Xenornis

A little update on that pair of Bicolored Wrens : On Sunday morning, 22 February 2015, Les and I and our friend Jim Danzenbaker stopped at the Yaviza cemetery on our way out of town. Along with the continuing pair of adult Bicolored Wrens, we saw a dependent chick following them around. It was very cute, with a stubby bill and yellow at the gape. Here's some video of the birds, shot on January 9 . And some bonus Spectacled Parrotlets , shot on January 8.

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...

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...

After being in El Real last month, I decided to do some birding in the highlands of eastern Panama, specifically above Rancho Plástico, with Alex Guevara and Ramiro Duque. Our expedition started on September 15th arriving at Rancho Frío late in the afternoon. The following day in the morning Slate-throated Gnatcatchers, Purple Honeycreepers, Scarlet-browed Tanagers, and Western Sirystes were moving around the station. During our hike to Rancho Plástico the same day, Wing-banded Antbirds gave us some great views and a Yellow- browed Shrike Vireo was heard in the distance. In the afternoon at a lookout close to Rancho Plástico, Great Green Macaws and Red-and-green Macaws were flying around, and at dusk a group of Tawny-faced Quails were singing close to our tent. On September 17th we headed further up from our camp site where we saw Black-crowned Antpittas, Immaculate Antbirds, and Dull-mantled Antbirds. A single Green Manakin landed very close to us. In a mixed flock we encountered Red...

Venicio Wilson reports a pair of Spectacled Parrotlet seen while visiting Ipetí Emberá, an Emberá Indian community in eastern Panama.

During my last trip to Darién on August 4th to 7th, specifically at El Real, I saw the Large-billed Seed-Finch and the Yellow-hooded Blackbird around the airstrip. Both were singing. On the way to the airstrip there are a few patches of heliconia where I saw a female Ruby Topaz for three days in a row. The best fieldmark was its tail, bronzy in the middle tail feathers and rufous on the outer tail feathers with a dark subterminal band and white tips. It was kind of grayish underneath and bronzy on top. I noticed during the third day of observation that she raised her crown feathers and spread her tail and was perched around 3 m above ground. I heard several Gray-breasted Crakes with their peculiar call of 4 notes, te-te-te-te, along the airstrip. Other interesting birds I saw every single day were Spectacled Parrotlet, Agami Heron, immature, Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Gray Elaenia, Black Oropendola, Yellow-backed Tanager, Red-billed Scythebill, and a Golden-green Woodpecker was hear...