Darien Lowlands Clean-up!

Darien, of eastern Panama, is the largest and less-developed province of the country, home of great biodiversity, including tons of endemics and regional specialties found nowhere else in North America.  That is why, if you are doing a Panama (or Central America) Big Year you MUST include several trips to this province.  I covered well the highlands of the province with their hordes of endemics (see field trips posts HERE and HERE), getting some lowlands species as well in the same trips plus other trips with specific targets (like my flash trip to Finca Los Lagos)... but I still needed some lowlands specialties of the province.  So, I contacted Domiciano "Domi" Alveo, of Birding Trips Panama, an experienced bird guide and good friend of mine, to take me to the eastern lowlands in search of those targets.

Because I'm always short of time, we planned a weekend trip leaving Panama City Friday afternoon.  Leaving the city on Friday afternoon is a mess, but somehow we managed it without too much delay.  The 4-hours trip to the town of Metetí was more enjoyable with Domi's company ... we talked about the possibilities that awaited us all the way, and we even had time to spy an Striped Owl on the side of the road.  We got to our hotel at Metetí on time to sleep right away!

Striped Owl

Very early the next day, at first light we were boarding our "piragua" at the town of La Peñita, along the Chucunaque river.  Our destination was the Embera village of Nuevo Vigía, along the Tuquesa river, a tributary of the Chucunaque river.  This community has received visiting birders and naturalists since a while ago and are  well aware of the benefits of the sustainable tourism activities.  It became clearly evident that they know their birds... after all, where can you see a Welcome Sign with Dusky-backed Jacamar on it?

Domi and our boatman on the piragua along the mighty Chucunaque river

"Welcome to the community of Nuevo Vigía"

In fact, the Dusky-backed Jacamar was my main target for the site.  This range-restricted species is only found in eastern Panama and north-western Colombia.  It is quite localized, but usually faith to known locations where it is quite reliable... but you need the local expertise to find them anyway.  A short boat ride took us to a former orchard, now overgrown.  We immediately started to find some eastern Panama specialties, like Capped Heron, Spectacled Parrotlet, Black-tailed Trogon, Double-banded Graytail and Black Oropendola.  Soon Domi located our target: a young male Dusky-backed Jacamar was quietly waiting for its prey to fly-by.  Nice start!  Soon we moved to another locality, this time closer to the village.  The trail took us through secondary forests and degraded areas, to finally reach a swampy area where we looked after Black-collared Hawk without success; however, we got the most amazing views of secretive Bare-crowned Antbirds in the understore.  The pair, but specially the adult male, left us astonished while they confidently stayed in the open, preening and showing off.  Believe me or not, that was my second sight ever of this species and a great addition to my Year List!

Dusky-backed Jacamar

Adult male Bare-crowned Antbird showing its bare crown!

But there were not only avian highlights in Nuevo Vigía.  The open areas and the village itself were exceptionally good for butterflies, including rare and restricted species.  The whites, yellows, sulfurs and patches were exceptionally common, but the diversity was so high that I'm still trying to ID some of them.  My personal highlights were the Glorious Blue-Skipper (Paches loxus), the Zebra Lonwing (Heliconius charithonia) and my long-expected lifer Red Peacock (Anartia amathea) which is an specialty of eastern Panama.

Glorious Blue-Skipper

Zebra Longwing

Red Peacock

Short before midday, we left Nuevo Vigía in order to visit some sites along the Pan-American highway.  The short stops along the road produced more and more eastern Panama specialties, but certainly the highlights were a singing Red-billed Scythebill and a pair of dueting Black-capped Donacobius allowing great views.  Other highlights of these stops along the highway were Yellow-hooded Blackbirds, Large-billed Seed-Finch, Pied Water-Tyrants, Gray-breasted Crake and a mixed flock with rare White-chinned and Spot-fronted Swifts among others (check this eBird checklist).

Red-billed Scythebill

Black-capped Donacobius

Yellow-hooded Blackbird, adult male

Eventually, we reached the town of Yaviza, at the very end of the Pan-American highway.  This town is the gateway to Darien National Park and to hundreds of communities only reachable through piraguas.  We had lunch there and then spend the part of the afternoon looking for some other species.  The usual stakeout for Bicolored Wren (the graveyard) worked well... we saw a family group near its huge nest foraging at all levels and taking dust baths.  They have certainly prospered in the place, the same as the Carib Grackles that were quite common at town.  In fact, we saw more Caribs than Great-tailed Grackles and even saw juveniles and begging immatures all around.

Bicolored Wrens

Carib Grackle, female

It was a successful and long day, but was not over.  A good friend of us, also an expert birding guide resident in Darien, invited us a cup of coffee at his house.  Ismael "Nando" Quiroz (of Tamandua Nature & Photo Travel Panama) is almost a legend in the birding world of Darien and we know each other since long time ago, so paying him and his beautiful family a visit was a must.  Nando was free that weekend and agreed to join us the next day... I still had some targets and he knew some nice spots where we could try for them.  For some reason, I mentioned that I still needed Tropical Screech-Owl for my Year List... Nando knew a nearby spot where it was guaranteed.  Of course, we jumped into the car and started to drive.  Soon, a curious screech-owl was in the spotlight, perched along a live fence bordering pastureland with thousands of fireflies... what a show!

Tropical Screech-Owl

As planned, we met Nando again for breakfast the next day.  We visited several sites, including famous ones like the roads to Lajas Blancas and to El Salto, finding many eastern Panama specialties (and Year birds) like Red-throated Caracara, Barred Puffbird, Orange-crowned Oriole, White-eared Conebill, among others.  But for my main target of the trip, Nando took us to some rice fields by Quebrada Félix.  Of the five species of macaws in Panama, four of them are found in Darien province and, for some reason, one of them have eluded me all these years.  Supposedly common, the Chestnut-fronted Macaw is the smallest of the macaws found in the country.  Probably bad luck or simply short time birding the appropriate habitat explains why I still needed that bird for my Panama list, but I was decided to add it to my lists this year... so was Nando.  Soon, he heard a pair flying across the field and I was finally able to put my binoculars on them.  They were far away... but eventually we got much better views of other individuals (but no better photos).

Chestnut-fronted Macaws

With most of our targets in the bag, and running out of time, we said good-bye to Nando and started our journey back to Panama City.  Birding can not be easier when you have two excellent guides by your side.  Thanks guys for the GREAT weekend.  I recommend both for them if you want to visit Darien province of eastern Panama..., please don't hesitate to contact them!

Great White Longtail (Urbanus chalco) at Nando's backyard!

One-day expedition to Darien

Darien is the easternmost, largest and less developed province of Panama, with a rich biodiversity, including hundreds of birds species. And now it is not indispensable to organize a huge expedition to remote areas to enjoy it... as you will read, it is enough with one day! The last weekend of september, I left Panama City the friday's afternoon with Rafael Luck and Osvaldo Quintero toward the town of Meteti, in central Darien. We only did few stops along the way, including some spots around the Bayano bridge, finding a female Cerulean Warbler with a mixed flock and a nice Crimson-crested Woodpecker drilling a hole in a dead trunk. In Meteti, we contacted our local guide, Daniel Santos by recommendation of Venicio "Beny" Wilson who told us about the several new birding spots along the Panamerican highway and the highlights he found recently (you can read it on his report to Xenornis). A very early breakfast the next day in town (with tons of House Sparrows waiting for the breadcrumbs) and we were ready for action. We picked up Daniel along the way and immediately he showed us the first birding spot: a marshy area beyond the town of Betzaida. The place was alive with birds, with both Smooth-billed and Greater Anis inspecting the bushes, Cattle Egrets following -you guessed it- the cattle, adult and juvenile Purple Gallinules inspecting the rushes and a pair of Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks flying over the marsh. We also heard the first, of many, Gray-breasted Crakes, but they were hidden in the thick vegetation. We drove a little farther to the east and took a side road with the entrance marked by a cow's skull. Immediately, in the dirt road we saw several Red-breasted Blackbirds very low, the males exhibiting the rather dull non-reproductive plumage, and a Cattle Tyrant walking in the open. There are few reports of Cattle Tyrants from Darien, including the very first one for Panama in Cana many years ago, so it was a delightful find. Each time we approached the bird, it flew to a low tree by the side of the road, where it looked like a kingbird. We visited exactly the same site at least four more times and we found the bird each time in the same place. The tyrant was not the only highlight of that road. We also saw several Pied Water-Tyrants, one (probably more) Spectacled Parrotlet and a White-tailed Kite eating a lizard, but the best was about to come. Close to the entrance, we heard the characteristic tinkling song of several Gray-breasted Crakes. Osvaldo started to play the call with his i-phone and then an adult Gray-breasted Crake came to the open for five seconds to inspect us!!! A HUGE lifer for me and for Rafael, who managed to took the photo I'm showing here. You can't imagine how many times I have been close to singing individuals without having a glimpse of the bird! Very happy with the encounter, we drove back to the first marsh, when suddenly, I spotted a bird atop some bare branches next to the road... a male Yellow-hooded Blackbird!!! Osvaldo took a quick blurry shot of the bird from inside the car, but the blackbird didn't wait for the rest of us, and flew very high in the distance. This species is a recent addition to Panama's list, but it was Beny who first reported it in that part of the province. It was not a lifer for me, since I saw a male a couple of years ago in El Real (farther east), but it was for Rafael and Osvaldo. It was around 10:00 A.M. and the sun was very high and hot already. We drove back towards Meteti, picking up along the way some interesting species like Spot-crowned Barbet, Orange-crowned Oriole, Yellow-breasted Flycatcher and a nice Striped Cuckoo singing its heart out. We stopped at a little marsh outside the town of Nuevo Bijao. It was tiny, VERY close to the highway and the place was so hot that we had little expectatives. But then Daniel saw a male Yellow-hooded Blackbird flying just over the marsh just to drop into it suddenly! Only Daniel saw it... but it was enough for us to spent a couple of more minutes inspecting it. Despite the heat, we started to see and hear nice birds eventually. Inspecting the distant trees at the edge of the marsh, we discovered a lonely Limpkin perched quietly quite low while an adult Pearl Kite was trying to escape of the trio of Tropical Kingbirds harassing him. We heard both Gray-breasted and White-throated Crakes side-by-side and saw a bunch of migrant Orchard Oriole and Yellow Warbler. But the real surprise came later. At the edge of the marsh, we got a pair of Black-capped Donacobius preening! Despite the distance, the amount of white, both in the tail and wings, was pretty obvious. After asking for permission to the owners of the adjacent ranch house, all of us climbed up (OK, some crawled) the barbed wire fence to have closer looks. With the aid of Osvaldo's i-phone, the birds approached enough to have excellent views (but not excellent photos as you can see). These birds are unique, and the show they perform while duetting is amazing! However, while enjoying the Donacobius, we did saw several males Yellow-hooded Blackbirds flying over the place... I even saw one perched among the tall grass for few seconds after it landed. We left Nuevo Bijao and visited the Fundación Vida Nueva at the entrance road to El Salto. The foundation keeps an extensive forest which harbors many Darien specialties... but it was almost noon when we reached the place, and the only birds we saw were Collared Aracaris, Black-chested Jays and a pair of Black-cheeked Woodpeckers (the "USE BOOTS" sign is justified, the trails were VERY muddy). We left Daniel at his home and left Darien after an excellent birding, with a huge list full of eastern Panama specialties and after spending only one morning!

Bird of the month: Black-capped Donacobius

The Black-capped Donacobius (Donacobius atricapilla) is an enigmatic resident of marshy areas and grassy river banks in eastern Panama and most of South America (to northern Argentina). Its real affinities are unclear, being classified as a mockingbird, a wren, incertae sedis (meaning "not classified at all!") and, lately, as the sole member of its own family (Donacobiidae), probably related to an Old World group of warblers! The thing is that this fascinating bird resembles all of them. It is sized and shaped as a mockingbird, but performs loud duets while calling, like some wrens species. Also like some wrens, it is a cooperative breeder, meaning that individuals other than the breeding pair help them to feed the youngs and to protect their territory. Probably we saw one of these "helpers" during our last trip to central Darien province (eastern Panama) where we saw a pair of these splendid birds making the duetted performance accompanied always by a third individual (top photo). Seeing a pair of these birds duetting is an extraordinaire experience, with their loud calls reminiscent of a car alarm (seriously!) and their asynchronic, but rhytmical movements while exposing the patch of orange skin at the sides of their necks. Unlike any wren, they make cup-like nests among the reeds. Panama is the extreme end of its world range, and I have to say that we are very fortunate to have such a beauty as part of our avifauna. For these, and many others reasons is why we choose the Black-capped Donacobius as our bird of the month!

This post was submitted to Bird Photography Weekly # 140. Check it out!

Literature consulted:

1. Angehr GR, Dean R. The Birds of Panama. A field guide. First edition 2010.

2. Remsen JV, et al. A classification of the birds species of South America. Version: 31-march-2011. American Ornithologists Union.

3. Roberson D. Birds Families of the World: Donacobius page. 10th edition.

Easter holidays in Darien. Part II

After a long traveling day, the morning of friday 22th caught us (Rafael, José Carlos, Mahelis, Gloriela and your blogger host) in our way to the Embera village of Nuevo Vigía, in the margins of the mighty Chuqunaque river... but due to supposed securities issues, the authorities at Puerto Peñita didn't let us continue upriver in order to visit the site. So bad, after spending half morning trying to convince them, we realized that it was useless, so we decided to move to another site, (seeing an Orange-crowned Oriole as consolation prize) also in the margins of the Chuqunaque river near the town of El Salto, where Venicio "Beny" Wilson, George Angehr and others documented, probably for the first time, a nest of a Double-banded Graytail, an enigmatic ovenbird only found in eastern Panama and northern Colombia. We hired the services of a local guide, Daniel Santos, who took us to the site of the nest and through secondary forest and pastureland looking for one of the main targets of the trip (more on that later). The nest was a globular structure as described by Beny, but from a different angle, it looked like a oven (or like a donut?). No birds were seen then, so we followed Daniel, hearing Yellow-breasted Flycatchers in several places, seeing some of them eventually. You can see in the photo the characteristic broad bill and a little bit of ochre in the chin. Formerly known only from El Real (farther to the east) some years ago, this species have colonized most part of the Darien province in an accelerated way. The calls of Greater Anis, and the sightings of several Wood Storks in the skies announced that we were close to the required habitat of our main objective: Black-capped Donacobius. According to Daniel, the site was close to the margins of the river, but we started hiking inland under a merciless sun with Daniel saying every each stretch of road "only 200 meters away". After several "200 meters", we finally reached a very wet, muddy place, finding at least three Green Ibis flying away while making their loud cacophony. We were at the margins of a little marsh, covered in lilies, mud and water all the way to the ankles. At first glance, nothing moved. José Carlos played the recording and we wait for a while... nothing. Then, Daniel found a curious Black-capped Donacobius inspecting us atop some lilies in the opposite margin of the marsh! Then two others birds appeared! The three of them eventually got closer to us, stopping to sing in a duetting fashion, while "dancing" rhytmically, bouncing their heads while fanning their tails from one side to another: magnificent! In the meanwhile others birds appeared. A nice Spot-breasted Woodpecker, with its contrasting white face, was calling above us while an immature Tiger-Heron was quietly perched on a Cecropia tree inspecting us as curiously as we inspected the Donacobius. I have to admit that I need help with this bird. We can exclude Fasciated Tiger-Heron by habitat (can we?), but the others two species can be found in that habitat (open marshes close to forest). Now, according to Angehr & Dean (2010), the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron is not expected away from the coast in that part of Panama and, considering the buffy spots in the wings, making a clear band effect not found in such species, my diagnosis is Rufescent Tiger-Heron. It was to hot to saw anything, so we left Daniel at his home and went back to Meteti to have lunch and to rest a little at the hotel. In the afternoon we went back to the site, checking again the Double-banded Graytail's nest without luck, but finding a flock of Spectacled Parrotlets, the smallest psittacid in Panama, and a specialty for this part of the country. We first heard their sweet chattering calls, very different from any other parakeet or parrotlet in Panama, and then saw at least six individuals, two of them probably looking nesting sites. An excellent end for our first day of full birding in Darien. For the next (and last) day we planned a visit to the Serranía Filo del Tallo Hydrological Reserve... click here to read about it!

Fieldtrip to El Real, Darien. Part II

Saturday morning caught us early having our breakfast at Doña Lola's. The weather forecast was not good, the sky was completely gray, with an imminent threat of rain. It prevented me to carry my camera, but not to keep ongoing our adventure. Actually, the only shot I got of a bird is that of a rooster in the middle of one street in El Real before it starts to rain (just a drizzle, but I didn't wanted to take any risk). We took an arranged pick-up (courtesy of Guido Berguido from Advantage Tours) and headed to Pirre 1 through pastures and nice forest patches. We saw (and heard) the first Yellow-breasted Flycatcher of the trip, a Laughing Falcon and a Crane Hawk. At the end of the road, in the little town of Pirre 1, we got a Capped Heron, a pair of Spot-breasted and Red-rumped Woodpeckers, and a pair of Pied Puffbirds excavating a nest very close to the road, for the delight of those with cameras (that means, not me).

The trail to Rancho Frío, a ranger station in the Darien National Park, was wide and muddy... and I mean very muddy. The first part is through secondary forest patches and open areas before it enters the primary forest. Soon we found a mixed flock that kept us animated. Yellow-breasted and Yellow-margined Flycatchers, Bananaquit and White-shouldered Tanagers delighted us while feeding high in the canopy. Then, I spotted a little yellowish tanager with a gray belly. It wasn't until we saw a male Yellow-backed Tanager when I confirmed my initial I.D. Later in the day we got closer looks of this Darien specialty in association with orioles, tityras, becards, other tanagers and flycatchers. My life Pale-bellied Hermit was chasing a Rufous-breasted and then perched at a ridiculous shooting range for a minute or so (only happens when I'm not carrying my camera). Inside the forest the activity was low, but still we managed to found Black-breasted and White-whiskered Puffbirds, Blue Cotinga, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Bright-rumped Attilas, Crested Oropendola and even a perched male Green-crowned Woodnymph that allowed us to study it in detail. After many hours of slow motion walk on the muddy trail, we decided to return (not before a rapid dive in the Peresenico river) to have our packed lunch. We had an uneventfull drive back to El Real, where we met Guido and his group. In the stretch of road between the pumphouse and the water tank we found 4 different woodpeckers (Red-crowned, Red-rumped, Spot-breasted and Crimson-crested), tons of seedeaters (Variable and Ruddy-breasted), more anis, and many more. We walked to the airstrip finding the bird of the trip (at least for me, thanks Guido): a pair of singing Black-capped Donacobius. I don't know what impressed me more: the beautiful contrast of the black, brown and buffy tones, the expressive yellow iris, the loud voice or the choreography that they monted whenever they were singing antiphonally. What a spectacular pair of birds... and everything within ten or 15 feet (and my camera?). The day ended with four lifers, plus a Panama life bird.

Next (last) day we tried the Pinogana road. This one is a more open road than the Pirre one, also in good conditions. The more open areas produced such birds like the White-necked Puffbird and the Roadside Hawk pictured above (I brought my camera), plus lots of commoner birds. New birds for the trip were the female Black Antshrike working in the tangles at the first part of the road and a group of Gray-headed Chachalacas. We got better looks of the Laughing Falcon, Crane Hawk, Yellow-breasted Flycatcher and the Black Oropendolas (not the best picture, but the only one I managed and I think it is recognizable). Then we moved to the airstrip trying again for the Donacobius, but only heard it far away (I brought my camera). We saw again the Large-billed Seed-Finches, but no Yellow-hooded Blackbirds this time. We had our mid-morning breakfast (after seeing a Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher in a tree over the restaurant in the middle of the town and an inmature male Lesser Goldfinch over the hospital) and then, back to our hotel to pack our things. We had a dry ride to Yaviza where we finished the fieldtrip with a big smile in our faces, after seeing lots of birds and always remembering those Donacobius dancing for us. I didn't had a chance for a picture. Good excuse to return.

Only one last thing. On route we stopped in Metetí (central Darien) in a gas station to fill the tank. We saw several individuals of House Sparrow there. For sure I'm not the first one that have seen this bird in Darien, but it is seldom reported (if reported at all). So I got some pictures!