro Vistamares Trail. The weather was mostly miserable, rainy and windy, and the birds were mostly quiet. But things changed when we went past the clearing. A small mixed flock with Dot-winged and Checker-throated Antwrens had a Stripe-throated Wren, unknown west of Nusagandi. It was the same color as the Checker-throateds, but the black and white streaking extended beyond the throat all the way to the cheeks of the bird. Also, its wings and tail had the characteristic barring like most wrens have. It foraged quickly among the tangles about two meters above the ground, and it did not make a sound. The following is Bill's report: On Saturday, Jan 22, there was a pair of Stripe-Throated Wrens feeding in a viny tangle about 15ft above the ground on the Cerro Vistamares Trail just beyond the first clearing. I should estimate the altitude to be between 650 and 750 mts. There is an area...

Bill Adsett reports a few Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoos at an antswarm at the end of Calle Maipo, in Altos de Cerro Azul. Today at the end of Calle Maipo in Altos de Cerro Azul there was an antswarm with two, maybe 3 Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoos. Birds first recognised by loud bill snapping which came from at least 2 different directions. The bird I pursued but did not see for some time continued to bill snap, but lightly, the sound somewhat reminiscent of Red Capped Manakin. It had me completely fooled by staying up in trees instead of doing the normal thing of staying on the ground. When I eventually saw it, all too briefly, it seemed to lack the lustrous plumage of the adult. When it flew - almost immediately, it made such of a mess of it that it crashed into foliage, fell on the ground and disappeared!. I wonder if it was a young bird, and the light bill snapping was a way of keeping touch with the parents. Who knows?

Bill Adsett, Maria Allen, and Norma and Tatiana Ponce found a male Xenornis and a Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo on Vistamares Trail, Cerro Jefe.

Danilo Rodríguez, a guide from the Canopy Adventure at El Valle, reports both  White-tipped Sicklebill and  Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo from the forest around Chorro El Macho.

Bill Adsett reports two  Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo at 7 a.m. right at the start of Calle Maipo in Altos de Cerro Azul. There was no antswarm in the area, so they think the birds may have been roosting there.