Visiting Escudo and Rio Cañas

Escudo de Veraguas is an isolated island in the Caribbean coast of the Ngöbe-Bugle comarca in western Panama, re-known by its remoteness, pristine beaches, mangrove canals and rock formations.  My wife and I visited it twice before, more than 10 years ago, before it became the touristic boom it is today.  Apart of the landscapes, the island is a living lab where different species have flourished isolated from mainland relatives and, in some cases, becoming distinct species.

Lizette, Jan Axel, Gabrielle and Gloriela at Chiriqui Grande

We took advantage of one of those organized tours that ran during weekends by Machoemonte, starting at the coastal town of Chiriqui Grande.  Aboard the boat, twelve of us (including Gloriela and Gabrielle) started the adventure to the remote island.  It was not a birding trip per se, but there was another birder in the group, Lizette, who is an ebirder too!  The trip to Escudo from Chiriqui Grande takes almost two hours through both calm (at the Chiriquí Lagoon) and rough waters (after passing the Valiente Peninsula).  We reached the island close to noon since we departed late due to rain and bad weather  conditions... but by the time we reached the island the sky was blue and the heat made us jump right away to the turquoise waters.

Right at the beach we were able to watch some early migrants and common residents of the island.  I was particularly interested in finding resident White-crowned Pigeon and Escudo Hummingbird.  The pigeon is rare everywhere else... only in Escudo de Veraguas (for Panama) is almost a guaranteed sight.  The hummingbird is still considered by many authorities part of Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, but Panama Audubon Society treat it as an endemic species... one with a tiny range (restricted to the island).  Both would be new year-birds for me.  To my surprise, both were right at the first beach we visited!

White-crowned Pigeon (file photo)

Escudo Hummingbird

I know the hummingbird photo is horrible... but you only need to imagine a plumeleteer-sized Rufous-tailed Hummingbird after all!  Of course we saw more species on the island, including endemic forms of Blue-gray Tanager and Bay Wren... but I took few photos since this was more a beach trip.  After having lunch, we visited other sites around the island, including the mangroves channels and a rocky cove with an arch formation that is popular among the visitors.  It was at the mangroves were our boatman pointed out a sleepy Pygmy Sloth (Bradipus pygmaeus), endemic to the island and considered critically endangered.

Pygmy Sloth

It was a great day at Escudo enjoying the sun and the breeze, plus finding endemic birds and mammals as well, but our time there was limited.  We arranged to stay that night at the Ngöbe town of Río Cañas, in mainland comarca facing the island.  It was around 5:00 pm when we started to head that way.  In the middle of the transect, a swift black-and-white shearwater flew by the boat.  It allowed great views and I saw evident dark vent and noticed it small size: Audubon's Shearwater!  A lifer for both Lizette and me (and certainly for most of the passengers too).  There are very few records of this species in Panama, even considering that -supposedly- breeds in some rocky islets in Valiente Peninsula (close to my sighting).  My camera was inside a plastic bag deep in my backpack of course!  When we finally arrived to Río Cañas, a representative of the local women's cooperative welcomed us and guided us to our rooms.  They have a little community project to receive local and foreign tourists.  After a tasty dinner, we enjoyed a demonstration of typical dances (all inspired in local fauna) and handcrafts.  That night, away of the electric lights, we enjoyed a starred sky and profound silence... we sleep like queens and kings with all that peace!

Ngöbe women

Adult male Olive-backed Euphonia

The next morning I keep adding new year-birds to my list: Bronzy Hermit, Olive-throated Parakeet, and Olive-backed Euphonia among others.  We left Río Cañas after breakfast, heading back to Chiriqui Grande.  But first, we planned another stop along the route at Isla Tiburón (Shark Island).  The gentle sound of the braking waves invited us to relax lying on the white and fine sand of the island.  Panama really have spectacular places with potential to compete with major destinations of the world... but at the other hand, I really liked the feeling of being in a little-known corner of paradise with my family!

Cubilla family at Isla Tiburon

More species than supposed !

I have just attended a VERY interesting lecture by Matthew Miller (of the Bermingham lab at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's -STRI- Naos Laboratory) during the Panama Audubon Society's monthly meeting in Panama City.  His first words stated that we are probably underestimating 30% of the avian diversity of our country !!!  

Many different forms of lowland birds (and surely highlands too) in Panama may represent new, sometimes cryptic, species under the biological species concept.  Birds like White-whiskered Puffbird, Ochre-bellied Flycatcher and White-breasted Wood-Wren are probably represented by more than one species within Panama... amazing!  Just check Matthew's chart on White-breasted Wood-Wren populations that exhibit almost no introgression among them (suggesting THREE different species!).

There are different ways for divergence among the new species... with some groups forming distinct, new separable species in a relatively short time by exhibiting habits and behaviors that reinforce the breeding barriers among them, as in the case of the Selasphorus Scintillant and Volcano Hummingbirds.

Volcano Hummingbird, genetically very similar to the Scintillant Hummingbird

But others  than the Selasphorus hummingbirds were the main attraction of the lecture.  First of all, he showed to us the distinctiveness, both physical and genotypically, of the Escudo Hummingbird, Amazilia handleyi.  Actually recognized as part of the widespread Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, A. tzacatl, the recognition of handleyi as a distinct, VERY range-restricted, full species would raise the conservation of tiny Escudo de Veraguas island as of high priority (the island is unprotected right now, and could hold more species new to science).

Two Amazilia handleyi at the extreme right.  Notice the larger size and general darker coloration in comparison with Amazilia tzacatl to the left

And what everybody was waiting for.... Matthew confirmed the discovery of a completely new hummingbird species for science.  In july 2011, STRI personnel collected a Lampornis hummingbird from southern Azuero Peninsula (Cerro Hoya), superficially similar to the Purple-throated Mountain-Gem (Lampornis calolaemus) of Nicaragua to central Panama.  It differs in both crown and vent coloration, you can see the difference in vent color in the next two photos of prepared skins (Venicio "Beny" Wilson's photo shows the difference in crown color here).

Lampornis sp. nov. at extreme left (two skins)

From left to righ: Lampornis sp. nov., Lampornis calolaemus and Lampornis castaneoventris

The Purple-throated Mountain-Gem distribution is interrupted by that of the White-throated Mountain-Gem (Lampornis castaneoventris) in Costa Rica and western Panama, with two separable form: cinereicauda (so far restricted to Costa Rica) and nominal castaneoventris (extreme eastern Costa Rica and western Panama)... but in the next photo of one of Matthew's slides, you can also see how genetically different are the Cerro Hoya birds from all the others members of the complex (notice that the pectoralis population of Nicaragua and northwestern Costa Rica is also very distinct from the homogenes - and calolaemus - birds from southwestern Costa Rica/Panama and northern/central Costa Rica respectively, but physically very similar).

Notice how distinct the Cerro Hoya birds are (enlarge the picture and follow the lines)

Congratulations Matthew, and we are eager to see the formal description of the new species (as in plural) published soon!