Pewees and Empids of Panama City

If there is a group more difficult to identify than the pewees and Empidonax flycatchers (Empids) in the New World, then I don't know it... these members of the Tyrant Flycatchers family are extremely similar, specially here in Panama where most of them occur as long-distance migrants (so often with faded plumages and silent).  The "difficult-to-ID" label doesn't apply to all of them... some are quite distinctive, as those residents of Panama's western highlands (check this).  In Panama City (central Panama), there is only one resident pewee... the Tropical Pewee.

Tropical Pewee

This species is extremely similar to other migrant pewees... but this one vocalizes frequently (that's how I identified the above individual), thus making it easy to ID.  Also notice the pale loreal area (the area between the eye and the base of the bill) and the relatively short primary projection (the length of the wing/primaries beyond the tertials on a resting bird).  Compare it with the next species:

Eastern Wood-Pewee

VERY similar!  Silent birds during migration season are hard to ID, but I also heard this bird, it is an Eastern Wood-Pewee.  They become very common in Panama City as passage migrants, where they frequently vocalize as well.  Now compare this bird with the next one (that I saw in the same site that this Eastern Wood-Pewee):

Western Wood-Pewee

First of all, its darker overall color is evident at first glance.  However, notice also its straight back.  In comparison, the Eastern Wood-Pewee looks hunchbacked.  This is a Western Wood-Pewee, which is not that common at all in Panama City during migration.  This one didn't vocalize, but with careful observation it can be ID properly.  Other field marks to notice are the different wing bars, with a dull upper wing bar and a bright lower wing bar.  In Eastern Wood-Pewee, both wing bars are equally bright.  Other differences are better appreciated in the next photo of the same individual:

Western Wood-Pewee

It has a mostly dark lower mandible and a more extensive vest compared to Eastern Wood-Pewee.  Other differences in posture, primary projection / tail length ratio and tail angle are not evident in these photos... but at least you can see that it is not absolutely necessary to listen these birds to positive ID them.  It is a shame that we can't say the same about identifying Empids... check for example this one, I took the next photo the same day I saw both pewees above:

Traill's Flycatcher

Traill's Flycatcher

Prominent wing bars, eye-ring, coloration, behavior and short primary projection identify it as an Empidonax flycatcher (not a pewee)... considering the not-very-prominent eye-ring and size it can only be identified as a member of the former Traill's Flycatcher complex (Alder and Willow Flycatchers).  I took the photo last weekend, so both species are expected.  Anyone want to try?  The only other regularly found Empid in Panama City is the Acadian Flycatcher, which usually favors a different habitat (forest), is smaller and has a more prominent eye-ring... but several other very-similar species have been recorded as vagrants around and close to the city.

Acadian Flycatcher

The last pewee found in Panama is one relatively easy to identify due to its larger size, large-head look and prominent vest in the underparts, the Olive-sided Flycatcher.

Olive-sided Flycatcher

So, are you ready to ID our pewees and Empids?

Cartagena: Cultural and Academic

Last month, thousands of health professionals related to the Gastroenterology and the digestive system Endoscopy met at one of the most interesting and lovely cities of the world: Cartagena de Indias in the northern coast of Colombia.  The PanAmerican Digestive Disease Week took place on September 10th to 13th with a high academic level.  Essentially, all you need to know as a Gastroenterologist and/or Endoscopist was updated at several sessions, courses, talks, workshops and hands-on trainings held in the modern Cartagena Convention Center "Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala".

Cartagena de Indias was a great setting for this event.  There is always something to do in the city... walk within the walled town with its plazas, or above the impressive wall itself, enjoying the colonial architecture, or taking a journey to the past to pirates tales at the Castillo de San Felipe (and its impressive tunnel system -- recommended), drink a coffee at the historic Getsemani neighborhood, or eat a traditional fried fish with coconut rice and avocado salad in Boca Chica beach... you name it!

Many of my colleagues from Panama and all over America attended this great event... it was nice to see some old friends again and to listen my professors, textbooks' authors and worldwide authorities in the matter at their lectures.  Certainly, my major highlight was to meet a personal hero... a person who changed the world's gastroenterology for ever by establishing the relationship of the germ Helibacter pylori and the peptic ulcer disease (and winning a Nobel Prize by the way): Barry J. Marshall.  Hearing the story of how he did that (with co-author J. Robin Warren) was sublime! C'mon, that's the story I tell each semester to my young Medicine students... but charismatically told by the protagonist himself!

Barry J. Marshall

From Marshall B. Helicobacter connections. ChemMedChem 2006; 1: 783-802

OK, saying "to meet" is not exactly accurate... once he finished his lecture, most of the audience gathered around him to speak with him and get some photos; it was crowded!  However, I ran across him the night before at the welcome cocktail and got a nice photo with a legend. Not only that, I found out that he is a blogger too (check his blog: What I know and what I think I know).  He has not posted for a while, but to have something in common with a Nobel Prize winner is something special.... just another reason to keep blogging!

Off shore western Azuero: birds and mammals

It was 5:00 am last October 1st, 2016.  In spite of a not-so-favorable weather forecast, a group of intrepid birders, including George Angehr, Howard Laidlaw, Joris Deruwe, Miguel Siu and your blogger host were standing in the dark while Kees Groennedijk was taking care of the last details for our first pelagic trip of the year.  We were at the dock in Reina beach close to the town of Mariato in western Azuero Peninsula (Veraguas province).  A little "panga" took us along the Negro river and, eventually, to the fishing boat anchored off shore due to tide issues.

Part of the group at the dock in Negro river

Our pelagic trip started in the dark.  It was not after passing the 6:00 am mark that we started to watch some birds... the first one was the silhouette of a Magnificent Frigatebird.  We took the same route we did last year, navigating parallel to the western coast of the Azuero Peninsula to Punta Naranjo (the southwest corner of the peninsula), then off few miles to deep waters along the Continental Shelf break, moving to the west while chumming and then going back to Reina beach more or less in an straight line.

Punta Naranjo

Still within the Continental Shelf, our first highlight was an immature Red-billed Tropicbird that decided to swim quite close to the boat, allowing some shoots before taking off again.  The species seems to be regular in those waters according to Kees, but it was the first time I see it in the Pacific Ocean.  Eventually, we saw three to four different individuals, all of them immatures and within the Continental Shelf.

Immature Red-billed Tropicbird

Immature Red-billed Tropicbird

At Punta Naranjo we only saw two (instead of dozens) Brown Noddies flying close to the rocks.  By that time, it was evident that the most common species present was the Black Tern... loose flocks of up to 50 birds were seen each hour, specially within the Continental Shelf, plus other terns species like Royal and Common Terns inshore and many Bridled Terns well offshore... but also some resting on floating debris close to shore.

Brown Noddy 

Black Tern (basic)

Common Tern (alternate)

Bridled Tern (basic)

This time, our time at deep waters was not very productive.  At the chumming sites we only saw few Galapagos Shearwaters... the only tubenose recorded in the whole trip.  That's right... no other shearwater, petrel nor storm-petrel species that day.  At least, we were expecting two or three different species of storm-petrels... none was seen.  Were they not there?  The chum was not smelly enough?  We were not lucky enough?  Certainly, we still need to know a lot about our pelagic avifauna.

Galapagos Shearwater

Besides the birds (and lack of them), the other highlight was the number of Pantropical Spotted Dolphins that we managed to see.  Several dozens of these intelligent animals accompanied us for a while, they gave us a marvelous show!

And that my friends was our day at the sea.  No new birds for Panama and no life birds, plus a little bit of seasickness for the first time (weird, since the sea was quite calm)... but hey! that's pelagic birding!!!  Can't wait for the next one!

A conservation sucess story

The coastal town of Malena, in the western side of the Azuero Peninsula in central Panama (Veraguas province) is special for many reasons.  Small and quiet, with happy and kind people, no sale of alcoholic beverages and a strong conservation sense.   Some fourteen years ago, members of the community started to protect the sea turtles that use Malena beach as a nesting site.  After identifying the main threats (like feral dogs, illegal poaching for the eggs, inappropriate use of the beach and so on....) they started to take action, to train and to consult with NGOs and state agencies, and established a strong conservation program that now is an example to follow for other communities.

Welcome to Malena beach: nesting area

Taking advantage of our stay in Hotel Heliconia (yes, that's another story), we visited Malena some days ago and contacted Ana, who owns and runs the Hostal Iguana Verde at town, to plan a visit to the nesting area on the beach.  She explained that, from June to December, community volunteers patrol the beach in order to find active nests to then relocate the eggs in two designated areas where they take care of them.

Gloriela and Gabrielle in Malena beach

When the eggs are about to hatch, they surround the nest with a kind of mesh and begin to monitor them more closely.  When the little sea turtles hatch, they remain in a state of lethargy under the sand until they are ready to go to the sea... a period marked by a burst of activity in the little turtles that push them towards the sea.  The volunteers collect the turtles in a basket when this happens, and leave them at least 10 meters from the beach.  These 10 meters are very important for the tiny sea turtles to enable them to return exactly to the same beach as adults to spawn the next generation.

Ana showed us some recently hatched sea turtles that were starting to warm up.  They were young Loggerhead Sea Turtles (Caretta caretta), one of four species of sea turtles that nest in Malena beach seasonally.  We decided to wait for them to be more active while Ana explained us that somehow, some sea turtles managed to "scape" from the designated area and "ran" to the sea earlier that day.  For our surprise, Ana found one of those escapees frantically "running" to the sea!

Trust me, there is a tiny sea turtle in front of them towards the sea

What an overwhelming experience!  Watching this tiny sea turtle following its instincts developed after millions of years of evolution is simply amazing.  Ana decided to release the most active sea turtles that we saw earlier at the designated area.  As soon as they felt the sand began its journey to the sea.

The effort and dedication of the people of Malena ensure that our future generations can enjoy this wonder of nature, and these noble creatures that need all our help to survive.  Congratulations  to Ana and all the volunteers that keep this program alive and we hope to have this experience again... soon!

An expected bird in an unexpected site

Short (but exciting) note.  Each October, I hope to finally see my life Black-billed Cuckoo somewhere in Panama.  This migrant becomes fairly regular for a very short period of time during its southward migration in central Panama... the Ancon Hill seemed like the most reliable site; however, year after year somehow I manage to dip on that one!  In fact, exactly three years ago I wrote about this same bird in this blog (check it here).  Well, last friday, September 30th, I was not even thinking on Black-billed Cuckoos (obviously... it was still September!)... I was about to leave my apartment when I noticed something through the balcony... a stylized bird perched on a tree under a light drizzle... I took this picture:

Black-billed Cuckoo

Black bill, red eye-ring, not very evident under tail pattern: BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO!!!  And right at home.  What a great way to begin a weekend: Life bird and my 133th species for my balcony list.

Today is World Shorebirds Day!

All over the world we celebrate today the shorebirds!  Delicate in appearance but certainly some of the most strong flyers in this planet, many shorebirds species make, twice a year, long-distance migrations, some of them traversing more than 15,000 miles annually!  Being birds that visit whole continents, it is important to join efforts not only to protect their breeding grounds, but also their wintering grounds and stopover sites along the migration routes.

The Upper Bay of Panama, a site of hemispheric importance for shorebirds survival

That's why the World Shorebirds Day celebration was created... to raise GLOBAL public awareness about the conservation of, and research about, shorebirds (you can read more at the World Shorebirds Day Official Website).  During this past weekend, I participated in the global shorebirds counting among other members of the Panama Audubon Society in two sites of the Upper Bay of Panama: Costa del Este and Panama Viejo.  In spite of the season (in Panama, the migration season is just starting), the numbers present in both site were impressive... as usual!

Peeps in Costa del Este (September 3rd, 2016)

The most abundant species were the peeps... with Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers as the most common.  ID is difficult of course in their basic plumages... but in both sites you can get them side-by-side, making the whole thing a little bit easier.

Western and Semipalmated Sandpiper in Panama Viejo (September 4th, 2016)

The approximate count was close to 8000 peeps in Costa del Este,  a low number compared to other seasons.  We entered our records into eBird (in two checklists http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31398127, http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31419633) thus joining hundreds of other birdwatchers around the world.  Panama shorebirds were well represented, with 14 species recorded by me in both sites (12 species shared by both sites, plus another one in Costa del Este -Least Sandpiper- that I didn't manage to see, but recorded by other observer).  Here are some of them:

Whimbrels, Willets, Marbled Godwits, Short-billed Dowitchers and Black-bellied Plovers in Costa del Este (September 3rd, 2016)

Greater Yellowlegs in Panama Viejo (September 4th, 2016

Semipalmated Plover in Panama Viejo (September 4th, 2016)

All these species are regular and quite common in Panama; however, we also found a Long-billed Curlew in Panama Viejo.  This one is considered a vagrant in Panama, but one individual had spent many winters in the mudflats of Panama Viejo (but is difficult to find).

Long-billed Curlew (September 4th, 2016)

Almost all the shorebirds recorded were long-distance migrants, but we also saw three resident species: Southern Lapwing, Wilson's Plover and Black-necked Stilt.  The first one is common all over Panama, while the other two breed in small colonies in just few sites in the country.  Each winter, their populations increase with migratory individuals from other latitudes.

Black-necked Stilt at Costa del Este (September 3rd, 2016)

And you, how do you spent your World Shorebirds Day?

PAS' Owls and Wines Night

Rather than an owling trip, the Panama Audubon Society's Owls and Wines Night is more like a social event, where old and new friends meet to enjoy a pleasant night.  This year event was held in the iconic Canopy Tower at the Soberania National Park in central Panama.  I went with Gloriela and met the other ten participants a little bit before sunset... the views from the upper deck of the tower are simple overwhelming!

Jan & Gloriela

I don't know if you noticed that a Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth was photo-bombing the frame! You can have eye-to-eye encounters not only with these gentile creatures, but also with some canopy-dwellers hard to see otherwise.  Here is a closer look at our friend:

Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth

The sloths (yes, as in plural) and birds were not the only highlights at the tower.  A set of the Motus Wildlife Tracking System (one of four installed in Panama) is on the tower, and Karl Kaufmann explained to us how it works.  The Panama Audubon Society and Bird Studies Canada made Panama the first country in Central America to track migratory birds this way.

Motus system

After that, we spend some time tasting fine wines and a selection of cheeses and caught up on environmental, political and religious issues... actually caught up on ALL the issues.  Time flew by so fast that we almost forget the owls... almost.  The forests around the tower are home of many different species of owls and other night creatures. So, aboard one of the Canopy Tower's modified trucks and under the guidance of Michael, we started the search.

Well, to be honest, I never expect many species "seen" on these trips... owling is not an exact science and you should aim to identify the birds by their field marks... the vocalizations in the case of owls.  Nevertheless, we tried. The night was bright clear... actually not very good for owling.  After several stops, we only heard frogs and crickets... until Michael found this guy:

Great Potoo

Not an owl, but a Great Potoo in the middle of the night waiting for insects on a pole.  It was the only night bird for the trip... but a good one.  I want to thank all the participants for the good company and the Canopy Family staff for the awesome night!

Rare migrant at the saltflats

The month of August marks the beginning of the migratory season in Panama.  All over  the country, the early migrants are showing up in both expected and unexpected sites.  One of the historical migrant traps in Panama are the Aguadulce Salinas (saltflats) in Cocle province (central Panama), where I did a quick stop with my family last weekend, finding some goodies.

Black Skimmers and Royal Terns

The huge flock of Black Skimmers was accompanied with impressive numbers too of Royal Terns... none of these breed in Panama, but they are found year-round in Panama.  The skimmers, particularly, are regular in these saltflats.  Another species present year-round in Panama is the Black-necked Stilt, but they do breed in Panama... and the saltflats are one of the few breeding sites known in the country.

Black-necked Stilt

But I was more interested in those long-distance migrants that use the saltflats as a re-fueling stop in their journey to higher latitudes... some of them only spent few weeks at our country.  After checking flocks of peeps and larger shorebirds (specially both Yellowlegs), I finally found a lonely Wilson's Phalarope frenetically swimming in circle picking food from the surface.  It was far away, so my pic is essentially for documenting purposes.

A distant Wilson's Phalarope

But my big surprise was the single Stilt Sandpiper found with some Yellowlegs and Dowitchers in a shallow lagoon.  The long legs, slightly downcurved, thin bill and white eye-brow were diagnostic.

Stilt Sandpiper

The Stilt Sandpiper is a rare passage migrant through Panama. Curiously, this is my second sighting this season because we saw at least two of them some days ago to the east of Panama City in Finca Bayano.  It seems that this is going to be a good migratory season!

Visiting Finca Bayano

Since the closure of the former Tocumen marshes to birders some years ago, we have been visiting a rice farm to the east of Panama City known as Finca Bayano, looking for those open habitat species of birds difficult to find around Panama City.  The site is promising since it have a nice mixture of habitats: pastures, gallery forests, scrubs and bushes, cultivated fields and so on...  So we visited it last weekend, reaching the place at sunrise.

Finca Bayano

I joined Rosabel Miro and Bill Adsett for this birding adventure... and to be honest, I was expecting a regular day in the field, however, we soon noticed that everything was set to have a great day!  Literally hundreds of herons, egrets, ibises and storks were feeding on the flooded fields.

Well, but all these species were common ones... then we started to notice some shorebirds in the same fields... first some scattered groups... by the end of the trip we saw no less than 100 Pectoral Sandpipers, both Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted, Solitary, Western, Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers... but more important, we saw at least two Stilt Sandpipers, pretty uncommon for Panama. I took a short video showing some Pectoral Sandpipers (is the first time I saw so many of them!).

As you can see, my digiscoping abilities are close to zero... but I just wanted to document the numbers.  The waders were not the only highlights.  We saw many species with nesting materials or feeding young.  In fact, we saw several pairs of elegant Pied Water-Tyrants making nests and at least two Pale-breasted Spinetails feeding young birds (they look rather plain).

Pied Water-Tyrant

Also impressive was the number and variety of raptors in those fields: both Caracaras, Bat and Laughing Falcons, Pearl, White-tailed and Hook-billed Kites, Common Black, Roadside, Gray-lined, Savanna and Zone-tailed Hawks were hunting all over the place... in fact, we just saw this Zone-tailed Hawk to grab a whiptail lizard from the ground.

Zone-tailed Hawk with whiptail lizard

However, the most surprising bird (at least for me) was another raptor... but not a diurnal one.  Over a field with dry grass I saw a ghostly figure approaching low to land over a bush facing away.  After a while, the bird turned its head 180º towards me... a Barn Owl was making eye-contact with me under a bright sun!

Barn Owl

Any day with an owl is a good day!

Time for changes! AOU 57th supplement.

As a mid-year tradition, the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) published this month the 57th supplement to the Check-list of North American Birds.  This year's changes affect a lot the Panama bird list as well.  These changes include splits, lumps, English and Latin names changes, new orders and subfamilies and changes in the linear sequence of the list.  I will mention those splits/lumps  and names changes affecting Panama birds, but you're welcomed to check the publication to know all the other changes.  Are you ready to make some changes... you may have one or two new species in your life lists!  Lets check them out:

English and Latin names changes

• Morphological, biogeographical and genetic data proved that the medium-sized Shearwaters do not belong to the genus Puffinus and are now named Ardenna, leaving the Latin names of the next species this way: Ardenna pacifica, Ardenna grisea and Ardenna creatopus for Wedge-tailed, Sooty and Pink-footed Shearwaters respectively.
• Due to a split, the form of Green Violetear found in Costa Rica and western Panama (including Azuero Peninsula and ranging to South America) is known as Lesser Violetear (Colibri cyanotus).  The form present in Mexico and northern Central America is called now Mexican Violetear.
• The Gray-necked Wood-Rail form found in Costa Rica, Panama and South America is called now Gray-cowled Wood-Rail (Aramides cajaneus), due to a split of the form found in Mexico and northern Central America, which is called now Russet-naped Wood-Rail (Aramides albiventris).
• Genetic data indicate that the Yellow-breasted Crake is not closely related to Porzana, thus its new Latin name is Hapalocrex flaviventer.
• After the taxonomic changes of the form of Black-mandibled Toucan found in Panama (the Chestnut-mandibled Toucan, Ramphastos ambiguus swainsoni), its name is changed into Yellow-throated Toucan... insipid, but quite descriptive and inclusive for both forms (with black and chestnut mandibles).

  

  Yellow-throated Toucan

• Dusky Antbird is not a true Cercomacra antbird, and is now called Cercomacroides tyrannina.
• Due to splits affecting mostly extralimital forms, the form of Sirystes found in Panama (and the Choco bioregion) is called Choco Sirystes and its Latin name changed to Sirystes albogriseus.
• The Latin names of Tawny-crowned, Golden-fronted and Lesser Greenlets are changed into Tunchiornis ochraceiceps, Pachysylvia aurantiifrons and Pachysylvia decurtata.
• The Latin name of White-thighed Swallow is changed into Atticora tibialis.

Splits and lumps

• A long-expected change, the Blue-crowned Motmot complex have three recognized species in Mesoamerica, two of them occurring in Panama: Lesson's Motmot -instead of Blue-diademed Motmot- (Momotus lessonii) in western Panama and Whooping Motmot (Momotus subrufescens) in central and eastern Panama.  The original paper mentions a gap in the ranges of these two species in central Panama; however, probably both species occur replacing each other altitudinally in the central provinces.  You can help to better understand this by recording with photos, video and -specially- audio every Momotus motmot in that region of Panama (Cocle & Veraguas provinces and the Azuero Peninsula).
• The Plain Wren is split into three (yes, three!) species, two of them occurring in Panama: Canebrake Wren (Cantorchilus zeledoni) in western Bocas del Toro province (already accepted by the Panama Audubon Society -PAS-) and Isthmian Wren (Cantorchilus elutus) in the rest of Panama.  By far, that's my favorite name change so far!

  

  Isthmian Wren!

• The Three-striped Warbler is split into three species as well, two of them occurring in Panama: the Costa Rican Warbler (Basileuterus melanotis) of Costa Rica and western Panama (east to Veraguas) and the near-endemic Tacarcuna Warbler (Basileuterus tacarcunae) in eastern Panama and extreme northwestern Colombia.  The Tacarcuna Warbler has become very rare in its past distribution in Cerro Azul/Cerro Jefe and the Guna Yala foothills to the east of Panama City, so now it is a good time to search for it.

Clearer now?  It is time to update your records and to go out after those new species around the corner!