Panama By The Numbers
Details still to come, and a few birds I need to verify, but:
- 333 total species
- 242 life birds
- 9 mammal species including four primates (10 if you include Homo sapiens)
- 2 endemics
- 13 Herons and Ibises
- 28 raptor species
- 21 shorebird species
- 7 pigeons and doves
- 3 cuckoo species
- All 3 Ani species
- 3 Owl species
- Both Potoos
- 5 swift species
- 29 Hummingbird species including the endemic Veraguan Mango
- 5 Trogon species; essentially evry one in the area
- 5 Motmot species
- 4 Kingfisher species
- 5 Puffbird species
- 5 Toucan species
- 5 Woodpecker species
- 17 Antbirds (actually lower than expected; these birds hide)
- 38 Flycatcher species
- 13 Wren species
- 14 Warbler species
- 18 Tanager species
- 3 Cacique species
- 5 Euphonia species
- 2 Oropendola species
- 0 ABA area species :-)
Panama makes for a really concentrated introduction to Central American birds. Lots of different habitat within just a couple of hours radius of Panama City. There’s a well developed ecotourism community to support birding (leaders, lodges, parks, etc.)
- Great Tinamou
- Little Tinamou (Heard only)
- Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
- Gray-headed Chachalaca
- Crested Bobwhite
- Wood Stork
- Magnificent Frigatebird
- Neotropic Cormorant
- Brown Pelican
- Rufescent Tiger-Heron
- Great Blue Heron
- Cocoi Heron
- Great Egret
- Snowy Egret
- Little Blue Heron
- Tricolored Heron
- Cattle Egret
- Green Heron
- Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
- Boat-billed Heron
- White Ibis
- Glossy Ibis
- Black Vulture
- Turkey Vulture
- Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
- Osprey
- Gray-headed Kite
- Hook-billed Kite
- White-tailed Kite
- Double-toothed Kite
- Mississippi Kite
- Semiplumbeous Hawk
- White Hawk
- Common Black-Hawk
- Savanna Hawk
- Roadside Hawk
- Broad-winged Hawk
- Gray Hawk
- Short-tailed Hawk
- Swainson’s Hawk
- Zone-tailed Hawk
- Black Hawk-Eagle
- Ornate Hawk-Eagle
- Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon
- Crested Caracara
- Yellow-headed Caracara
- American Kestrel
- Merlin
- Aplomado Falcon
- Bat Falcon
- Peregrine Falcon
- White-throated Crake
- Southern Lapwing
- Black-bellied Plover
- Collared Plover
- Wilson’s Plover
- Semipalmated Plover
- Black-necked Stilt
- Wattled Jacana
- Spotted Sandpiper
- Solitary Sandpiper
- Greater Yellowlegs
- Willet
- Lesser Yellowlegs
- Whimbrel
- Long-billed Curlew
- Marbled Godwit
- Sanderling Playa Santa Clara
- Semipalmated Sandpiper
- Western Sandpiper
- Least Sandpiper
- Buff-breasted Sandpiper
- Short-billed Dowitcher
- Laughing Gull
- Gull-billed Tern
- Black Tern
- Common Tern
- Royal Tern Playa Santa Clara
- Black Skimmer
- Rock Pigeon
- Pale-vented Pigeon
- Scaled Pigeon
- Short-billed Pigeon
- Ruddy Ground-Dove
- White-tipped Dove
- Gray-chested Dove
- Brown-throated Parakeet
- Orange-chinned Parakeet
- Brown-hooded Parrot
- Blue-headed Parrot
- Red-lored Parrot
- Mealy Parrot
- Yellow-crowned Parrot
- Squirrel Cuckoo
- Yellow-billed Cuckoo
- Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo
- Greater Ani
- Smooth-billed Ani
- Groove-billed Ani
- Tropical Screech-Owl
- Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl
- Mottled Owl
- Great Potoo
- Common Potoo
- White-collared Swift
- Chimney Swift
- Short-tailed Swift
- Band-rumped Swift
- Lesser Swallow-tailed Swift
- White-necked Jacobin
- White-tipped Sicklebill
- Band-tailed Barbthroat
- Green Hermit
- Long-billed Hermit
- Stripe-throated Hermit
- Purple-crowned Fairy
- Veraguan Mango
- Long-billed Starthroat
- Violet-headed Hummingbird
- Scaly-breasted Hummingbird
- White-vented Plumeleteer
- Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer
- Violet-crowned Woodnymph
- Snowcap
- Blue-chested Hummingbird
- Snowy-bellied Hummingbird
- Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
- Violet-bellied Hummingbird
- Slaty-tailed Trogon
- White-tailed Trogon
- Gartered Trogon
- Black-throated Trogon
- Orange-bellied Trogon
- Tody Motmot
- Blue-crowned Motmot
- Whooping Motmot
- Rufous Motmot
- Broad-billed Motmot
- Ringed Kingfisher
- Belted Kingfisher
- Amazon Kingfisher
- Green Kingfisher
- White-necked Puffbird
- Black-breasted Puffbird
- Pied Puffbird
- Barred Puffbird
- White-whiskered Puffbird
- Spot-crowned Barbet
- Emerald Toucanet
- Collared Aracari
- Yellow-eared Toucanet
- Black-mandibled Toucan
- Keel-billed Toucan
- Black-cheeked Woodpecker
- Red-crowned Woodpecker
- Cinnamon Woodpecker
- Lineated Woodpecker
- Crimson-crested Woodpecker
- Red-faced Spinetail
- Spotted Barbtail
- Plain Xenops
- Plain-brown Woodcreeper
- Ruddy Woodcreeper
- Northern Barred-Woodcreeper
- Straight-billed Woodcreeper
- Cocoa Woodcreeper
- Spotted Woodcreeper
- Fasciated Antshrike
- Barred Antshrike
- Western Slaty-Antshrike
- Russet Antshrike
- Plain Antvireo Chicken Farm
- Spot-crowned Antvireo
- Checker-throated Antwren
- White-flanked Antwren
- Dot-winged Antwren
- Dusky Antbird
- White-bellied Antbird
- Chestnut-backed Antbird
- Bicolored Antbird
- Spotted Antbird
- Ocellated Antbird
- Black-faced Antthrush
- Streak-chested Antpitta
- Brown-capped Tyrannulet
- Southern Beardless-Tyrannulet
- Yellow Tyrannulet
- Forest Elaenia
- Yellow-bellied Elaenia
- Olive-striped Flycatcher Chicken Farm
- Ochre-bellied Flycatcher Trogon Trail
- Yellow-green Tyrannulet
- Rufous-browed Tyrannulet
- Paltry Tyrannulet
- Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant
- Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant
- Southern Bentbill
- Common Tody-Flycatcher
- Royal Flycatcher
- Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher
- Sulphur-rumped Flycatcher Chicken Farm
- Bran-colored Flycatcher
- Tufted Flycatcher
- Olive-sided Flycatcher
- Eastern Wood-Pewee
- Acadian Flycatcher
- Long-tailed Tyrant
- Bright-rumped Attila
- Rufous Mourner
- Dusky-capped Flycatcher
- Panama Flycatcher
- Great Crested Flycatcher
- Lesser Kiskadee
- Great Kiskadee
- Boat-billed Flycatcher
- Rusty-margined Flycatcher
- Social Flycatcher
- Gray-capped Flycatcher
- Streaked Flycatcher
- Tropical Kingbird
- Eastern Kingbird
- Gray Kingbird
- Fork-tailed Flycatcher
- Purple-throated Fruitcrow
- Blue Cotinga Trogon Trail
- White-ruffed Manakin
- Blue-crowned Manakin
- Golden-collared Manakin
- Lance-tailed Manakin
- Red-capped Manakin
- White-winged Becard
- Red-eyed Vireo
- Scrub Greenlet
- Golden-fronted Greenlet
- Lesser Greenlet
- Green Shrike-Vireo
- Black-chested Jay
- Blue-and-white Swallow El Valle
- Northern Rough-winged Swallow
- Southern Rough-winged Swallow
- Gray-breasted Martin
- Mangrove Swallow
- Bank Swallow
- Barn Swallow
- Cliff Swallow
- White-headed Wren
- Black-bellied Wren
- Rufous-breasted Wren
- Rufous-and-white Wren
- Plain Wren
- Bay Wren
- House Wren
- Ochraceous Wren
- White-breasted Wood-Wren
- Gray-breasted Wood-Wren
- Scaly-breasted Wren
- Song Wren
- Long-billed Gnatwren
- Tropical Gnatcatcher
- Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush
- Swainson’s Thrush
- Pale-vented Thrush
- Clay-colored Thrush
- Tropical Mockingbird
- Louisiana Waterthrush
- Northern Waterthrush
- Golden-winged Warbler
- Black-and-white Warbler
- Prothonotary Warbler
- Tennessee Warbler
- Mourning Warbler
- Kentucky Warbler
- American Redstart
- Bay-breasted Warbler
- Blackburnian Warbler
- Yellow Warbler
- Chestnut-sided Warbler
- Rufous-capped Warbler
- Buff-rumped Warbler
- Canada Warbler
- Bananaquit
- Black-and-yellow Tanager
- Dusky-faced Tanager
- White-shouldered Tanager
- White-lined Tanager
- Crimson-backed Tanager
- Flame-rumped Tanager
- Blue-gray Tanager
- Palm Tanager
- Plain-colored Tanager
- Silver-throated Tanager
- Bay-headed Tanager
- Golden-hooded Tanager
- Scarlet-thighed Dacnis
- Blue Dacnis
- Green Honeycreeper
- Shining Honeycreeper
- Red-legged Honeycreeper
- Streaked Saltator
- Buff-throated Saltator
- Blue-black Grassquit
- Slate-colored Seedeater
- Variable Seedeater
- Yellow-bellied Seedeater
- Thick-billed Seed-Finch
- Yellow-faced Grassquit
- Saffron Finch
- Orange-billed Sparrow
- Black-striped Sparrow
- Common Bush-Tanager
- Hepatic Tanager
- Summer Tanager
- Red-crowned Ant-Tanager
- Red-throated Ant-Tanager
- Carmiol’s Tanager
- Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- Blue-black Grosbeak
- Dickcissel
- Eastern Meadowlark
- Great-tailed Grackle
- Yellow-backed Oriole
- Yellow-tailed Oriole
- Baltimore Oriole
- Yellow-billed Cacique
- Scarlet-rumped Cacique
- Yellow-rumped Cacique
- Crested Oropendola
- Chestnut-headed Oropendola
- Yellow-crowned Euphonia
- Thick-billed Euphonia
- Fulvous-vented Euphonia
- White-vented Euphonia
- Tawny-capped Euphonia
And there are at least two more major birding areas of the country we didn’t visit with quite different avifauna, Darien and the Azuero Peninsula. There are other places I want to visit before coming back here (Belize, Trinidad, Dominican Republic, Mexico, and most of South America) but clearly I’ve only begun to scratch the surface here.
November 22nd, 2011 at 11:31 AM
I don’t think you can count Homo sapiens; anywhere but East Africa, it’s an intrusive species. (Do water buffalo in Europe count as intrusives? Nobody actually knows whether they walked over from Asia on their own steam and were domesticated on the spot, or were led over in a domesticated state.)
November 22nd, 2011 at 8:57 PM
I don’t know about water buffalo, but the best evidence we have is that Homo sapiens arrived in South America under their own power as part of a gradual expansion of range. In fact, that’s true pretty much everywhere on the planet except some islands.
There are some alternate theories of settlement of South America, and I wouldn’t be hugely surprised to see the conventional wisdom overturned one of these days; but until it is, I’m counting us as a native species.