Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge,

19 November – 5 December 2008 Trip report

One of the main attractions of Panama is that it offers very good opportunities to spot a combination of neotropic bird species as well as nearctic migrants in a relatively small area. There are direct flights from Amsterdam to Panama City and there’s no need to take anti-malaria pills. So it’s perfect for European (and non-European) birdwatchers as a relatively comfortable place to see many new world bird species, both tropical and non-tropical, for the first time or as an easy opportunity to catch up on some species still missing on your life list. Due to the influence of the surrounding sea (Carribean Sea and Pacific Ocean) the climate is mild, although it can be very humid in the rainy season. During our stay we experienced some days of heavy, persistent rain, which was, even for the rainy season, rather exceptional. It normally rains for only one or two hours in the afternoon or at night. Before noon it’s usually dry.

Canopy Tower is located in the lowland rainforest of Soberania National Park in the Canal Zone, at a distance of 1.5 miles east of the Panama Canal and at an hour driving from Panama City. The forest surrounding the tower mainly consists of undisturbed secondary rainforest and stretches all the way along the Canal until it reaches the shores of Gatun Lake. The area near the village of Gamboa is a variety of cultivation, open marshy fields, shrub, ponds and riverbanks. The platform of the tower itself is a very good birding spot as it raise above the tree tops and thus offers a panoramic view of the surrounding forest and the canopy close by. Especially in the early mornings it’s the perfect place to sit quietly and watch and enjoy the awakening forest.

People considering a trip to Panama should take the chanceto visit both places. It will enable them to go out birding in a variety offorest habitats. There is also the possibility to make daytrips to thehighlands and to the Pacific and Carribean lowlands. Both the Canopy Tower aswell as the Lodge offer a wonderful and friendly accommodation and provide theservices of excellent local bird guides.

The following gives only an impression, no more noless, of two and a half weeks of wonderful bird watching. It is by no meanswritten for scientific purposes. However, it may serve as a modest guidelinefor the traveler who is just  interestedin birds. There is a complete list of all the 328 observed species during ourstay in Panama at the end of this report.

Panama City

19 - 21 November: Parque Natural Metropolitano

After arrival in the early evening of 19 November westayed in Panama City in Albrook Inn, a good hotel in a quiet, relatively greenarea away from the city centre. We spent the next day in the nearby MetropolitanPark. That appeared to be a small surprise as we had expected a city park withthe usual playing and pick-nick grounds, but instead found ourselves in agenuine nature reserve. For the very reasonable entrance fee of only twodollars we had a fantastic birding day. It also offered us a good impression ofwhat we could expect in the coming weeks. The next morning we visited theCauseway. In the afternoon we were picked up for transportation to the CanopyTower.

Canopy Tower

22 November: Plantation Trail, Ammo Ponds

The Plantation Trail is an easy path through beautifulforest. It follows the banks of a small river. At the entrance we found a Boaof respectable size, quietly sleeping in the shade of a bush. We wisely left itto its own devices. Along the trail we had our first and very successful introductionto the ‘difficult’ group of antbirds. Most species are notorious for theirskulking behavior. They prefer the darkest and most hidden places in denseunderstorey. Nevertheless we had wonderful views of three antwren species, aswell as Chestnut-backed and Spotted Antbird.

We spent the afternoon at the so-called Ammo Ponds,where we got severely hit by a complete army of mosquitoes and heavy rain. Butthose little inconveniences didn’t get in the way of enjoying the birds. ThreeWhite-throated Crakes showed very well.

23 November: SummitPonds, Old Gamboan Road

The morning started with fog and drizzle, but later onthe skies cleared and the sun came through. We were quite lucky to see anOlivaceous Woodcreeper near the entrance of the Tower, just before we left. Arather uncommon woodcreeper. Near the ponds we found White-tailed andOlivaceous Trogon as well as a pair of roosting Spectacled Owls.

Old Gamboan Road is no longer used by traffic. It’sclose to the Canal and passes through several open areas of reed vegetation,marshes and shrub. It gives therefore good opportunities to spot severalspecies that prefer a more open terrain, such as swallows, seedeaters,grosbeaks and sparrows.

24 November: PipelineRoad, Chagres River (Gamboa Rainforest Resort)

Our first visit to the famous Pipeline Road. It’s oneof the best birding spots in Central America, and rightly so. People told usit’s always good for unexpected sightings. Our big surprise was a GreatTinamou, very close to the path. It froze immediately when it noticed ourpresence and, thanks to its cryptic color (almost indiscernible from the colorof the dead leaves on the ground), made itself practically invisible.

The afternoon took us to the banks of Chagres Riverand Gamboa Rain Forest Resort. Several species of heron gave a good show. Onthe estuary one American Coot and a female Blue-winged Teal.

25 November: Semaphore Hill Road

This was to be an easy walk down the hill from thetower, so I decided to leave my walking boots home and put my slippers on. Nota very wise decision, at least not when you meet an ant swarm. Despite my‘sorrows’ we all had a great morning. The stings of the ants weren’t too badand the presence of those fierce insects brought along some very good birdspecies. Keeping still and silent for almost an hour inside the forest rewardedus with several antbirds. Two beautiful Ocellated Antbirds – in the same viewwith Bicolored and Spotted Antbirds - were the undisputed highlights. With agrin on our faces – which stayed there for the rest of the day – and covered inmud we emerged from the dark woods.

It didn’t hurt us at all that the afternoon excursionhad to be cancelled due to the rain. After all we had a whole afternoon tothink back to this fantastic morning.

26 November: Pipeline Road, Summit Gardens

Our second visit to Pipeline Road was even morerewarding than our first. This time we started our walk further down the path.An unexpected and very good view of a Crab-eating Raccoon was a good start ofthe morning. It didn’t mind our presence very much and while it was searchingfor food we could observe this lovely mammal for several minutes. But the bestof the morning was a loud calling Streak-chested Antpitta. After a long searchJosé, our guide, finally found the bird perched on a branch.

Blue Cotinga and Tent-making Bats were the highlightsof a visit to the Summit Botanical Gardens

27 November: Old Gamboan Road, Ammo Ponds

In the morning we visited the Old Gamboan Road andstarted our walk from the southern end. High in the treetops an immature OrnateHawk-Eagle showed itself quite well, but even more lucky we were in spotting aGray-headed Kite in a dead tree not far from the roadside.

During the afternoon drive to the Ammo Ponds it startsto rain, so we were already wet on arrival. After a while it started to raineven harder. We decided to hide under a tree and hoped the rain would stop. Alas,it only got worse. After twenty minutes or so José fetched the car to save usfrom the deluge. It kept on raining for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Canopy Lodge

28 November: Canopy Lodge gardens, La Mesa Roadnear lodge

In the morning we were brought in a van to El Valle.It rained almost the whole way, until we arrived at the Lodge. The sun camethrough and, while drinking coffee, we enjoyed the many birds on the feeders inthe garden. Several tanager species, such as Dusky-faced, White-lined andFlame-rumped. We also met Tino, who would be our guide for the rest of theweek. A walk along the road to La Mesa proved to be very worthwhile despite themist and drizzle. A beautiful male White-ruffed Manakin and several woodwarblerspecies offered excellent views. A Little Hermit, racing off and on along theflowers at the roadside, was a lot harder to spot.

29 November: Canopy Adventure Trail, La Samia

The morning started very promising with twoOrange-billed Sparrows foraging under the trees, at only a couple of yards fromour breakfast-table. Luck stayed with us as we had close looks at a callingTody Motmot. Linda discovered a White-throated Thrush and at the end of thetrail we found an Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush. In the afternoon the rainreturned, but we still had a good time birding at the outskirts of El Valle.

30 November: Cerro Cara Iguana Trail, El Valle

We spent the morning walking along the track to CerroCara Iguana, hoping to find the elusive Rosy Thrush-Tanager. We heard its calla couple of times, but it stayed out of sight in dense cover. Fortunately therewere lots of other species to keep us busy, like another Tody Motmot andseveral wren species.

A pair of Tropical Screech-Owls had chosen a tree infront of the town clinic as a daytime roost. They probably hadn’t expected toattract the attention of so many birdwatchers that came to have a look at thehappy couple, huddling close together on a branch high in the canopy.

1 December: Las Minas Road, Road to Pan-AmericanHighway

The day started with sunshine as Tino took us to LasMinas Road, which is actually more of a track following the steep valley of asmall brook bordered by a narrow gallery forest habitat. Near the entrance ofthe track we spotted a couple of Blue-throated (or Emerald) Toucanet andfurther down the path we walked into a male and female Orange-billed Trogons.But the highlight of the morning appeared to be a magnificent Rufous-ventedGround-Cuckoo we spotted, just by sheer luck, from the car on the way back tothe lodge only yards away from the entrance to the Canopy Adventure. We werestill standing outside the car happily talking about the amount of luck we weregranted to spot this much wanted bird, when Danielo called from behind hiscounter at the entrance to draw our attention to the wonderful maleRufous-crested Coquette feeding on the flowering bush right in front of ournoses. That made our joy complete.

We planned to spend the afternoon along a small valleyroad, about halfway along the road from El Valle to the Pan-American Highwaybut torrential rain forced us back into the van. Nevertheless, we managed tospot Hepatic Tanager (male and female) a few miles further down.

2 December: Lowlands and Pacific Coast

The next morning the weather had improvedconsiderably. We left early to spend all day in the Pacific Lowlands. It turnedout to be a true raptor day. Apart from the usual and more common species wewere lucky to see Pearl Kite (very close!), Savanna Hawk, Gray Hawk andZone-tailed Hawk (also at very close range!). Two Peregrine Falcons passed overour heads and far away in the marshes a lonely Wood Stork attracted ourattention. On top of all that we had close-ups of what might be the mostbeautiful American woodwarbler: Prothonotary Warbler. In the reed marshes closeto the Pacific beach we spotted, thanks to Tino’s efforts, a Pale-breastedSpinetail. Although it must be said we saw it ‘in bits and pieces’ – a tail, apart of the wing, the head, its back – but that seems to be the usual with thisovenbird species. And a Veraguan (Green-breasted) Mango gave a good show whilewe were having our lunch in the shade of a tree.

3 December: La Mesa and Cerro Gaital, Cerro CaraIguana Trail

We spent a sunny morning in La Mesa and Cerro GaitalNatural Monument. And still our luck had not yet ran out as, after half an hourpatiently waiting, a fantastic White-tipped Sicklebill appeared at the appointedspot to feed on a large heliconia flower. What a strange hummingbird. It has ahuge bill, that seems first to curve upward and then downward and that’s almostthe same size as the rest of the body. At the end of the trail a large group ofWhite-collared Swifts, a species that’s rather uncommon in the region, soaredlow over our heads.

The afternoon wasn’t too bad either, as we finallyspotted two Rosy Thrush-Tanagers and, by doing so, accidently flushed no lessthan 3 Common Pauraques who became almost completely invisible as soon as theylanded again in the leaf litter underneath the trees.

4 December: Altos Del Maria

Another daytrip. This time we went to the highlands ofAltos Del Maria. It’s a large area of cloud forest, owned by a rich industrial.Part of it is developed as a housing area with expensive looking villas. Thereare no public roads, you have to get permission to get in. Most of the areaconsists of undisturbed cloud forest. Our goals of this day were the uncommonand hard to find Snowcap, a beautiful purplish hummingbird with a snowy whitecap, and Black-crowned Antpitta. It didn’t take us long before we found ourSnowcap and quite a lot of other good species as well, such as Red-facedSpinetail. We had already been blessed with a lot of woodcreeper species, butthe two Brown-billed Scythebills won the award of weirdest looking woodcreeperwe had ever seen in our lives. It has an enormous curved bill – hence it’s name– which gives the bird an almost alien look. Probably the best bird of the daywas the Black-crowned Antpitta. Tino and Danielo knew the exact spot where wecould expect it and they were quite confident about finding the bird. It wasn’tlong before we heard one calling and coming nearer when Danielo played a tape. Aftera while we didn’t see just one bird, but even two: a male and female. Afterthat we couldn’t keep quiet any longer and started whooping and shouting. Whata morning! During lunch it started to rain and we packed for the ride back. Onthe road down the rain stopped and during a short brake we saw large groups ofseveral species of swifts, two White-tailed Hawks and a pair of CrestedOropendola.

5 December: Canopy Lodge gardens

No more birding today, as we had to leave for theairport. We spent the morning packing our things, saying goodbye to everybodywho had given us such a good time. For the last time we took a walk through thegardens of the lodge and look at all the birds that had become so familiar.

Species List

The following list shows all 328 bird species wespotted during our stay in Canopy Tower. It follows the same order and uses thesame names as The Canopy Tower and CanopyLodge Checklist, compiled by Carlos E. Bethancourt. However, misspelling,omissions and other mistakes in the list below are wholly my responsibility.

For those who are interested I inserted remarks onseveral species about the place or circumstances we spotted them.

TINAMOUS

Great Tinamou                           –1 seen well at Pipeline Road

DUCKS, SWANS AND GEES

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Blue-winged Teal (m)                – 1 female, Chagres R. Estuary

CURASSOWS, GUANS AND CHACHALACAS

Grey-headed Chachalaca

NEW WORDL QUAIL

Crested Bobwhite

BOOBIES AND GANNETS

Brown Booby

PELICANS

Brown Pelican

CORMORANTS

Neotropic Cormorant

DARTERS

Anhinga

FRIGATEBIRDS

Magnificent Frigatebird

HERONS

Rufescent Tiger-Heron

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Little Blue Heron

Tricolored Heron

Cattle Egret

Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

Striated Heron (B. striatus)

Boat-billed Heron

STORKS

Wood Stork                              -1 in the marshlands on the Pacific Coast

VULTURES

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture    - 1 Pacific lowlands

King Vulture                              -1 Pipeline Road

HAWKS, EAGLES AND KITES

Osprey

Grey-headed Kite                      -1 adult, Tower;1 adult, Old Gamboan Road

Pearl Kite                                  -1 adult, Pacific Lowlands

White-tailed Kite

Crane Hawk                               -1 adult, Tower

Great Black-Hawk                      -1 Chagres R. Estuary

Savanna Hawk                           -2 Pacific Lowlands

Roadside Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk (m)

Grey Hawk

Short-tailed Hawk

Swainson’s Hawk (m)                 -possibly 1 bird, Pacific Lowlands

White-tailed Hawk                      -2 adults, Altos Del Maria

Zone-tailed Hawk                       -1 adult, Pacific Lowlands

Ornate Hawk-Eagle

FALCONS AND CARACARAS

Crested Caracara

Yellow-headed Caracara

American Kestrel                       -Pacific Lowlands

Bat Falcon                                -1 adult, Old Gamboan Road

Peregrine Falcon (m)                 -2 Pacific Lowlands

RAILS, GALLINULES AND COOTS

White-throated Crake

Grey-necked Wood-Rail -seen several times (Gamboan and Pipeline R.)

Purple Gallinule

Common Moorhen

American Coot                          -1 Chagres R. Estuary

PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS

Southern Lapwing                      -mainly in Pacific Lowlands

JACANAS

Wattled Jacana

SANDPIPERS AND ALLIES

Spotted Sandpiper (m)

Solitary Sandpiper (m)               -2 Pacific Lowlands

Willet

Whimbrel (m)

Longbilled Curlew (m)                -1 on the beach, Pacific Lowlands

Sanderling (m)                           -5 on the beach, Pacific Lowlands

GULLS, TERNS AND ALLIES

Laughing Gull

Royal Tern                                -several at the coast, Pacific Lowlands

Sandwich Tern                           -several at the coast, Pacific Lowlands

PIGEONS AND DOVES

Pale-vented Pigeon

Scaled Pigeon

Plain-breasted Ground-Dove      - 1 Pacific Lowlands

Ruddy Ground-Dove

White-tipped Dove

Gray-chested Dove

PARROTS

Brown-throated Parakeet            - several seen in Pacific Lowlands

Orange-chinned Parakeet

Blue-headed Parrot

Red-lored Parrot

Mealy Parrot

CUCKOOS

Squirrel Cuckoo (m)

Yellow-billed Cuckoo (m)

Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo – 1 seen briefly but wellnear the road at Canopy Adventure!

Greater Ani

Smooth-billed Ani

Groove-billed Ani                      -common in Pacific Lowlands

TYPICAL OWLS

Tropical Screech-Owl                 -1 pair roosting in tree opposite clinic in El Valle

Spectacled Owl                         -1 pair roosting in trees along Old Gamboan Road

NIGHTJARS

Common Pauraque                    -3 flushed while searching for Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Cara Iguana

POTOOS

Great Potoo                              -1 roosting in high tree near entrance Semaphore Hill Road

Common Potoo                                    -1 roosting in trees along track, Pacific Lowlands

SWIFTS

White-collared Swift                   -large group (at least 30) flying by, Cerro Gaital

Chimney Swift (m)

Short-tailed Swift

Band-rumped Swift

Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift

HUMMINGBIRDS

Green Hermit

Long-billed Hermit

Stripe-throated Hermit

White-tipped Sicklebill               - 1 feeding on Heliconiaflowers along Cerro Gaital Trail!

White-necked Jacobin

Veraguan (Green-breasted) Mango – 1 female feeding intrees close to Pacific shore!

Violet-headed Hummingbird

Rufous-crested Coquette           - 1 male feeding on flowering bush at Canopy Adventureentrance

Green Thorntail                          -1 male along La Mesa road

Garden Emerald

Violet-crowned Woodnymph

Violet-bellied Hummingbird

Sapphire-throated Hummingbird – Pacific Lowlands

Blue-chested Hummingbird

Snowy-bellied Hummingbird

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird

Snowcap                                  -at least 1 male, Altos Del Maria

White-vented Plumeleteer

Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer           - seen couple of times near La Mesa road

Purple-throated Mountain-gem   - 1 Altos Del Maria

Green-crowned Brilliant              - 1 Cerro Gaital

Purple-crowned Fairy                 -at least 1 Altos Del Maria

Long-billed Starthroat                -1 male near La Mesa road

TROGONS

White-tailed Trogon

Violaceous Trogon

Orange-bellied Trogon               -a pair on Las Minas Road

Black-throated Trogon

Black-tailed Trogon

Slaty-tailed Trogon

MOTMOTS

Tody Motmot                            -Canopy Adventure Trail, La Mesa, Cerro Cara Iguana

Blue-crowned Motmot

Rufous Motmot

Broad-billed Motmot

KINGFISHERS

Ringed Kingfisher

Amazon Kingfisher

Green Kingfisher

American Pygmy Kingfisher       - 1 Chagres R. Estuary

PUFFBIRDS

Black-breasted Puffbird             - seen several times very close to the tower

White-whiskered Puffbird           - 1 female, Pipeline Road

JACAMARS

Great Jacamar                           -1 Pipeline Road

BARBETS AND TOUCANS

Blue-throated (Emerald) Toucanet – La Mesa, Las MinasRoad

Collared Aracari

Keel-billed Toucan

Chestnut-mandibled Toucan       - despite status as a common bird seen only once (2birds),Pipeline R.

WOODPECKERS

Olivaceous Piculet                     -2 Pipeline Road

Black-cheeked Woodpecker

Red-crowned Woodpecker

Cinnamon Woodpecker

Lineated Woodpecker

Crimson-crested Woodpecker

OVENBIRDS AND ALLIES

Pale-breasted Spinetail              - 1 Pacific Lowlands

Red-faced Spinetail                   -3 Altos Del Maria

Spotted Barbtail                        -1 Altos Del Maria

Plain Xenops

WOODCREEPERS

Plain-brown Woodcreeper

Olivaceous Woodcreeper

Northern Barred-Woodcreeper    - Semaphore Hill

Cocoa Woodcreeper

Black-striped Woodcreeper        - Pipeline Road

Spotted Woodcreeper

Brown-billed Scythebill              - 2 Altos Del Maria

ANTBIRDS

Fasciated Antshrike

Great Antshrike                          -1 male at the entrance of the Lodge

Barred Antshrike

Western Slaty-Antshrike

Russet Antshrike

Plain Antvireo

Spot-crowned Antvireo

Checker-throated Antwren

White-flanked Antwren

Slaty Antwren

Dot-winged Antwren

Dusky Antbird

White-bellied Antbird

Chestnut-backed Antbird

Spotted Antbird

Bicolored Antbird

Ocellated Antbird                      -2 in the forest along Semaphore Hill Road

ANTTHRUSHES AND ANTPITTAS

Black-faced Antthrush

Black-crowned Antpitta              -a beautiful pair in Altos Del Maria

Streak-chested Antpitta              - 1 close by on Pipeline Road

TYRANT FLYCATCHERS

Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet

Mouse-colored Tyrannulet

Yellow Tyrannulet

Yellow-bellied Elaenia

Olive-striped Flycatcher

Ochre-bellied Flycatcher

Rufous-browed Tyrannulet

Paltry Tyrannulet

Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant

Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant

Southern Bentbill                       -1 Old Gamboan Road

Slate-headed Tody-Tyrant

Common Tody-Flycatcher

Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher

Olivaceous Flatbill                     -2 Pipeline Road

Yellow-olive Flycatcher

Yellow-margined Flycatcher

Golden-crowned Spadebill         - 1 Chagres River

Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher

Black-tailed Flycatcher

Bran-colored Flycatcher

Tufted Flycatcher (m)

Olive-sided Flycatcher (m)

Western Wood-Pewee (m)

Eastern Wood-Pewee (m)

Tropical Pewee

Acadian Flycatcher (m)

Bright-rumped Attila

Rufous Mourner

Dusky-capped Flycatcher

Panama Flycatcher

Great Crested Flycatcher (m)

Lesser Kiskadee

Great Kiskadee

Boat-billed Flycatcher

Rusty-margined Flycatcher

Social Flycatcher

Streaked Flycatcher

Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher (m)

Tropical Kingbird

Gray Kingbird (m)

Fork-tailed Flycatcher

            GENERA INCERTAE CEDIS

Cinnamon Becard

White-winged Becard

Masked Tityra

COTINGAS

Blue Cotinga

Purple-throated Fruitcrow

MANAKINS

Golden-collared Manakin

White-ruffed Manakin

Lance-tailed Manakin                 -1 male Cerro Cara Iguana

Blue-crowned Manakin

Red-capped Manakin

VIREOS

Yellow-throated Vireo (m)

Scrub Greenlet

Golden-fronted Greenlet

Lesser Greenlet

Green Shrike-Vireo

Rufous-browed Peppershrike     - 2 Lowlands

JAYS AND CROWS

Black-chested Jay

SWALLOWS

Gray-breasted Martin

Mangrove Swallow

Blue-and-white Swallow

White-thighed Swallow

Northern Rough-winged Swallow (m)

Southern Rough-winged Swallow

Barn Swallow (m)

WRENS

Black-bellied Wrens

Bay Wren

Rufous-breasted Wren

Rufous-and-white Wren

Buff-breasted Wren

Plain Wren

House Wren

Ochraceous Wren                      -1 Altos Del Maria

White-breasted Wood-Wren

Gray-breasted Wood-Wren

Song Wren

GNATCATCHERS

Tawny-faced Gnatwren

Long-billed Gnatwren

Tropical Gnatcatcher

THRUSHES

Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush

Gray-cheeked Thrush (m)

Pale-vented Thrush                    -2 Altos Del Maria

Clay-colored Robin

White-throated Thrush                -1 Chorro El Macho, at least 2 Altos Del Maria

MOCKINGBIRDS AND ALLIES

GrayCatbird (m)

Tropical Mockingbird

WOOD-WARBLERS

Blue-winged Warbler (m)

Golden-winged Warbler (m)

Tennessee Warbler (m)

Yellow Warbler (m)

Chestnut-sided Warbler (m)

Black-throated Green Warbler (m)

Blackburnian Warbler (m)

Bay-breasted Warbler (m)

Black-and-white Warbler (m)

American Redstart (m)

Prothonotary Warbler (m)

Northern Waterthrush (m)

Kentucky Warbler (m)

Mourning Warbler (m)

Canada Warbler (m)

Rufous-capped Warbler

BANANAQUIT

Bananaquit

TANAGERS

Common Bush-Tanager

Black-and-yellow Tanager

Rosy Thrush-Tanager

Dusky-faced Tanager

Gray-headed Tanager

White-shouldered Tanager

Tawny-crested Tanager

White-lined Tanager

Red-crowned Ant-Tanager

Hepatic Tanager

Summer Tanager (m)

Scarlet Tanager (m)

Crimson-backed Tanager

Flame-rumped Tanager

Blue-gray Tanager

Palm Tanager

Plain-colored Tanager

Silver-throated Tanager

Bay-headed Tanager

Golden-hooded Tanager

Blue Dacnis

Green Honeycreeper

Shining Honeycreeper                -1 male Altos Del Maria

Red-legged Honeycreeper

BUNTINGS AND ALLIES

Blue-black Grassquit

Variable Seedeater

Yellow-bellied Seedeater

Ruddy-breasted Seedeater        - several in Lowlands

Thick-billed Seedfinch

Yellow-faced Grassquit

Chestnut-capped Brush-Finch

Orange-billed Sparrow

Black-striped Sparrow

CARDINALS AND ALLIES

Streaked Saltator

Buff-throated Saltator

Black-headed Saltator

Slate-colored Grosbeak             -3 Pipeline Road

Rose-breasted Grosbeak (m)

BLACKBIRDS AND ALLIES

Red-breasted Blackbird             -several in Lowlands

Eastern Meadowlark                  -1 La Mesa road, several in Lowlands

Great-tailed Grackle

Orchard Oriole (m)

Yellow-backed Oriole

Yellow-tailed Oriole

Baltimore Oriole (m)

Scarlet-rumped Cacique

Yellow-rumped Cacique

Crested Oropendola                  -2 Altos Del Maria

Chestnut-headed Oropendola

GOLDFINCHES AND ALLIES

Yellow-crowned Euphonia          - several in Lowlands

Thick-billed Euphonia

Fulvous-vented Euphonia          - 1 Old Gamboan Road

Tawny-capped Euphonia            -at least 1 in Lowlands

Lesser Goldfinch                       -a few around the Lodge

Acknowledgements

We wish to express our thanks to the owner, staff andguides of the Canopy Tower and Canopy Lodge for their hospitability, their goodcare and lovely cooking, their fantastic birding skills and sense of humor.Thanks to all of you we had the birding holiday of our lifetime!