Xenornis

While counting for the Global Big Day on May 13, Jorge Herrera found a small group of Saffron Finch in Pacora. Although this is not the easternmost record on eBird, it shows that the species is slowly but seedily making its way in that general direction.

Dr. Osvaldo Quintero photographed this Brown Noddy on the mudflats at Panamá Viejo on the afternoon of Saturday May 13.

Dwarf Cuckoo (Coccycua pumila) - Reported Mar 28, 2017 13:25 by Angela Dillingham - Rio Torti, Panamá - Checklist: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S35506340 © Colin Dillingham Photo by Colin Dillingham. Bird identified by Colin and Angela Dillingham immediately after Colin spotted it, he showed it to Angela, and then later Jose Carlos Garcia, Francisco Denhaale, Euclides Campos, Shailesh Pinto and two other members of our tour group (Larry and Bonnie). It landed in the trees on the south side of the access road. Then it worked its way east down the fence row of trees. A fork-tailed flycatcher was chasing it for a while. It was a small cuckoo, with a dark bill with a decurved tip. It had a gray face and crown, with rufous throat and neck. There was a strong contrast between the rufous chest and cream colored belly. Legs were gray and eyes were red. Tail was gray with outer retrices shorter than central retrices. The tail feathers had thick dark subterminal tail ba...

[Firstly, the editor apologizes profusely for sitting on this record, which sat forgotten in my inbox for two months. Now back to our programming.] I managed to do a little birding while in Boquete for New Year's. We stayed for 2 nights in a cabin by the waterfall trails above Boquete. Next to the cabin was a Hermit Warbler seen both the evening of Jan 3, and the morning of Jan 4.  I believe it was an adult male. The bird had a black throat, which I believe indicates a male, white underparts with no streaks, a yellow face with a slight indistinct dusky postocular mark. When first seen the evening of Jan 3 I could not note the back color. The next morning it popped up in the hillside scrub, later moving to a nearby pine, where better views were obtained.The back was gray with some dark streaking, and there was some black spotting on the crown. There were 2 white wing bars, and the in flight there were notable white flashes in the tail.  The vent did not have the yellow wash typ...

From 8 to 10 Feb we, Howard Laidlaw, Margot, Jaap and Roanna Kalkman and Kees Groenendijk went to the cloud forest of the Cerro Hoya NP, more or less due south of the finca of Juan Velázques. Here we found Selasphorus hummingbirds on three different sites on two diffrent days (8 and 9 Feb). Sites were 1175-1266 m altitude and the hummingbirds were feeding in flowering Inga species and in an unidentified treelet known locally as arriján. We saw at least 5 individuals of which at least one was male.  Based on the color of the gorget of the male, closer to purple than to red, we assume that these are Glow-throated Hummingbirds , which would be consistent with an earlier observation by Francisco Delgado. To our knowledge, this is the first time since the reports by Delgado that this hummingbird has been seen in the Cerro Hoya. [There have been other records by University of Panama/STRI expeditions to the area; manuscript submitted for publication —DM]. Photos are courtesy of Jaa...

On February 3rd, a Forster's Tern was observed near the mouth of the Changuinola River, resting with a group of Royal Terns on a birding tour organized by Let's go Birding and Wildside Nature Tour, led by Glenn Crawford, based at Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge. Photos by Brooke Miller.

On the afternoon of Friday, October 25, Domiciano Alveo found a Spot-breasted Woodpecker  at the Ammo Ponds in Gamboa. The bird was calling and responded well to his whistling.

On the morning of October 10th, during a birding trip to the Bocas del Toro mainland, with a group based at Tranquilo Bay Eco Adventure Lodge, we observed a Jabiru ( Jabiru mycteria ) in the Chiriqui Grande area. That same day we observed a hawk migration, several thousands of Broad-winged Hawks ( Buteo platipterus ) and Swainson’s Hawks ( Buteo swainsoni ) and a few hundred Turkey Vultures ( Cathartes aura ).

Two Hudsonian Godwit were seen at Finca Bayano on Tuesday, October 25.  Other birds of interst: 3 Long-billed Dowitcher, several Pectoral Sandpiper, 1 White-rumped Sandpiper, 1 Kildeer.  Alexis Guevara was also present during this sighting.

Gwen Keller spotted this Inca Dove at her Las Cumbres backyard this morning. It seems today was first record for Panama day.

Jan Axel Cubilla and Osvaldo Quintero found this weird sandpiper at Finca Bayano today. If it turns out to be a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper , it could be the second record in Latin America ( there's a 2014 record from Bolivia ) of this Asian shorebird. And what's a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper? Audubon explains : This Asian shorebird is related to our Pectoral Sandpiper, and like that species is it a long-distance migrant, traveling from Siberia to Australia and New Zealand. A few reach North America every year, mostly fall migrants in Alaska and the Pacific northwest; a casual stray in other areas, rare in spring. And where was it? Jan Axel explains: en los campos semi inundados en el camino detrás de las instalaciones de mantenimiento y de la pista de aterrizaje Their eBird checklist has all the details : *mega. If accepted, first report for Panama (and Central America). Similar size to nearby Pectoral Sandpiper but more pot-bellied and short-necked. Contrasting chest...

3 Buhítos Pardos , ( Unspotted Saw-Whet Owl — Aegolius ridgwayi ) fueron vistos y fotografiados cerca de la cima del volcán Barú en la noche del 14 de octubre por un equipo de guias de observación de aves entre quienes destacan Raúl Velasquez, Plinio Montenegro, Rafael Gutierrez y Antonio Paniza. Esta especie de búho fue colectada una única vez en las faldas del Volcán Barú en febrero de 1965 y nunca había sido fotografiada en Panamá. En 2013, el conductor de autos de apoyo hacia la cima del volcán, Ronny Gutierrez, vio un búho “diferente” a orilla de calle. Le comento a su hermano, Rafael Gutierrez, fotógrafo y guía de observadores de aves, quien organizo una primera expedición en busca del Buhíto Pardo en noviembre de 2013 la cual no dio con rastros del búho. En diciembre de 2013 Jason Fidorra y Lena Ware logran ver y grabar esta rarísima especie de búho. Una de las pocas grabaciones recientes del búho puede ser escuchada en este enlace de Xeno Canto . En marzo de 2015 J...