Xenornis

Linda Wiles sent in these Bat Falcon portraits taken this morning at the Miraflores Locks webcam .

After being in El Real last month, I decided to do some birding in the highlands of eastern Panama, specifically above Rancho Plástico, with Alex Guevara and Ramiro Duque. Our expedition started on September 15th arriving at Rancho Frío late in the afternoon. The following day in the morning Slate-throated Gnatcatchers, Purple Honeycreepers, Scarlet-browed Tanagers, and Western Sirystes were moving around the station. During our hike to Rancho Plástico the same day, Wing-banded Antbirds gave us some great views and a Yellow- browed Shrike Vireo was heard in the distance. In the afternoon at a lookout close to Rancho Plástico, Great Green Macaws and Red-and-green Macaws were flying around, and at dusk a group of Tawny-faced Quails were singing close to our tent. On September 17th we headed further up from our camp site where we saw Black-crowned Antpittas, Immaculate Antbirds, and Dull-mantled Antbirds. A single Green Manakin landed very close to us. In a mixed flock we encountered Red...

Dr. Osvaldo Quintero photographed this juvenile Black-billed Cuckoo (notice the yellow, not red, eye-ring and smallish spots on the undertail) at around 5 pm on the banks of the river at Costa del Este.

As part of its two-month program, the Panama Art Biennial is showing Frederick Wiseman's Canal Zone , a three-hour documentary about normal life in the zone during the U.S. bicentennial. The ornithological highlight of the film is the audio documentation of the presence of Gray-breasted Crake, fide its characteristic three-note twinkling call, during a parachute landing practice that takes place at the Gatún drop zone, which is today probably the best place in the country to at least hear this rare rail. The film being shot in 1976, this is effectively the third record of the species for Panama: there's the Wetmore specimens from 1956 (Coiba) and 1963 (Puerto Obaldía), then comes the Wiseman recording, which is followed by a 1977 sighting from Fort Sherman (about 10 km north of the drop zone) and then the 1983 records from Tocumen Marsh.

Venicio Wilson sent in these photos taken during an Inside Panama tour led by Michael Carmody. The Buff-breasted Sandpipers, a group of seven, were at Gatún Dam, foraging in a patch of recently-mowed grass near the crest of the dam, about 500 yards past the spillway. Also seen was a kettle of about 1000 Mississippi Kites, and this Black Hawk-Eagle seen perched in a Cecropia.

On the morning of Saturday, September 6, eight Panama Auduboners braved the ominous, overcast skies and headed out to sea for a morning of pelagic birding on our yearly fieldtrip to Islas Frailes del Sur. We headed straight out, saving the islands for the way back. On the way out we saw the first of many Wedge-rumped Storm-Petrels, which were not seen on our July scouting trip. At the end of the day we were up to 16 wedge-rumpeds, with a single, unidentifed storm-petrel with a dark rump. We stopped about 20 km offshore and drifted for a long, seasickening while, while trying to lay a good, smelly oil slick to try and lure something in. Sure enough, not an hour had passed when we had a Sooty Shearwater fly in and look around for a bit before continuing on its shearwaterly business. We then wandered about aimlessly to get some fresh air on our green faces and found an unidentified phalarope and two more wedge-rumped storm petrels sitting on the water. Eventually we approached Frailes ...

The new AOU supplement has recently come out. As usual there have been a few changes that affect the Panama list. The most significant change in the AOU list is lumping of Mangrove Black-Hawk with Common Black-Hawk, thanks to an article published by our friend Bill Clark. The combined species retains the common and scientific names of Common Black-Hawk. Peruvian Pelican has been split from Brown Pelican. This affects threshold levels for IBA designation, but BirdLife has already accepted this change. The common name of Rufous-cheeked Hummingbird has been changed to Pirre Hummingbird. The common name of the two Violet-ears has been changed to Violetear (without the hyphen). Gray-cheeked Nunlet and White-ringed Flycatcher have been split from South American forms. The scientific names have been changed, but the common names stay the same. The common name of Brownish Flycatcher has (finally) been officially changed to Brownish Twistwing, a change already made in the PAS list. The common n...

The best find in August was a Grayish Saltator found on the grounds of Villa Marita in Boquete on 8/13. I was hanging out waiting for a ride when I spotted this bird (there may have been two on the grounds) - I was quite surprised, and chased it for well over an hour before I finally collected a little evidence; a still from video is attached. I believe this is a first record for Chiriquí; given the location, I suspect this bird(s) came from the Pacific slope of Costa Rica, rather than crossing the Continental Divide from Bocas. Another highlight of the day was a Pearl Kite seen quite well from the bus on the way in. On 8/9, on the grounds of the Canopy Lodge in El Valle, I found Black-throated Mango (unexpected at the elevation), Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, Sepia-capped Flycatcher, and Eye-ringed Flatbill. On 8/14 I found Yellow-margined Flycatcher and Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch on private property north of La Estrella, east of Boquete. On 8/16, at Finca Lérida above Boquete, h...

José García and Mahelis Rodríguez spent August 26-27 birding La Rana and Los Helechos trails at El Copé. Highlight was this male Bare-necked Umbrellabird, but they also found Plumbeous Hawk, Black Guan, Stripe-breasted Wren and Lineated Foliage-Gleaner.