Laura's Big Adventures: Panama

ALL the birds

One of the reasons we chose to go to Panama was to see some cool birds! And we did! I kept track as well as I could of the birds we saw in various places, and I'm going to share those now here. We didn't get pictures of most of them, so I will share our own pictures when I can (some are not very good), and sometimes I'll share links from Cornell Lab of Ornithology's eBird website. I will repeat birds that I saw in the different parts of Panama so I remember that I saw them in all those places.

Panama City area

Tricolored Heron: We saw a bunch of these guys in a tree in the French Plaza in Casco Viejo (Photo by Adam)

Social Flycatcher: In a different tree, also in the French Plaza (Photo by Adam)

Great-tailed Grackle: These guys were everywhere. They were amazing to hear at first, but quickly became fairly annoying to hear all the time. (Photo by Laura)

Blue-gray Tanager: Wow, what a beauty! We saw these little gems throughout the country (Photo by Adam)

Great Egret (Photo by Laura)

Clay-colored Thrush: Basically the tropical American Robin. (Photo by Laura)

This sign is for birds you could see at the Punta Culebra nature center. We saw many of them: #3- Isthmian Wren, #4- Crimson-backed Tanager (My favorite bird of the trip!) #5 - Garden Emerald, #6- Great-tailed Grackle, #9-Black Vulture, #10- Yellow-headed Caracara, #11- Great Kiskadee, #12- Clay-colored Thrush

Yellow-crowned Night Heron: Just hanging in a tree with a sloth (Photo by Laura)

Saffron Finch: Look at this little beauty! (Photo by Laura)

Keel-billed Toucan! This was the bird spotted by Adam as we were packing up to leave Panama City. I assumed we'd see so many more of them, but we never did. (Photo by Adam)

Pale-vented Pigeon

Spotted Sandpiper

Laughing Gull

Tropical Mockingbird

Baltimore Oriole

Magnificent Frigatebird

Yellow-green Vireo

Osprey

Variable Seedeater

Gamboa/Pipeline Road area

We hired a bird guide, Clarivel, for a morning of bird watching. MANY of these birds were spotted and identified by her and we just went, "oooo!"

Great Tinamou

Black-bellied Whistling Duck

Brown Pelican

Anhinga

Magnificent Frigatebird

Great Blue Heron

Green Heron

Striated Heron

Turkey Vulture

Rufescent Tiger-Heron (Photo by Adam)

Bat Falcon - This photo is from eBird. The one we saw was sitting almost just like this, but we didn't get a picture! I think this is a gorgeous raptor!!

Greater Ani (Photo by Adam)

White-necked Jacobin- this hummingbird was sitting on this twig guarding his personal hummingbird feeder at the Discovery Center that he didn't let any other hummingbird use! (Photo by Laura)

Blue-chested Hummingbird. I know you can't really see the hummingbird there on the feeder, this picture is also meant to just give an idea of the setup at the Discovery Center. Several feeders were hanging on the porch like this. (Photo by Laura)

Here's a nice picture of a Blue-chested Hummingbird (Photo by Adam)

Slaty-tailed Trogon: Saw this cool bird at the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center (Photo by Adam)

Whooping Motmot: Our bird of the trip! This cool bird sits nice and still, hiding nearby, and then lets out a gentle 'whoop' now and then. It's so beautiful, and look at that tail! We loved the whoop, too. (Photo by Laura)

Long-billed Hermit

Ringed Kingfisher

Wattled Jacana

Fasciated Antshrike

Red-crowned Woodpecker

Cinnamon Woodpecker

Plain-brown Woodcreeper

Black-striped Woodcreeper

Barred Woodcreeper

Black-crowned Antshrike (Photo by Adam)

Barred Antshrike (Female) (Photo by Adam)

Barred Antshrike (Male) (Photo by Adam)

Spotted Antbird (male) (Photo by Adam)

Crimson-backed Tanager! This was my favorite small bird of the trip. It's so beautiful!

Here's a photo from eBird. Still doesn't even do justice to how beautiful this bird is when it's flitting around in the green leaves.

Blue-gray Tanager

Golden-hooded Tanager

Gray-headed Tanager

Variable Seedeater

Orchard Oriole

Yellow-rumped Cacique

Shiny Cowbird

Ocellated Antbird

Bicolored Antbird

Dot-winged Antwren

Bright-rumped Attila

Common Tody-Flycatcher

Great Kiskadee

Boat-billed Flycatcher

Social Flycatcher

Cinnamon Becard

Tropical Kingbird

Purple-throated Fruitcrow

Golden-collared Manakin

Velvety Manakin

Southern House Wren

Buff-Breasted Wren

Clay-colored Thrush

Tennessee Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Chastnut-sided Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

White-shouldered Tanager

Boquete area

These are the birds we saw on our hike up the Pipeline Road, and around the grounds at Finca Lerida.

Purple-throated Mountain Gem

Golden-olive Woodpecker

Ochraceous Wren

Black-and-White Warbler

Slate-throated Redstart

Yellow-faced Grassquit

Lesser Violetear

Silver-throated Tanager

Rufous-collared Sparrow

Flame-colored Tanager (male) - These beauties were flying around right in front of our hotel room, and even landed on chairs right by us in restaurants! This photo is from eBird.

Three-wattled Bellbird (male) - Look at this crazy bird! They also have a crazy call. This photo is from eBird. These are some really special birds to see!

El Valle area

Gray-headed Chachalaca (Photo by Laura)

Blue-headed Parrot. Wowwww!! (Photo by Laura)

Western Cattle-Egrets: These guys were all hanging out in a big open field in the neighborhood of our hotel in El Valle. (Photo by Laura)

Tropical Mockingbird (Photo by Adam)

Lesson's Motmot! This guy and our bird of the trip, the Whooping Motmot, used to be one species. They look very similar. This guy was waiting for us when we were hiking up Los Duendes and I needed a break from hiking straight up a mountain. (Photo by Adam)

Southern House Wren

Great-tailed Grackle

Great Kiskadee

Glue-gray Tanager

Yellow-faced Grassquit

Long-billed Starthroat

Southern Lapwing

Bananaquit

Los Duendes

A man we passed on the trail to India Dormida recommended Los Duendes as a place to go birding- turns out it is an eco lodge at the edge of town, and we just walked in their front gate and got some cool birds! Here are the birds we saw there:

Gray-cowled Wood-Rail- These guys run around in the mud and wetlands. We heard them and caught a glimpse of them outside our hotel in the morning, and then saw them again at Los Duendes. Go to eBird and listen to the crazy sounds they make!