Panama Edition & Our Regular Visitors (August 17-August 23)

Panama Edition, House Finch, Mourning Dove, House Sparrow, Cardinal, Beach Bums’ Birding Books, & Another Special Sighting

Special Edition of Guest Corner: Panama

Greetings, Perch and Peck Readers! Join us, Spencer and Mickey, reporting not-so-live from Panama with a special bird report. ™️ While we were there, we decided to try our hand at bird watching, and it turns out we picked the perfect place to do it! Panama is an incredible destination for bird enthusiasts, with diverse habitats from bustling cities to lush mountains and tropical coastlines. We were able to spot birds all over the country—in Panama City, along the Panama Canal, in the mountain town of Boquete, and on the coast near Bocas del Toro.

We identified species mostly using the Merlin App and the Birds of Panama Field Guide. Our camera equipment had some limitations, so we don't have many close-up photos, but we're excited to share some of our favorite sightings and a few birds we only heard.

Our Favorites

• Flamed Colored Tanager (below): We were thrilled to actually see this one! The Flame-colored Tanager’s range is limited from Mexico to the westernmost parts of Panama, typically at elevations of 3,900 feet and higher. We were conveniently staying at Finca Lerida, one of Panama’s first coffee farms, which is situated at a perfect 5,500 feet, when we saw one up close.

  

• Rufous Collared Sparrow (left): We spotted two of these at Finca Lerida in Boquete. These sparrows have a vast range, from Mexico all the way down to Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip of South America. In Panama, they are commonly found in the highlands at 2,200 feet and above, but they can also be found closer to sea level.

• Rock Dove / Common Pigeon (right): We all know these guys well! We saw countless pigeons all over Panama City and even managed to get photos of various color variations.

• Magnificent Frigatebird (left): We're not 100% sure on this one, but we're sticking with it! We believe we saw a Magnificent Frigatebird at the Panama Canal. Based on the white coloring on its throat, we think it was either a female or a juvenile, as males have a distinctive red throat pouch.

• Great Kiskadee (right): We saw so many of these birds in Bocas del Toro, right around Spencer’s family's front yard. The house was a birdwatcher's paradise! While we mostly heard birds rather than seeing them, the Kiskadee's call is unmistakable—it quite literally sounds like "kis-ka-dee." We were able to identify this bird seven times!

Listening With Merlin on Isla San Cristobal

While we were in Bocas del Toro, we used the Merlin App for 32 different listening sessions. Merlin's capabilities were somewhat limited in that area—it could only identify about 60% of the birds on Isla Cristobal, and on one of our nature walks, it could identify fewer than 100 birds in the area. Despite that, here is a list of all the birds we heard and saw:

A couple of highlights: Green Ibis, Blue-gray Tanager, and Red Lored Amazon.

We were especially excited to hear the Green Ibis, Blue-gray Tanager, and Red-lored Amazon. We really wish we could have seen the Green Ibis and Blue-gray Tanagers, as they are beautiful birds! The Red-lored Amazons were the most persistent and most annoying birds of our trip. These parrot-like birds were incredibly loud, waking us up around 5:30 a.m. and chirping all day long.

A Notable Absence and a Fun Surprise!

Our number one bird to spot on the trip was the toucan! Spencer’s family claims to see them all the time around their house. We even went on a special walk to try to see one, but alas…we did not.

Instead, we saw a family of Black Howler Monkeys, a rare sight to see on the island. Spencer’s family has only seen them one other time since moving there a year ago. They were just as loud as the Red-lored Amazons and even threw branches at us to try to intimidate us.

Thanks for coming along with us on our Panamanian adventure, Perch and Peck readers! Hopefully, next time we will be more seasoned bird watchers and will spot even more birds!

🐦‍⬛ Went on a trip and saw cool birds? Want to highlight them in the blog? Email us and let us know: natnickbs@gmail.com.

Now back to our regular programming.

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🌱 : Striped Sunflower Seed 🌻 , Safflower Seed 🌼, no Suet Cake 🍰

🚨 Slight Seed Change

We have run out of our Lyric Finch Seed, so we replaced that with the Striped Sunflower Seed that we still had left. The Striped Sunflower Seed is almost as popular as the favorite Black Oil Sunflower Seed. We usually prefer the Black Oil Sunflower Seed, as the House Sparrows don’t like this as much. So, we’ll see if we start getting hordes of House Sparrows again.

House Finch

Juvenile male House Finches start off looking almost identical to female House Finches. Here, this juvenile is starting to get his full red plumage. By early fall, he will look like and be a fully grown male House Finch!

Mourning Dove

The slightly feisty continue to be consistent and mostly calm guests. There’s always of the first to show up when the seed shows up at the feeder! We’ll often spot them in the nearby trees, looking like adorable bird loaves, waiting for another turn to munch.

House Sparrow

We only saw a few female House Sparrows this week! Plus, they weren’t too territorial with the other birds.

Cardinal

The cardinals have been decently active and not too territorial either. They’ll often come by when no one else is around and grab a few bites, almost never camping. Their head feathers seem to have all grown back after the molt, too, which is good!

📚 Beach Bums’ Birding Books (pt. 4)

Of course, we have to include a bird guide in this series! I love these tiny & waterproof folding guides. As a new birder, they are so convenient. This one is particularly helpful as there are so many shore birds that look quite similar. There are several kinds based on your region and the type of birds you think you are going to find. The brand above is great, as well as Sibley.

Special Sighting: Black-crowned Night Heron

There were several (bird) celebrity sightings this past week in Western MA, including a juvenile Black-crowned Night Heron. Of course, we went out to try and see it and were very successful. They are rarely seen in our region during breeding season, so it was a treat. We encourage you to check out the link above, as the bird gets older, their plumage, in both males and females, completely changes — basically they go through an intense glow up!

Thank you for reading; we hope to see you again! 🐦‍⬛