Panama info wanted (1 Viewer)

Hello guys,

In November I am looking at spending a week in Panama. The intention is to cross the border from Costa Rica as I will also be in the Osa Peninsula.
Any good ideas of where to head to for some decent birding? Rain or cloud forest had sprung to mind.
Any comments appreciated!! :t:

Steve

Hola Steve,

Glad to hear you may be visiting this birdwatcher´s paradise we call home.

Even though our country is very small, we have many different life zones. In addition, because of our geographical position at the junction of the Americas, we host bird species both from North America and South America.

One week is not long enough to make it justice and see many of the 970 species recorded here, but at least you wil start to get an idea of everything else you will be coming back to see during your next visit.

"Decent birding" you can get anywhere in Panama. It is not uncommon for us to record more than 100 bird species during a "City Tour" day.

If while in C.R. you get to visit Monteverde or Cerro de la Muerte, you would have seen many of the species typical to the cloudforest of the Talamanca Range, which extends from C.R. well into Panama. If you did not have a chance to bird the cloudforests of C.R. then you can explore the highlands of Western Panama, including the areas of Cerro Punta, Volcan, and Boquete.

If you would prefer to pick up many more birds that are not found in Costa Rica, you are better of traveling further from the C.R. border and towards Panama City.
There you shouldn't miss the Pipeline Road near Gamboa, the Metropolitan Park, Achiote Road, Plantation Road at the base of the Canopy Tower, among others.

Unfortunately it sounds as though you will not have enough time to explore the Eastern part of Panama, in the Darien region. There you can find extensive virgin forests with many South American birds and quite a few nearly endemic and national endemic birds, especially in the Darien cloudfests.

Hope you have a great time in Panama, and don´t hesitate contacting me if you have any further questions.

Cheers,
Guido

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Guido C. Berguido
Biologist - Operations Manager
Advantage Tours Panama
"Adventures in nature with the local Advantage"

P.O. Box 0801-00051
Republic of Panama
Tel. 011-507-6676-2466
fax: 011-507-221-9246
e.mail: [email protected]
web: www.advantagepanama.com
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Steve,
I've only visited Panama once so can't give much general advice. However, here is a link to my Panama Trip Report that may give you some ideas for two locales. It is a great place for visiting and birding.

And November will catch part of their great Raptor Migration. If this is of interest check out this link to Panama Raptor Migration

There are also a number of other trip reports on this site that you can see by doing a forum search for "Panama" or "Costa Rica".

Enjoy your trip and when you get back let us know what you saw .