Xenornis

José Tejada Spent the day birding around Cerro Azul. The best part of his morning at Calle Maipo was meeting a flock of about 15 Blue-fronted Parrotlets feeding at a fruiting tree. They were very hard to see, as they were perched on the top branches, but once located he got good scope views of this seldom (well-)seen species. Then he went to the Kaufmann Villa to look for the Hawk-Eagles, but he decided to check the garden trail first and found it was full of birds. Many trees were fruiting, and they were attended by flocks of the usual fruit-eating species. There were also lots of hummingbirds, including a pair of Garden Emerald, a Green-crowned Brilliant and a bunch of Bronze-tailed Plumeleteers. It was while waiting for hummingbirds, sitting down at the spot where the trail loops back, that he noticed a Barred Puffbird quietly perched in the undergrowth just beyond the trail. The heavy, greenish bill, yellow eyes and white throat were very evident, it was rufous above, buffy below a

If you still haven’t seen a Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle it must mean you haven’t been to the Kaufmann Cerro Azul Villa lately, as the species has become a regular (The horror! The horror!) up there. As you certainly must remember, Bill Porteous et al. found one there on November 10th, 2000, perched on a tree in the backyard. Well, on Sunday, August 12th, at around 3 P.M. Camilo Montañez, Tim Mitzen and Katie Svihlik saw one fly up from the valley and perch on the same tree. After they had great scope views the bird flew off and started soaring in circles above the yard, as a second individual perched in the same tree, where it was joined by the first one. The pair stayed in place, preening, for about 15 minutes, after which one darted off into the valley, not to be seen again. The second bird stayed for another 15 minutes, until a bunch of Swallow-tailed Kites chased it off. Then on Wednesday, August 15th, Rosabel, José Tejada and Joseph and Susan Bartell stopped to check the backyard a

On the morning of Sunday, august 5th, Rosabel and Karl Kaufmann and Camilo Montañez saw a flock of Purple Martins flying over the Kaufmann Cerro Azul Villa. About five of them were adult males (with an all-dark plumage), but the age/sex/identity of the others could not be verified. Also, a few Cliff Swallows were tossed in for variety. Then on the following Saturday, August 11th, Rosabel and Karl saw another small flock, this time made-up exclusively of females/juveniles, perched on a wire somewhere in Altos de Cerro Azul. Then on the following Tuesday, August 14th, Tim Mitzen and Katie Svihlik, visiting birders from Colorado, and Darién Montañez had a flock of about 15 birds, males and females/juveniles, perched on and flying around the transmission lines over the railroad tracks by the Gamboa Ammo Dump. And then on the following Saturday, August 18th, the PAS fieldtrip to Tocumen Marsh had at least two males (and who know how many juvenile/females) flying over the rice fields on the

Bill Porteous reports finding a small flock of Odontophorus Wood-Quail at Cerro Campana. It was about 5 P.M. and quite dark inside the forest. Upon discovery, the flock scurried uphill twittering whithout giving any hints as to its specific identity. This is the first time in recent history that any Wood-Quail have been reported from the area. Black-eared Wood-Quail have been seen in Campana, but Marbled Wood-Quail remains a possibility.

Brad Herring, a peace corps volunteer, reported seeing a pair of Anhingas on a marsh near Remedios, Chiriquí. According to Ridgely the species is unknown in that province (or at least it was in 1989).