Panama | Between Two Continents: Birding in Panama with Friends of Bosque del Apache

Upon arrival at Tocumen International Airport, meet your guide and travel to the hotel. Check in starts at 3 pm.

Start the day with breakfast followed by a program orientation at the hotel, then depart for the Rainforest Discovery Center, located at the world famous Pipeline Road. Begin at the visitor center, observing up to 14 species of hummingbirds that have been recorded at the feeders. Continue along the trails observing birds of the undergrowth such as manakins, anteaters and trogons. Ascend the 130-foot tower to observe birds in the canopy layer such as the Mealy and Red-lored Parrots, Keel-billed and Yellow-throated Toucans, Blue Cotinga, Masked Tityra, and Green and Red-legged Honeycreepers. Continue birding along Pipeline Road, looking for Crested Eagles and Hook-billed Kites. Golden-collared Manakin, White-bellied and Blue-throated Antbirds, and Pheasant Cuckoo may also be seen. Return to the hotel for lunch. Later, travel to the Panama Canal's famed Miraflores Locks for exploration of the museum, hopefully seeing a ship passing through the locks. Return to the hotel for bird checklist review followed by dinner. (Temperature: 72°-90° F / Hot/humid / Elevation: 100-400 feet / Lowland tropical rainforest, tropical secondary forest, lagoons and rivers with floating vegetation)

After breakfast, journey to Plantation Road. This old, graded dirt road passes along a mature forest and is approximately four miles long. Go birding along the road in search of interior forest birds, such as Spotted, Bi-colored and Ocellated Antbirds, Gray-headed Tanagers, and Plain-brown, Northern Barred and, if you're lucky, Ruddy Woodcreepers following army ant swarms. Be on the lookout for the Hook-billed Kite, while Golden-crowned Spadebills are regulars around the creek, and White-breasted Wood Wrens, tinamous and leaftossers are easy to spot. Enjoy a picnic lunch, and then head out for birding at Metropolitan Nature Park, perhaps the only forest reserve within a major capital city in Latin America. Despite proximity to Panama City, it boasts rich avifauna. Before bird checklist review and dinner this evening, meet with a member of the local Audubon chapter for a lecture on the birds of Panama.

After breakfast, travel to the airport for the flight to David, Chiriquí. Stop for lunch at a local restaurant, then travel 3,900 feet above sea level to the highlands of Boquete. Spend the day seeking out Quetzals on the Pipeline Trail. These magnificent birds, with their emerald green two-foot tails flowing behind them, are exceedingly rare in Central America. Your chances of seeing them here are excellent. Bird checklist review this evening.

An exciting day awaits you! You can choose from one of two options; one that is for those that feel comfortable with more strenuous, high altitudes, and the other for those that feel comfortable at lesser altitudes and comfortable pace.

Higher altitude - Early morning departure from the hotel for the Volcán Barú summit. Ascend the volcano to its peak at 11,398 feet. Common species to be seen are Volcano Hummingbird, Fiery-throated Hummingbird, Flame-throated Warbler, Sooty-capped Chlorospingus, Sooty Thrush, and Timberline Wren. Enjoy sunrise and a picnic breakfast at the summit. The summit activity includes 4x4 vehicle drive up the mountain on rocky and rugged terrain. At the top of the mountain the temperature can be chilly but blankets are provided.

Lower altitude - For those who are interested in a less strenuous option, birding in Boquete Tree Trek has been arranged. Part of the Río Cristal nature reserve, venture 1500 fasl on the edge of La Amistad International Park within the Talamanca mountain range. Explore the lush flora and fauna of the area, where we have listed more than 150 bird species, many of them endemic. Tanagers, nightjars, and swallows are some of the most commonly observed, not to mention the resplendent quetzal, which has made this impressive forest one of its favorite nesting sites (December-April).

Everyone will gather together in town for lunch, then visit the nearby Los Quetzales Trail in Volcán Barú National Park. Established in 1976, the park is part of the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor and is home to over 250 species of birds including quetzals, Volcano Junco, Yellow-thighed Finch, Black-and-White Hawk- Eagle, Black Guan, skulking Wrenthrush, Silvery-throated Tapaculo, White-naped Brushfinch, and mixed flocks containing a wealth of colorful tanagers and warblers.

Today, travel to the Chiriquí midlands, south of Volcán, in search of species such as the Red-headed Barbet, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, Emerald Tanager and Rufous-browed Tyrannulet. Stop at Birding Paradise, located in an intermediate zone providing species of birds from both the highlands and lowlands, more than 20 species of hummingbirds can be found here. To follow is a stop at Macho de Monte Canyon to spot Fiery-billed Aracari, Riverside Wren, Orange-bellied Trogon, and Orange-collared Manakin. Have lunch in Volcán at La Carbonera. After lunch, you will have the opportunity to spot some of the species that can be found at Las Lagunas ("the Lakes"), Panama's highest elevation natural wetlands that sit 4,000 feet above sea level. See the Masked Duck, Chiriquí Yellowthroat, Blue-winged Teal, Lesser Scaup, Crested Guan and more. Afterward, journey to Janson Coffee Farm for additional birding opportunities and some snacks before returning to Boquete. Bird checklist review then enjoy dinner at the hotel this evening.

After an early breakfast, check out of the hotel and travel back to David, Chiriquí to board the flight back to Panama City. Have lunch, check into your hotel, and then explore the Panama Bay Mudflats, designated a wetland of international importance or Ramsar site, as well as a site of hemispheric importance by the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network (WHSRN). The Bay of Panama is an important wintering habitat to thousands of shorebirds including Western Sandpiper, Semipalmated and Black-bellied Plovers, Willet, Whimbrel, and Short-billed Dowitcher. Additionally, explore the Panamá Viejo ruins and Costa del Este areas. Resident raptors of interest may include the Gray-lined Hawk, Crested Caracara, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon. Travel to Casco Antiguo historic district for a walking tour before your farewell dinner with folkloric dancing at Las Tinajas. Farewell briefing and final bird checklist review will be done at dinner this evening.

Travel to the airport for the flight home. Check out is at 12 pm.