Birdwatching In Panama

Our Picture Galleries with Birds from Panama

You can always find our picture galleries with birds from Panama here on our website. The Index of all galleries with birds from Panama is located here, there we have slide shows with: Birds of Prey, Hummingbirds, Trogons & Motmots, Toucan, Parrots & Macaws, Birdwatching along the Pipeline Road, Woodpeckers, the Harpy Eagle @ Soberania National Park, Tanagers, Flycatchers, Puffbirds, Herons & Egrets and much more! You can find many more great nature photos at my other website YourNaturePhotos.com where you also can upload your own pictures.

Soberania National Park in Panama

With an extension of 19,341 hectares the Soberania National Park, located in the Province of Panama and Colon  o was created in the year 1980, forming part of the protected Panama Canal Watershed. The Soberania National Park counts with 105 species of mamals, 525 species of birds, 79 species of reptiles, 36 species of fish and an incredible abundance of plants. There are some great hiking trails in this park esay accessible by a short drive from Panama City along the way to Gamboa and beyond. The best known and a must for birdwatchers is the Pipeline Road where many bird counting records where set and where you also find the The Panama Rainforest Discovery Center with its observation tower. Other great trails are the Plantation Road, the  Camino de Cruces trail and the El Charco trail, also the Summit Nature Park is located there and well worth a visit.

Trogons in Panama

The trogons and quetzals are birds in the order Trogoniformes which contains only one family, the Trogonidae. Trogons are residents of tropical forests worldwide, with the greatest diversity in Central and South America. They feed on insects and fruit. Here in Panama along the Pipeline Road or at the Trogon Trail along the Achiote Road they can be seen frequently. You can find many more photos of Trogons from Panama here.

 

Summit Ponds

Here is another great spot to view some exotic birds: the Summit Ponds! Just in front of the Summit Nature Park (on the opposite side of the road to Gamboa) is a small road that leads a downhill and just a few yards down there to the left is the way that leads to the Summit Ponds, it consists of 2 small ponds where if lucky you might see the Boat-billed Heron, the Greater Ani and many smaller birds, if you follow that road further you find some huge bamboos where the Spectacled Owl’s hang out.  On some trees nearby we also spotted a pair of The Bat Falcon’s.

Download some great bird photo wallpapers

Download some great bird photo wallpapers from Panama for your computers desktop background! From pictures of the mighty Harpy Eagle to the colorful Toucans and from Tanagers to the Blue Crowned Motmot and Trogon plus many more. Please visit my new website Wallpapers247.com here to download the bird photo wallpapers, select the wallpaper you like best, then click on the download link below the wallpaper image then Right click on image and select Set as Background or Set as Wallpaper, its that easy.

Pipeline Road Weekend Hike

Was out walking along the pipeline road last weekend. Not sure it happens just to me or to everybody but there seam to be days when those birds just don’t want to be seen or my eyes cant find em (even do I hear many quite well) then there are other days when they just seam to sit in front of you and ask please take my picture. Well question: are bird count numbers generally down and might it be to changes in the environment or because of road works going on along the pipeline road?  (Also guess it does not help to have so many cars driving along there) A couple weeks ago I did see the Harpy Eagle spotting some howler monkeys (see attached photo), some Trogons and many other birds, this time almost nada. So I exchange the long lens for the macro and look around for strange alien insects and butterflies when suddenly this Blue Chested Hummingbird makes a short appearance (see attached images)  nice only wished he would have stayed a bit longer, well anyway for me the hike along the pipeline road is  always a  refreshing adventure even without seeing to many birds, the fresh air, the  many sounds from zirpping to howling filling the rain forest’s air and  all the diversity of life forms around, there is never a dull moment.  Just standing there experiencing it all is a great and satisfiing feeling, just wish I could be there more often! For more information about the Pipeline Road including a little map from the SSI see this page here and for other great places to hike in Panama see the index here.

For more nature photos (and where you also can upload your own photos) please see YourNaturePhotos .com here.

Hermit Hummingbird - Panama

The Hermits are tropical and subtropical hummingbirds in the subfamily Phaethornithinae, comprising 30–40 species in six genera. They occur from southern Mexico, through Central America, to South America as far south as northern Argentina. Their plumage typically involves greens, browns, rufous or grey. Most hermits are restricted to the edge and undergrowth of forest, woodland and second growth, the photos shown here where taken along the Pipeline Road in the Soberania National Park in Panama.  Please see also this page here for more photos of Hummingbirds from Panama. Stripe-throated Hermit (Phaethornis striigularis):

Altos de Campana National Park

Here is another great spot for birdwatching close to Panama City. Located in the Province of Panama about 50 kilometers (one hour drive) west from Panama City. Just a few kilometers after passing Capira a side road takes up up to the park. Campana is Panama’s oldest National Park, being legally established in 1966 in part to protect the Panama Canal watershed. The Park protects 4,925 hectares of great biological diversity. At the parks administratives office at the entrance you need to pay a small fee, they have a little brochure that shows the trails of the area. Some of the bird species reported in the area are for example the are Orange-bellied Trogon, the White tailed Hawk, some rare hummingbirds and many others you can discover as well. Also make sure to wear good hiking shoes as some of the trails are very slippery in the rainy season, and dont try to hold on to the trees that are full of sharp thorns like I did!

The Harpy Eagle catching a Sloth

The Harpy Eagle catching a Sloth video from Youtube. The Harpy Eagle’s main prey items are tree-dwelling mammals such as monkeys, coatis, and the sloth. You can find this and many more great nature videos here at my other website YourNaturePhotos.com where you also can upload your own nature photos.

The Collared Aracari in Panama

The Collared Aracari, Pteroglossus torquatus, is a medium-sized toucan, a near-passerine bird which breeds from southern Mexico to Panama; also Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela. Here in Panama I have seen them around the Pipeline Road in the Soberania National Park, they are mentioned to live also in most of the Darien area, all along the Atlantic Coast and in the Altos De Campana National Park area. The Collared Aracari is primarily an arboreal fruit-eater, but will also take insects, lizards, bird eggs, and other small prey. The sexes are alike in appearance, with a black head and chest and dark olive green upper parts, apart from a red rump and upper tail. For more photos of toucans please see this page here at YourNaturePhotos.com.