Portraits in the savanna

In spite of not finding the Maguari Stork reported for Juan Hombron (Cocle province, central Panama) after several visits, the good thing is that I had the opportunity to take some close-ups of common inhabitants of these typical arid savannas.  Advantages like clear light and unobstructed views are the ingredients to great portraits... even for an amateur photographer like me.

Variable Seedeater

For example, the male Variable Seedeater pictured above was quite curious and came to inspect me for a while.  Several males were engaged in courtship displays and singing the heart out.  They were very common in those fields.  Another common species was the Straight-billed Woodcreeper.

Straight-billed Woodcreeper

Not only common, but beautiful as well too.  For a woodcreeper, it is quite distinctive, with that straight, pink bill and bold head marks.  It is restricted to mangroves and adjacent shrubs and secondary growths.  In the other hand, the Groove-billed Ani is simply an all-black bird.  In fact, it is easier to ID it by voice than by sight (due to confusion issues with the Smooth-billed Ani present in smaller number in this same area).

Groove-billed Ani

However, with looks like this you can actually see the grooves in the bill of this individual!  It easy to ID the birds if you actually see the field mark by which they were named; for example, can you name the next species?

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture

Jejejeje, just kidding.  However, they would be more difficult to identify if flying away.  The Lesser Yellow-headed Vultures are commoner than Turkey Vultures in this habitat, specially this time of the year.   Also common, and a nice representative of this savanna, is the Savanna Hawk.

Savanna Hawk

This long-legged hawk is huge and colorful, making it recognizable from long distances.  Due to the lack of tall trees in the savanna, this raptor (like many other as well) take advantage of any high site (like this telephone pole) to observe its domains.  Well, that is all for now... but certainly is not my last time in Juan Hombron looking for my Maguari!

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!

Mostly common birds at Cerro Azul (plus Thorntail)

I visited Cerro Azul (foothills close to Panama City) three times in the past seven days. The reason: last week report of the very rare (for Panama) Brown Violetear at Birders' View. In the first two visits I recorded almost exactly the same species of birds, most of them common backyard birds in Cerro Azul, with the only exception of the female Green Thorntail that I saw atop the white-flowered tree of the parking lot with Gloriela during my first visit exactly seven days ago. She (the thorntail, not Gloriela) was a new year-bird for me... more or less a year ago I got my life thorntails in that very same tree. No photos of that first visit because of the clouded and dark day up there. During my second visit (this time with Osvaldo Quintero and Rafael Luck) last sunday, the light conditions were much better, and I got pictures of many common birds, including all the photos I'm showing in this post. It is true that the protagonist of the day was the White-tipped Sicklebill, but that is matter of another post. Back to the Birders' View garden, the Yellow-faced Grassquits were abundant, making their thrilling call everywhere and having an snack at the feeders, but also checking the native plants. At first they were a little shy, but after a couple of minutes they got very close to us because we stayed next to the feeder. We also saw a pair of Variable Seedeaters working the bushes away of the feeders. This is one of the most common species in Panama, with a rich song that is a common sound in the lowlands, but also up there. This black and white form is the dominant one in most of Panama, but we also have a totally-black form in the Caribbean slope (hence the name "Variable"). Another little friend that is quite common, but hard to see, is the Scaly-crested Pygmy-Tyrant. It has a loud voice, for such a tiny bird, that usually reveals the true commoness of this tiny flycatcher. The full crest is often seen in the field, but usually you can see the flattened look of its head and a bit of color of the hidden crest by the nape (not in this picture by the way). We also saw a lot of common hummingbirds, including Green Hermits, White-necked Jacobins, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteers, Blue-chested, Snowy-bellied, Rufous-tailed, Violet-headed and Violet-capped Hummingbirds. The last species is near-endemic to Panama, only found in this mountain range all the way to the Tacarcuna range and adjacent parts of Colombia (also in the Maje range in the Pacific slope of Panama-Darien provinces), making Cerro Azul the most reliable site IN THE WORLD to see this little jewel... so even a photo of a female at a feeder is good photo! Of course, I also got photos of my favorite hummer in that garden: the Violet-headed Hummingbird! In the way out we saw another of the Cerro Azul's regular birds. Perched on a telephone wire, an immature male American Kestrel was inspecting its surroundings. It was in Cerro Azul when some years ago the first signs of breeding for this species was noticed in Panama... now they are year-round residents in central and eastern Panama, a population that probably came from the south (Colombia) to firmly stablished here. Well, all these birds may be common, but they are so interesting anyway!