Itinerary
Birding Panama.
ARRIVAL DAY -
Arrival at Tocumen International Airport. We will meet you and drive you to
Albrook Inn Hotel (included in the tour cost).
Central Panama (Canal + Atlantic and Pacific side)
DAY 1 -
You will be picked up at the Albrook Inn Hotel early, so that we can start early
birding at the Metropolitan Nature Park in Panama City (470 acres of dry second
and young growth forest with patches of grassy areas), giving us the opportunity
to search for Lance-tailed Manakin, the endemic Yellow-green Tyrannulet, Rosy
Thrush-Tanager (uncommon), Orange-chinned Parakeets, Pheasant Cuckoo (rare) and
more. After lunch, depending on the tide you'll be visiting the area of Panama
Bay and coastal mudflats searching for Brown Pelican, Magnificent Frigatbird,
Great Blue Heron, Cocoi Heron, White Ibis, Mangrove Black-Hawk, Southern
Lapwing, Killdeer, Plovers Yellowlegs, Sandpipers and more.Overnight in Panama
City.
DAY 2 -
After an early breakfast, we will drive to Pipeline Road (a secondary forest
with some scrubby areas and many streams crossing). We will hear and look for
Southern Bentbill, Green Shrike-Vireo, Gray Elaenia, Streak-chested Antpitta,
Spotted Antbird, Long-billed Gnatwren, Great Jacamar, Rufous Mourner,
Purple-throated Fruitcrow and more. Before lunch, we will visit Ammunition Ponds
marshy area, which is very productive any hour of the day, searching for Snail
Kite, White-throated Crakes, Ruddy-breasted Seedeaters, Rufescent Tiger-Heron,
Variable Seedeater, Smooth-billed Ani and more. After lunch birding will
continue until around 3:00pm, when we will drive to Achiote Town. Well stop to
bird along the road at well known spots like Gatun Lock and Chagres River (Gatun
Dam spillway) looking for Road-side Hawk, American Kestrel, Cocoi Heron,
Tri-colored Heron, Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandible Toucan, Yellow-headed
Caracara. After dinner we will go for a short walk searching for owls,
nightjars, nighthawks and pauraques.Overnight in Achiote Town.
DAY 3 -
Starting early we will walk along parts of Achiote Road, searching for
Spot-crowned Barbet, White-headed Wren, Long-tailed Tyrant, Blue Cotinga, White
Hawk, Flame-rumped Tanager, Montezuma Oropendola (uncommon) and many other
species that can be found here.
At mid morning we will have breakfast with binoculars handy to see the
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird, Barred and Fasciated Antshrike, Tropical and
Common-toddy Flycatcher and others. Later, we will continue walking trails in
and to coffee plantation.
Lunch and time permitting well drive and bird on route to a Spanier fort on the
north side of San Lorenzo National Park entering a wet lowland tropical forest
with areas of mangroves, grass, scrubs, marshes and coastline looking for
Straight-billed Wood creeper, White and Black-tailed Trogon, Golden-collared
Manakin, Rufous Motmot, Checker-throated Antwren, Piratic Flycatcher, Common
Black-Hawk and more on the way to Panama.Overnight in Panama City.
DAY 4 -
Today you are back to Pipeline visiting The Rainforest Observation Tower
looking for canopy birds Green-shrike Vireo, Gray Elaenia, Keel-billed Tucan,
Black-mandible Tucan, Blue Cotinga later during the morning well go to Old
Gamboa Rd for Oropendolas, Caciques and Hummingbirds, Black-breasted Jay,
Collared Aracari, White-whiskered Puffbird, Lance-tailed Manakin, Boat-billed
Heron, Green Heron, Ringed Green and Amazon Kingfishers, Rusty-margined,
Boat-billed, Social Flycatchers and more. Another spot to cover is Summit
Gardens and/or Plantation Road (time permitting) to search for the Mask Tityra,
Golden-collared Manakin and with the possibilities to find army ant-swarms and
many of the birds that follow these ants such as Spotted Antbird, and Ocellated
Antbird, Gray-headed Tanager, Plain-brown Woodcreepper. Later in the afternoon
you'll flight to David.Overnight in La Amistad International Park.
Western Panama - Chiriqui Highlands and Foothills
DAY 5 -
We will go birding early to Los Quetzales Trail in the Parque Internacional La
Amistad - part of the Talamanca Mountain Range - an important bird area shared
with Costa Rica that protects the largest mountain forest extension in Central
America and with a high concentration of endemic species.
We will look for mountain forests species, such as Buffy Tuftedcheek, Ruddy
Treerunner, Spotted Barbtail and Scaly-throated Foliage-Gleaner. Heliconias and
flowers attract a variety of gorgeous hummingbirds like White-throated
Mountain-Gem, Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Volcano-Hummingbird, Magnificent
Hummingbird and Violet-Sabrewing. Some other species typical of the area are
Yellow-thighed Finch, Large-footed Finch, Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush, and
the globally endangered Black Guan (uncommon). Of course, we'll dedicate some
time to find the Resplendent Quetzal on the wild avocado trees. In the afternoon
we'll try La Amistad (Friendship) International Park. We'll walk part of El
Retono trail looking for Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, Prong-billed Barbet and
Wrenthrush (Zeledonia).Overnight at La Amistad International Park.
DAY 6 -
After breakfast you will visit the Volcan Lakes a good place to get foothills
species not found on the higher slopes of Cerro Punta. Some of the possibilities
are the Northern Jacana, Olivaceous Piculet, Pale-breasted Spinetail,
Stripe-throated Hermit, Collared Trogon and Golden-winged warbler could be
found. After lunch youll visit Los Quetzales Trail to the Volcan Baru in search
of the Resplandescent Quetzal. Overnight at La Amistad International Park.
DAY 7 -
On an early start drive toward Santa Clara, birding all the way. Some of the
birds to look for are Roadside Hawks, Cattle Egret, Bat Falcons, Yellow-headed
Caracaras and Double-toothed Kites. The road is good for foothills species not
found around Volcan. We'll visit Finca Hartman near the small town of Santa
Clara. This is a bird friendly shade-grown coffee farm with remnant of
rainforest trees, pre-mountain and highland forest that serve as a buffer zone
to Parque Internacional La Amistad. At elevations of between 4000-6000 ft there
are a number of accessible dirt roads that pass through many habitats excellent
for birding.
This is a good place in Panama to find the Turquoise Cotinga, White-crested
Coquette, Fiery-billed Aracari, White-tailed Emerald, Spot-crowned Euphonia,
Smoky-brown Woodpecker and many others. We'll have lunch at the Farm. In the
afternoon, on our way back to Cerro Punta, if time permits, we will stop and
visit an area called New Switzerland, looking for Flame-coloured Tanager,
Yellow-winged Vireo and many Warblers. We will try our luck for the Red-headed
Barbet. Afternoon: return flight to Panama City and late afternoon long drive to
Meteti and cross into the Darien frontier.Overnight in Meteti.
Note: Dont expect luxury. The Darien lowland lodging will be rustic, but clean
and safe. No hot water but air condition in rooms available. Traditional
meals of rice, fruits, plantains, chicken or fish, will be at the only
restaurant-fonda in town.
Eastern Panama Darien Lowlands
N.B.: Visiting the Darien can be a bit tricky, as the presence in the extreme
eastern and coastal portion of Colombian narco-traficantes makes the Panamanian
border police very nervous about the safety of tourists. We will be
visiting areas well-away from any danger, but even so may find ourselves turned
away as we go farther east, so we there are many good sites to bird. A lot
of the remaining forest in the region belongs the indigenous Kuna and Embera
peoples, so in case we have to make use of this contingency plan, we will hire a
local fellow to help us navigate the protocols to gain access to the best areas.
The birding will be excellent no matter where we go, and any additional time
west might actually earn us some species that can be missed in the east, so this
is a win-win situation!
DAY 8 -
In the Darien lowlands birding sites are spread out a bit, and some drive time
is unavoidable, but you will get a great a taste of South American species.
Our first stop is a nice patch of lowland forest that is home to Double-banded
Graytail, Golden-headed Manakin, Bare-crowned Antbird, Blue-and-yellow
Macaw and Orange-crowned Oriole, among others. Even farther east, well
drive a farm road that has a resident population of the intriguing Black-capped
Donacobius, plus such gems as Gray-breasted Crake and Large-billed Seed-Finch.
And a roadside stop even farther into the frontier has yielded Rufous-tailed
Jacamar, White-fronted Nunbird, Golden-green and Spotted-breasted Woodpecker ,
Spot-crowned Barbet and the Black Oropendola, Yellow-hooded Blackbird,
Large-billed Seedfinch is possible. This will be a long day, but well
worth the effort. Overnight in Meteti.
DAY 9 -
After breakfast youll visit the Reserva Filo de Tallo good place to get
foothills species not found on the lowland. On the way we may see the
Lesser yellow-headed vulture. The Forest Elaenia, Mangrove Cuckoo,
Cinnamon Woodpecker, Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker**, Golden-crowned Spadebill,
Olivaceous Woodcreeper. The first part of the trail, until the first
creek, is full of Heliconias patches producing the Long-billed, Stripe-throated,
Pale-bellied, Rufous-breasted Hermit and the Band-tailed Barbthroat. In
the afternoon wel head back west birding along the way until Torti. Time
permitting a late afternoon visit to Torti Arriba, very close to the
hotel, where we might find Black Antshrike, Scaly-breasted Hummingbird and
the Bare-throated Tiger-Heron (uncommon), Orange-crowned Oriole.Overnight in
Torti.
DAY 10 -
After breakfast a short drive well be birding the San Francisco Private Reserve
close to Torti. Passing through pastures, younger second growth with scrubs,
creeks and taller secondary forest look for the King Volture, Gray-cheek Nunlet,
Collared Forest-Falcon, Golden-collared Manakin, White-headed and
Stripe-throated Wren, Rufous-winged Antwren, Yellow-backed Tanager,
White-fronted Nunbird, Rufous and Broad-billed Motmot. In the afternoon a
visit to the Penas Blancas road can yield us Mealy Amazon Parrot, Piratic
Flycatcher, Pied Puffbird, Common Black Hawk, Smooth and Greater-billed
Ani, Turkey Vulture, Semiplumbeus Hawk, Plumbeus Kite, and time permitting
back to the Torti Arriba for birds we have miss the day before.Overnight in
Torti.
DAY 11 -
Today will require an early start with a long drive ahead of us. Well stop
en route to take breakfast, birding at roadside areas along Lago Bayano birding
along the Inter-American highway stopping at Bayano Bridge and various
trails. Expect see the Red-throated Caracara, Barred Puffbird, Plain-brown
Woodcreeper, Jet Antbird, Black-striped Woodcreeper, Band-rumped Swift, Pied
Water-Tyrant, Jet Antbird, Striated Heron, Black-collared Hawk, American
Kestrel, Giant Cowbird, White-flanked Antwren, Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, Olive
Flycatcher, Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Long-billed Gnatwren, White-eared
Conebill, Black-billed Flycatcher and One-colored Becard are possible.
Around mid day we should be heading to our next destination in the private
housing development at Cerro Azul. The high elevation guarantees
cool weather, so a mid-day arrival wont adversely affect our chances of seeing
the key birds. A stop at a private home with excellent feeders should
yield us the region-specific Violet-capped Hummingbird, as well as the endemic
Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker. A bit of hiking in areas of cloud forest might
yield us mixed flocks that include Speckled and Rufous-winged Tanagers, and we
might encounter Black-eared Wood-Quail or Yellow-eared Toucanet, Bay-headed,
Rufous-winged, Siler Throated Tanagers anywhere. In the late afternoon
well skirt around Panama City to reach our hotel where a fine dinner awaits.
Overnight in Cerro Azul.
DAY 12 - Departure day -
After breakfast and time permitting on the way to Panama City well go for birds
of open country (rice fields), scrub and freshwater habitat. Also a quick
look at the mudflats for shorebirds and other coastal species. And you
will be assisted throughout the final procedure for departure to your next
destination.
Price per person US$
quote in double occupancy (max 6 persons)
Single accommodations are available for an extra charge of US$390 Fill and send
the
Reservation Form
to info@birdingbyboattour.com.
Included in price:
Airfare to David (Chiriqui), all road transportation, bilingual guide, checklist
booklet of the Birds of Panama, local guide, lodgingand park fees.
Not Included:
International flights, meals, 7% tax, personal services, laundry, telephone,
alcoholic drinks, gratuities etc.
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