Bulletin 190 - Panama #1 - Cuckoos and Kingfishers

I had the pleasure of 7 days birding in central Panama in early February. We hired a guide to show us around and find the birds. Also, he was our chauffeur, which, on seeing the traffic in the country, was a blessing. The guide was Gonzalo Horna, whom we found on the Birding Pal web site. Gonzalo knew his birds and where to find them. You can contact him by his email.

Panama is a tiny country about the size of the state of South Carolina or the province of New Brunswick. Yet it has a bird population of 978 species in the guide book, or almost 10% of all the birds in the world! North America (USA and Canada) has about 725 species.

We photographed lots of birds. The neotropics have several families of birds that don't make it to the USA or Canada, so I will present them by families and describe those that are unfamiliar to most people who haven't had the pleasure of birding the tropics.

We found 4 species of cuckoos. Most cuckoos have long tails. The 3 species of anis are members of the cuckoo family and all 3 are in Panama. By the way, if you do crossword puzzles, a favorite is a 3 letter word for cuckoo (ANI). 2 of these birds can be found in extreme southern USA. The sexes are similar in all anis.

The Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani) is black with a long tail and large bill without ridges. It is about 13" in length. It can be seen in south Florida, but the population is declining rapidly.



Smooth-billed Ani

His cousin, the Groove-billed Ani (Crotophaga sulcirostris) is smaller at 12" long, and has ridges on his upper mandible. It also can be found in the USA, in south Texas.

Groove-billed Ani

The last is the Greater Ani (Crotophaga major). It is the largest at 18" in length. It is IDed by the long tail, white eye, and ridge on upper mandible.

Greater Ani

Kingfishers are a worldwide family. Six species occur in the Americas and all 6 can be found in Panama. We saw 4 of them, and got photos of 3, all of which also are in the USA, 3 only occur in south Texas.

The most common and well known to North Americans is the Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle torquata). In Panama however, it is listed as an uncommon visitor. This is a female with the brown band.

Belted Kingfisher - female

The Amazon Kingfisher (Chloroceryle amazona) is the largest of the green colored kingfishers at 12". It has been seen in south Texas only twice, so is very rare in the ABA area. It is a male with the brown on chest.

Amazon Kingfisher - male

Lastly, is the small (7") Green Kingfisher (Chloroceryle americana). It is a fairly common bird in south Texas, aspecially along the Rio Grande. The male has brown on the chest.

Green Kingfisher - male

The female lacks the brown on the chest.



Green Kingfisher - female

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2014 David McDonald

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Bulletin 187 - Puerto Rico #3 - other birds

There are 5 hummingbird species on Puerto Rico, 2 of which are endemics and we saw one of them, the Puerto Rican Emerald in Bulletin 185. However, we found all 3 of the other hummers. These were all life birds.

The most amazing is the tiny (3.5") Antillean Crested Hummingbird (Orthorhyncus cristatus). The male of this has a crest that flashes color as the gorget of other species does. His throat and underparts are gray. The crest feathers even appear to extend along the bill.



Antillean Crested Hummingbird - male

Here is another bird hovering. The feathers extending along the bill are clearly seen.



Antillean Crested Hummingbird - male

The Green-throated Carib (Eulampis holosericeus) is larger (5"). The back is dull green, the throat is bright green and the belly is blue. The bill in curved. The sexes are similar.



Green-throated Carib



The Smooth-billed Ani (Crotophaga ani) is a member of the cuckoo family. This species is a resident of south Florida as well, but now are almost gone. I saw them near the Ft Lauderdale airport in 2006, but could not get a photo. They are all black with a long tail and huge beak.



Smooth-billed Ani

There were several interesting introduced birds as well. The Nutmeg Mannikin (Lonchura punctata), a native of southeast Asia is a small (4.5") common cage bird and thus is found in a lot of populated areas due to escapes or releases. The scalloped chest markings are distinctive.



Nutmeg Mannikin

The Pin-tailed Whydah (Vidua macroura) is another small (4.5") cage bird that is native to Africa. The females and non-breeding males are sparrow-like brown with a black face and red bill. The breeding male is completely different assuming a black and white plumage and 8" tail feathers! Unfortunately, we just saw the former.



Pin-tailed Whydah - female

We saw several familiar North American birds that are winter visitors to Puerto Rico. These included Black-and-white, Prairie, and Northern Parula warblers as well as several shorebirds (Wilson's Plover, Spotted Sandpiper and Greater Yellowlegs).


This Hermit Crabs in the forest had climbed a 5 foot stick.



Hermit Crab in forest

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2013 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.