Northern Central America Endemics birds!

Earlier this year, I visited Antigua, Guatemala, attending a medical congress.  It was not my first time in the picturesque city, an UNESCO World Heritage Site, with its cobbled streets, colonial buildings and dozens of churches... it doesn't matters how many times you visit it, it is always charming and full of culture and history.  However, this time I had a spare day to spent birding.

I arranged a day trip with Cayaya Birding and was not disappointed!  They already knew my target list of species due to the constant communication I had the weeks before with Claudia Avendaño (one of the owners and bird guide), so they planned my day carefully in order to get as many lifers as I can.  Knut Eisermann was my guide for the day.  He picked me up before dawn at my hotel and, after a brief introduction, we headed to our first destination: Cerro Tecpán.  The day started with a tasty breakfast at a restaurant by the entrance of the trails (one of them called "Sendero del Chipe" and featuring a Pink-headed Warbler!), watching White-eared and  -recently split- Rivoli's Hummingbirds at feeders by the windows.  Right by the parking lot we started to watch some goodies: Black-capped Swallows, Hooded Grosbeak and Mountain Trogon.

Mountain Trogon

Once at the trail, the pine-cypress-oak-alder forest was alive with chirps, calls and songs completely unknown to me... I was not in Panama anymore for sure!  Even shared species, like Paltry Tyrannulet, looked and sounded completely different to what I am used... Knut immediately started to point lifers to me: Crescent-chested and Golden-browed Warblers, Amethyst-throated Hummingbird, Cinnamon-bellied Flowerpiercer, Hutton's Vireo, Rufous-browed Wren, Steller's Jay and noisy Blue-throated Motmots that were quite difficult to photograph.

Blue-throated Motmot

Cerro Tecpán wat not a random choice... Claudia and Knut both decided to try this site first since it was the only one within the range of a day-trip where we could have a chance for my main target: Pink-headed Warbler.  Soon, Knut told me to follow him, since he was hearing the warbler further ahead the trail.  We started to search the nearby trees, finding Bushtits, Olive Warblers, Slate-throated Whitestarts (with red bellies) and Tufted Flycatchers... then, I managed to see a flash of crimson and silver... a tireless Pink-headed Warbler was hoping from leave to leave looking gorgeous in the morning light!  What a special little creature.  This species is restricted to Guatemala and the Mexican state of Chiapas, and was very high in my wish list!  We kept birding, reaching the upper part of the trail.  More specialties were to come in the form of Rose-throated Becard, Acorn Woodpecker, Northern -Guatemalan- Flicker, Greater Pewee and Blue-and-White Mockingbird (probably an immature, due to the dark patches in the underparts).

Blue-and-White Mockingbird

Soon it was time to leave.  In order to take advantage of the full day, we went back to Antigua to have lunch, and then, to well-known Finca El Pilar.  I visited the hummingbird feeders and the first part of the trails in my previous visit last year; however, this time Knut took me to the upper ridges of the finca, with several stops along the way that produced several lifers for me (like Cabani's Wren, Red-billed Pigeon, Black-vented Oriole and White-eared Ground-Sparrow) plus some widespread species that we also have in Panama, like Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Orange-billed Nightingale-Wren and White-winged Tanager.  He also found a Mexican Porcupine (also a lifer) sleeping in a high branch partially hidden by some bromeliads.

Dusky-capped Flycatcher, Rivoli's Hummingbird and White-winged Tanager (seconds before, there were also Greater Pewee and Cabani's Wren)

Mexican Porcupine

We reached an open camp with some cabins when it started to rain.   We stayed under a shelter, scanning the surroundings and the forest border around.  The place was alive with several Gray Silky-Flycatchers, Eastern Bluebirds, Buff-breasted Flycatchers, Black-headed Siskins and beautiful Rufous-collared Thrushes.  The view was amazing, with the majestic Agua Volcano, Antigua and the old city at the horizon.  It reminded me a place in Panama (El Respingo)... although the birds were quite different (of course).

Finca El Pilar - cabins

Eastern Bluebird

Black-headed Siskin

In the forest above the cabins we were lucky enough to watch an elusive Scaled Antpitta crossing the trail, plus Northern Emerald Toucanets, Collared Trogons, Bar-winged Oriole (lifer), Collared Forest-Falcon and Highland Guan (both heard in the distance), a family group of Band-backed Wrens and several resident warblers.  It was getting dark, but Knut still had a last surprise for me.  He knew a spot for a special species that wanted to show me.  He played a recorded call few a times and waited. Then, he pointed towards an exposed branch... silently, an owl landed there, inspecting us curiously... a Fulvous Owl!

Fulvous Owl

The Fulvous Owl is restricted to the humid evergreen forests of the highlands of northern Central America and southern Mexico, and certainly I was not expecting it on this trip!  Thanks Knut and Claudia for the excellent day, the lifers and the great company!

The Cerro Hoya Expedition

The Azuero Peninsula, in south-central Panama, is known by its infamous history of deforestation that began with the Spanish colonization.  However, there are still patches of wooded areas, mainly in the highlands of the southern extreme of the peninsula, specially in the Cerro Hoya massif.  This is not coincidence... the roughness of the area, and its inaccessibility prevented the destruction of this natural treasure... but also prevented its exploration, thus becoming one of the most unknown areas in Panama, ornithologically talking at least.  Home to some range-restricted and globally threatened species, the Cerro Hoya massif also host a number of montane species represented by distinct forms, isolated from similar populations by at least 150 kms.

That's why my friend Euclides "Kilo" Campos and I were so interested in climbing that mountain.  Accompanied by a visitor birder, Macklin, and organized by Kees Groenendijk (of Hotel Heliconia, he also accompanied us), the four of us set camp at 1160 meters above sea level last week... after six hours of climbing along a winding and steep trail.

Campsite 

Of course we birded along the trail, finding some very nice species.  We started to hear, and see, Brown-backed Doves above the 400 meters mark and to hear Azuero Parakeets above the 1000 meters mark.  Both are endemic forms, still considered subspecies of wider-ranged species, in this case, Gray-headed Dove and Painted Parakeet, respectively.  The Panama Audubon Society considers both full species, endemics to the country... quite restricted endemics by the way!

Brown-backed Dove

Also above the 400 meters mark the characteristic calls of the Three-wattled Bellbirds started to be more and more common, as well as sightings of White-ruffed Manakins.  These populations seem to reside in the area year-round.  About the bellbirds, some experts think that these birds differ vocally to the populations of the western highlands.  The far-carrying calls are impressive.  However, in spite of the loud calls, these beautifully patterned birds are quite difficult to see.  We were lucky enough to spy some males, and I managed some photos as well.

male White-ruffed Manakin

male Three-wattled Bellbird

We stayed two nights in the forest, spending one day almost entirely above the 1200 meters mark looking for montane subspecies, finding both expected and new ones for this region.  The montane forest made us wonder if we were still in the Azuero Peninsula!  There are some curiosities up there... for example, some lowlands species are found all the way up to the montane forests, like Scaly-throated Leaftosser and Cocoa Woodcreeper, certainly due to the lack of their montane counterparts in this region (in these cases, Tawny-throated Leaftosser and Spotted Woodcreeper respectively).

Scaly-throated Leaftosser

Other montane species are shared with other remaining (although lower) montane areas in the Azuero Peninsula, like El Montuoso Forest Reserve.  Some of these species are widely distributed, like the Golden-crowned Warbler, while other are more local, sometimes hard to find... like the beautiful White-winged Tanager.  Cerro Hoya is probably the most reliable site to find this beauty!

Golden-crowned Warbler

male White-winged Tanager

But we were after the forms only found in the Cerro Hoya massif... and we found three of them (only missing the Selasphorus sp., probably due to lack of appropriate habitat up there).  All of them were above 1200 meters above the sea level.  The most common was the Purple-throated Mountain-Gem.  This form is certainly a new subspecies... and probably a new full species!

male Purple-throated Mountain-Gem ssp. nov.

male Purple-throated Mountain-Gem ssp. nov.

Check this post with the rationale of why this could be a good species... you can see the differences with other forms in my photos.  The other endemic form was the White-naped Brush-Finch, ssp. azuerensis.  This form was darker in the underparts and browner in the upperparts than other forms found in Panama... it was also more arboreal and quite shy.

White-naped Brush-Finch ssp. azuerensis

The last form was the most difficult to find... in fact, we only saw two pairs, both above the 1300 meters mark: Black-cheeked Warbler.  Phenotypically, the only difference we noticed was its olive(ish) upperparts, instead of grayish.  These birds responded to recorded calls of Black-cheeked Warblers from the western highlands.

Black-cheeked Warbler ssp. nov?

As you can see, it was a quite productive trip.  We recorded 123 species for the area, including some new ones to Azuero and even one lifer!  While walking around 1300 meters above sea level, we found two chicken-sized birds walking in a small ravine... they were Rufous-necked Wood-Rails!  That evening, we heard at least two pairs at the campsite... Kilo barely managed to record part of the call with his cell phone (headphones needed).

There are only few reports of Rufous-necked Wood-Rails in Panama, where it is considered a real rarity and this is the first time the species have been recorded away from mangroves in Panama (although it has been recorded in similar habitats in other countries).  As you can see, there is still much to learn about this place, and I'm pretty sure this is not the last thing we will heard about discoveries in Cerro Hoya!