Xenornis

The following miscellaneous observations may be of interest. The first hummingbird I saw using my newly-installed feeder, on 3 September, was a Long-billed Starthroat. It has returned several times since, though Rufous-tailed now dominate. On one occasion the gorget showed clear lateral projections, befitting the name Starthroat better than the illustration in Angehr. On 12 October I saw a male Purple-throated Mountain-gem at Monte Azul, at about 1000m. Blue cap, purple gorget and white post-ocular stripe were all clear in direct sunlight. This extends the range stated by Angehr a little to the east. On 9 October, at Valle Bonito, five small birds foraging on or near the ground took to the trees on my approach, revealing yellow rumps and flanks. I could not get a definitive sighting but Yellow-rumped Warbler would appear to be only possible identification, in which case they were a full month earlier than the period stated by Angehr. Blackburnian Warbler have been more numerou...

Just to back up Benicio's report , Alred Raab, Mark and Joanie Hubsinger and I were at Bayano the day before (12/4), and found a female-plumaged Cinereous Becard at the Río Mono, which also responded to playback. Another interesting sighting was a female-plumaged Yellow-rumped Warbler , and late in the day on our return trip we also found a pair of Streaked Xenops , identified by voice as well as plumage. They appeared a bit distinctly-streaked for the race incomptus I would expect at Bayano- I wonder if any judgement as to subspecies was reached on the bird digiscoped by Kilo Campos at this same locale.

On December 19, 2008, following a tip from Ito Santamaría, Glen Lee went to Entre Ríos in Cerro Punta to photograph this first fall male "Audubon's" Yellow-rumped Warbler. "Audubon's Warblers" winter mostly in Mexico and northern Central America, but there are a few records from Costa Rica and one or two from western Panama, so it's important to check the throats of every yellow-rumped one encounters.

This is what Tocumen Marsh's former rail haven looked like this morning, post harvesting and burning. The berm of plenty is now surrounded by scorched earth. Compare with the picture taken on Sunday. Luckily, the other side of the road is still lush and raily. Spotted Rails were still pretty common. Today we saw many more adults than on Sunday, but there were plenty of juveniles and chicks of all sizes present. Soras remained dirt common and we saw a few White-throated Crakes. No Gray-breasteds, though. Also we had great views of two Paint-billed Crakes sunning on the berm at the edge of the rice. These were more like the typical fieldguide illustration of an adult Paint-billed: bright salmon legs, bicolored bill, prominent black-and-white barring on the flanks and undertail. We even got to see the red eye and brown nape and crown. Also seen a couple of times (even photographed by Rosabel) was Yellow-breasted Crake, a lifer for most of the audience (which included Rosabel Miró, ...

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann, Delicia and Darién Montañez and Dave Klauber spent an hour or so in the morning (and an hour or so in the afternoon) scanning all likely flycatcher perches on Las Nubes looking unsuccessfully for the Crowned Slaty Flycatcher that was seen in the area a month ago. What we did find was an adult (White-lored) Yellow-throated Warbler and a small flock of (Myrtle) Yellow-rumped Warblers in with a large flock of Tennessee Warblers, darting all over the pines along the downhill section of Calle Principal about 100 yards uphill from the intersection with Calle A.

José Tejada, Luis Paz and Emilio Contreras saw a Black-whiskered Vireo at noon at about halfway up Semaphore Hill Road. Later in the day they went to Costa del Este, where they had a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Western Wood-Pewee (ID'ed by voice).

Ken Wysocki and Steve Huggins, visiting birders from Chicago, and Darién Montañez discovered an adult European Starling in winter plumage at Fort Sherman, Colón. The bird was first seen at 2:30 P.M. on the grass just beyond the Shimmy Beach fence behind the last of the row of houses. The bird was walking near (but not with) a few Great-tailed Grackles, and was observed both on the ground and in flight for about 20 minutes. Apart from its white spots, the smaller size, shorter tail and more vertical stance gave it a completely different jizz from that of any other Panamanian bird, making it almost impossible to misidentify, and it should be easy to pick out from even the biggest blackbird flock. This is only the second report of Starling in Panama, the previous one being of another single adult seen twice at Albrook in February of 1979. This bird did not seem to be particularly tame (it flew off when approached) or starved (it did not rush to feed on the Pringles offered by the observer...

Bill Porteous' pishing near some pines on the way up to Cerro Campana attracted the attention of two Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Black-throated Green Warbler and a Blackburnian Warbler.