Xenornis

Kevin Easley and some other avid birders from Costa Rica visited the Western Azuero and Coiba with me. On 3 May we went to Changuale (East of las Flores) to try and find the Azuero parakeet. Wer did not find it, but saw many King Vultures circling above us while walking along the Pavo river.  We left for Coiba on 4 May. Between Santa Catalina and Coiba we saw Red-necked Phalaropes , Brown Noddies , a juvenile Red-billed Tropicbird and a Parasitic Jaeger . On the Las Pozos trail on Coiba we found the Coiba Spinetail and the Brown-backed Dove . There was also a male Indigo Bunting in breeding plumage (The Angehr guide does not mention that Indigo Buntings occur on Coiba). Furthermore, for the last three weeks, our hummingbird feeders are daily visited by a juvenile mango. I have attached a (small) picture of the bird. I think it is a Veraguan Mango .

On 20 April, I went to observe macaws near Cerro Hoya NP with Juan Velazques. From our observation point (N7.35011, W 80.78059; decimal degrees, WGS84) we saw not only at least 15 Great Green Macaws , but also several hummingbirds. Our observation point was about 100 m above sea level, so to have Violet Sabrewings visiting flowers there was already somewhat unusual. Even more intereseting, though, was the presence of a Veraguan Mango . On the photo, you can clearly see the maroon rounded tail, all black downcurved bill and the dark blue stripe on the throat.

Acabamos de llegar luego de pasar cuatro días en Chiriquí. El viernes 12 de marzo, Gloriela y yo manejamos hasta Puerto Armuelles y más allá, pasando las Petroterminales... lo único que tengo que reportar es que los Riverside Wrens fueron muy fáciled de localizar (y ver) justo después de la garita trasera de las Petroterminales ya que llamaban constantemente (a pesar que fue en la tarde, con el sol muy caliente). Ese día nos reunimos con Rafael Luck, Osvaldo Quintero, Osvaldo Quintero hijo, Milagros Sánchez y Olmedo Miró en Boquete con el fin de buscar los Campaneros al día siguiente, los cuales vimos en Alto Chiquero. Ese mismo día, en horas de la tarde (prácticamente 6:00 pm) caminando en el área de Horqueta (1995 msnm) observé por nos segundos una tortolita de contextura robusta y con dos claras barras alares violáceas posada en el borde del camino a medio metro del suelo, cuando voló reveló anchas esquinas blancas en la cola (vistas por Rafael y Osvaldo hijo) confirmando que se...

In his thorough essay of yesterday, Matt Miller sheds some light on the big mess that is field separation (or lack thereof) of the mangoes of western Panama. Read on, dear readers, if you dare. The bottom line: range simply cannot be used to separate Green-breasted Mango from Veraguan Mango, as specimens of both types have been obtained in both slopes, sometimes from the same site at the same time. Adult males are different enough, but we don't know nothing about no fieldmarks for no females nor juveniles, and there may not be any. The only sure way to establish if there are differences (or if Veraguans and Green-breasteds are too much of the same thing to be called different species) is to obtain a bigger sample, i.e. get more specimens, which will probably horrify them birders; but here at Xenornis we're all in favor of the advancement of science, especially if it gets us more ticks in our life lists. Matt's contribution to the blogosphere, Neo-Ornithology, promises a w...

His Formerfieldeditorshipness Dodge Engleman weighs in on the identity of the Mangoes photographed during the PAS trip to Miguel de La Borda, Donoso, in eastern Colón: I think we have to go with Veraguan Mango: no black in male breast; black in juv. doesn’t go up to the bill. But this group is a mess and may yet prove to be variation in a single sp. Unless there is a size or bill shape difference of course in which case it will bear waiting until enough specimens are collected (only window kills I hope!) to work it out. I was thinking that when we went to Panajungla in the mid ‘90’s we were referring to Storrs Olson’s paper on Bocas (’93) for our diagnosis of Breen-breasted and I believe I recall he mentioned differences in the rufous on the underparts. The HBW isn’t much help, even with references. May a note to NEORN would result in a reply re reference to Anthracothorax?

Last weekend, a small group of brave Panama Auduboners headed on an exploratory trip to Miguel de La Borda and the recently-declared Donoso Protected Area. El viernes en la tarde, en los alrededores del pueblo, como a eso de las 4 pm nos encontramos con varios Veraguan [?—see below] Mangos (no menos de 4 manchos, 1 hembra). Les adjuntamos fotos de los colibríes. El sábado en la mañana, como a eso de las 8:00am, en el Río Miguel de la Borda nos encontramos con varias decenas de Turkey Vultures migratorios que, al parecer, pasaron la noche en los potreros aledaños al río. Te adjuntamos una foto también. Adicional, nos tocó observar el viernes, sábado y domingo grupos pequeños de vultures migrando. Esa misma mañana, el el sendero de Quebrada El Caño, a diez minutos del pueblito de Guásimo (a orillas del río Miguel de La Borda) nos encontramos con un pequeño bosque de heliconias donde observamos a un Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer posado. Más arriba, en el mismo sendero observamos unos ...

On January 30 We went to El Chirú, where we had a brilliant day of birding! First we all got excellent views of Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl and Tropical Screech-Owl... In the same area we have close views of the endemic Veraguan Mango, as well as Crested Bobwhite, Saphire-throated Hummingbird, Red-breasted Blackbird, Rufous-browed Peppershrike... After a great morning we went to Juan Hombrón where we had perfect views of Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Mouse-colored Tyrannulet, Northern Scrub-Flycatcher.... The most amazing thing for us during the day was a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which is a rare migrant for Panama especially in the Coclé Province. We saw this bird, a juvenile, at El Chirú. Tino Sanchez (Canopy Lodge Top Guide) and I got great views of it. I had the close telescope views so I could see the bright red gorget. We could not take a picture there, but every one in the group got to see it. Once in Juan Hombrón I found another Ruby-throated but this one has less red on the gorg...

Bill Adsett sent in a report of a scouting trip to Cerro Santiago he and Dave Klauber did on April 3–4. We saw a number of Glow-throated Hummingbirds. There were several on the Continental Divide in bright sunlight at 1618 m altitude UTM 0414657 - 0939884, 39.4 km from the San Felix turn-off on the Panamericana, about 1.5 km beyond the transmission tower. There were female(s), immature(s) and one very beautiful mature male. Terrible things to photograph though. They were feeding at pink and red flowers on small plants and shrubs in open areas along the road. There was another individual (female or immature) in forest close to Ratón UTM 0412085 - 0942967. I got a tape recording of the Yellow-green Finch call which I shall share in due course. The Bare-shanked Screech-Owl in the photo was near Ratón, while the Veraguan Mango was in San Félix. The road from San Félix (Chiriquí) is in good condition, easily passable in dry and wet conditions, as far as Cerro Flores, just above Hato Cha...