House birds of Penonome

When we visit Penonome (Cocle province, central Panama), we usually spent most of the time at our house in a new development devoid of big trees but surrounded by savanna-like habitat with some gallery forest at the perimetric fence... or at Gloriela's relatives house in downtown, which is more wooded, and with a little creek running behind the house. Despite both places share many common, urban birds, there are some differences. At our house, the most common birds are Great-tailed Grackles and Gray-breasted Martins... however, I enjoy more the beautiful song of the resident pair of Tropical Mockingbird or the gang of House Wrens that search carefully every corner, every bush, everything they can... even the frontal tire of our Picanto. Sometimes, the Tropical Kingbirds surprise me because they take advantage of every perching site available, even our trash basket, despite how close to the house (or us) it is. The perimetric fence of the development is another thing. Big trees and bushes separates the houses from the surrounding savanna... and these habitat results very attractive to many species of birds. I have seen so far many migrants, like Summer Tanagers, Orchard and Baltimore Orioles, Yellow Warblers and Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, among others, inspecting the trees at the fence. Last time, I heard the characteristic call of a Crested Bobwhite and soon found the singing male inside the trees, very close to one of the resident White-tipped Doves and the common Red-crowned Woodpecker. The savanna attracts raptors like Short-tailed, Zone-tailed and Roadside Hawks, plus Crested and Yellow-headed Caracara.. At night, the loud calls of the Pauraques remind me why they are called bujío by the panamanians... it sounds exactly the same (you have to say it in spanish of course). Downtown Penonome, which is more wooded, the birds change a little bit... the same common birds appear as well, but then you get some additions like Rufous-browed Peppershrike and Lineated Woodpeckers to complement. At Gloriela's relatives house, the bananas left in the open attracts Clay-colored Thrushes, Palm and Blue-gray Tanagers ("Azulejo"). I will say this forever, but no matters how common the "Azulejo" is, it is gorgeous! A Common Basilisk resides at the creek behind the house, often showing its ability to run over the water, the reason why this reptile is also known as Jesus Christ Lizard. This particular one was changing its old skin. Well, I still need to make a list of all the birds I have seen so far in the urban area of Penonome... I'll try as soon as the birds lets me.... oh, oh, is that a Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl singing across the street? I think I will left the list for another day again!

Punta Culebra for a while

Just to spent time of our free weekend, Gloriela and I decided to make a quick visit to Punta Culebra, in Panama City. The place is well-known by its marine exhibitions (operated by the STRI), but is also very quiet, close to the city, and with an interesting array of common birds and other animals that it is always a good choice. Typical of the dry season, the Bougainvilleas were completely bloomed in a variety of bright colors, including the scarlet-pink one being visited by a female Garden Emerald. This is just one of several species of hummingbirds residing there, and probably Punta Culebra is the most reliable site within the city to find it (pretty easy in fact). Some usually-hard-to-see species are more confident there, probably they are used to the visitors and are not longer afraid of them. That is the case of the Plain Wren. Several pairs are found around the installations, very easy to see, specially when singing (which they do a lot). Usually, this species (as many others wren species) prefers the entangled and dark understore of forested areas, where even a glimpse of them becomes difficult. After a couple of minutes, it started to rain, so we sheltered in our car, and had a nap before continuing with our walk, finding immediately a Red-crowned Woodcreeper working the main trunk of the tree at the parking lot (you can enlarge the photo). These "zebra-backed" woodpeckers are the most common member of the family in the city (and all over Panama), and exhibit a wide variation of color tones and patterns. This particular one was quite brown to the head and underparts, while others are immaculate white in these parts. We found many more common city birds, including tons of Variable Seedeaters feeding both in the ground and high in the trees. The females and immatures outnumbered the adult males, like the one I'm showing here with the spike. Other common birds recorded were Blue-gray, Palm and Crimson-backed Tanagers, Tropical Mockingbird, Scrub Greenlet and Great-tailed Grackles. We also saw a family group of Yellow-crowned Euphonias, with several females (photo) and a singing male that remained elusive. By the end, again at the parking lot, a group of confiding Crab-eating Racoons were assaulting a trash can, like real bandits. One did not resist the curiosity and climbed a fence to watch us better... great way to call it a day!