Xenornis

Camilo Montañez discovered a Bran-colored Flycatcher perched on a wire over Plaza Bolívar, Catedral, right across from our home. All the field marks were easy to check, since it stayed put for about 10 minutes. It was chocolate brown above, with darker wings with buffy wingbars; light buff below, with the characteristic streaking on the breast. It did not sing, but we got such a good look at it that we're sure of its identity anyways. What was it doing here is another question, since there are no "overgrown fields, pastures or shrubby areas" nearby.

Solange Anchor sent the following report Sunday April 2nd with my husband we went hiking from Sora to Altos de María and down to Felipino village, just before the village in a small rice plantation , we saw a small “family group” of blue grosbeak (Guiraca caerulea) 4 adult males 2 adult females and 2 or 3 immature. Field marks: Heavy conical beak. Adult males deep blue with 2 broad chestnut “rusty” wing bars. Immature looked patchy with blue and brown. Females were brownish-gray with two chestnut wing bars, and rump very pale blue. The field was divided in 4 sections , one had rice almost ready to crop, another looked like it was recently planted , the other two were muddy but one had 10cm of water . They were foraging on ground in the parcel that seemed recently planted, and occasionally perching on wires of the fence or on low branches of a tree close by. Yellow face grassquit (Tiaris olivacea pusilla) one fork tailed flycatcher (Tyrannus savanna monacha) were in the same field. Wild...

Paul Coopmans sent a short report of a new species for Panama's list: Choco Toucan Ramphastos brevis . One individual was seen and heard on Cana on March 24, 25, 28, 29 and 30. Its calls were recorded on the 24th. Apparently it had been seen previously in late December, 1999 by Hernán Araúz.

From 27th to 31st March Bill Porteous was in Chiriqui and sends the following report: On 27th March there was a lot of activity on the new trail at El Respingo above Cerro Punta, and a pair of Silvery-throated Jays joined a pair of Emerald Toucanets in the same tree, where they were later joined, briefly, by a pair of Black Guans! On the 28th there at least two Masked Ducks, both female-plumaged birds, at Volcan Lakes. In the evening, in the clearing above the first forest patch above Cerro Punta, Dusky Nightjar sang, and then reacted to tape playback by landing on a post in full view where it continued singing. On the old Oleoducto Road in Palo Seco on the 30th there was White-bellied Mountain-Gem at the top, and Lattice-tailed Trogon further down, where the pipeline crosses a small valley. Rufous-breasted Antthrushes were singing on both sides of the road, and a good view was had of one of them. They were singing as well on the Continental Divide Trail, where I was surprised by the n...

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann, Dodge and Lorna Engleman and Bill and Esther Adsett met on Altos de Cerro Azul for some midday birdwatching. Species seen included Barred Hawk, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Violet-capped Hummingbird, Spot-crowned Barbet and a pair of Blue-fronted Parrotlets that might have been looking for a nest site.

The PAS fieldtrip to Summit Ponds had lots of interesting sightings. A large flock of migrating Swainson's Hawks included one dark-phase individual. A single Philadelphia Vireo was also seen feeding on an Indio Desnudo Tree. The highligt was the return of the Capped Herons: two were seen on the far shore of the pond on the right. The Boat-billed Herons were also there.

Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann spent the afternoon shorebirding at Panamá Viejo. The mudflats between the IPAT building and the old stables had a big flock of shorebirds, and a few gulls and terns. The highlight was a Dunlin, picked out from the nearby Western Sandpipers by its larger size and differently shaped bill. The same mudflat also had a Long-billed Curlew, possibly the same bird seen there on the Christmas Bird Count. There were plenty of Whimbrels nearby for direct comparison, so picking it out was especially easy. There were large numbers of sandpipers, plovers and dowitchers, and a large flock of Surfbirds had a Red Knot molting into breeding plumage. The gulls were mostly Laughing Gulls, but there was one Ring-billed and one Herring Gull.

Bill Porteous reports seeing a pair of Crimson-bellied Woodpeckers foraging in the undergrowth along a trail on the road to Altos de Pacora, beyond the entrance to Altos de Cerro Azul. On the same day he also saw six species of Tangara tanagers: Plain-colored, Emerald, Speckled, Bay-headed, Rufous-winged and Golden-hooded.

Delicia, Pedro and Darién Montañez saw a female Snail Kite eating a snail on a fencepost by the main entrance to El Rincón de Santa María. An ANAM park ranger said that it has been around for about a month. This is, to my knowledge, the second report from Azuero of the species. The flock of Lesser Scaup was not at the Ciénaga, and neither were the Caspian Terns. The Scaup were still there on wednesday (Feb 16), though. Francisco Delgado reports American Oystercatchers at Isla Iguana, possibly the first time they've been seen there. Also, he found a Gray-breasted Crake dead-on-the-road at Playa Blanca, and a Forster's Tern at El Agallito. On February 20, a brief morning visit to the road that goes into the mangroves at the right from El Agallito produced an even briefer sighting of a female Common Ground-Dove. Also, a White-winged Dove made a fly-by appearance.

Bill Porteous and Indra Candanedo spent the weekend on the Azuero Peninsula and sent a report on some interesting sightings: Aplomado Falcon. An adult, possibly 2, or the same bird seen twice. First seen on Friday 11 Feb hunting over a recently cut cane field just south of Divisa on the road to Chitré. Then on Sunday 13 Feb perched on a utility tower just west of Aguadulce by the side of the Panamerican Highway. These two sites are quite close together, which is why I think it may be the same bird. Caspian Tern. Two, with Gull-billed Terns, at the Ciénaga de las Macanas in Herrera, on 13 Feb. We watched both of them for some time as they flew around near the observation tower. The all-dark crown and thick, dark red bill were well seen as was the obvious dark tip on the underwing formed by the dark outer primaries. There was a flock of about 45 Lesser Scaup there as well. Prairie Warbler. An adult male in good plumage. This one was in a patch of mangrove 24Km west of Pedasí on the road ...

Peter Burke sent in a few interesting reports from a visit to Central Panama in Early February. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: an adult female along the first 2km of Pipeline Road, Feb. 8. Stripe-throated Wren: an adult at Nusagandi with a foraging flock of mainly antwrens, Feb. 5. We both had extensive looks at the bird for a couple of minutes. Several hundred Dickcissels at the Tocumen Airport, February 1. There were probably many hundreds more as we only stayed for 15 minutes and they were passing overhead with great frequency in large groups. This flight occurred at 5:00pm or so.

Today Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann and Darién and Camilo Montañez stopped by the Bohío Turístico at noon, where the gulls forage in the mudflats at low tide. Try as we did, we did not see the Gray Gull, but had an interesting sighting anyways. Standing in the mud next to a few Laughing Gulls was a gull of about the same size, but with bright yellow-orange bill and legs. The back and wings were uniform gray and the head and underparts were white. The ear-coverts were dark gray, and the nape was also gray, ligter than the back. The wing-tips appeared to be black, as was the tail. So, in fewer words, the plumage was that of a Laughing Gull in winter. When the bird took flight the wing pattern was observed to be, also, like the one a Laughing Gull. So, our best guess is that this was an aberrant individual. In fact Peter Harrison's "Seabirds, an identification guide", says that the Laughing Gull has been "recorded with anomalous bare parts colours". So now you have two...