BIRDING PANAMA'S CANOPY TOWER
2010
Saturday December 4 to Sunday December 12
Guided by Gary Rosenberg
2011
Saturday December 3 to Sunday December 11
Price: $2400
For those also taking the Panama: Canopy Lodge tour, $200 can be deducted from the total combined price.
***2011 price pending
Short Saturday to Sunday tour to comfortable Canopy Tower. Located in the heart of the rainforest within a National Park that protects the famous Panama Canal. Fun Canopy birding from the roof of the lodge. Easy tropical birding from roads and mostly flat trails. Excellent introduction to Neotropical birding, with toucans, puffbirds, jacamars, antbirds, and ovenbirds. Includes a visit to famous Pipeline Road. More than 500 species known from surrounding area. This birding tour can be combined with our Panama: Canopy Lodge tour.
Panama is famous for its canal, but what few birders may realize is that the “Canal Zone” is mostly protected by two large National Parks, and has some of the best remaining tropical rainforest in all of Central America. Unique within its surroundings, the Canopy Tower is situated at the top of a large hill in the heart of the rainforest, and allows easy access to some of the best birding locations in Panama. Our week long birding tour (Saturday to Sunday) to the Panama Canal Zone will afford us seven full days of birding in this wonderful protected area. The birding will be at a relaxed pace, with virtually all the trails level and easy to walk. The lodge itself is unique, a modified military facility transformed into a fun and comfortable hotel. Several mornings will be spent on the roof of the lodge sipping coffee (or tea) while overlooking the incredible rainforest canopy, with an unbelievable view of the Panama Canal itself! We’ll visit numerous trails, such as Plantation Road and the famous Pipeline Road. The total bird list for the lodge and surroundings is amazing, and exceeds 500 species. Early December is also a great time for Neotropical migrants from North America. This tour is an excellent introduction to tropical birding, and we will see representatives of all the Neotropical bird families, including a very nice selection of antbirds, ovenbirds, toucans, puffbirds, and flycatchers, at the same time enjoying the comfort and excellent service of the Canopy Tower.
One of the nice aspects of birding at the Canopy Tower is that virtually all of the birding is done within relatively untouched rainforest. Working the numerous mixed-species flocks will be fun, and some of the specialty birds we’ll search for includes fancy antbirds such as White-bellied, Spotted, Ocellated, and Bare-crowned. Additionally, the general birding is difficult to surpass, and some of the fun birds we’ll look for includes Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon, Pheasant Cuckoo, Great Potoo, Black-and-white Owl, Brown-hooded Parrot, Crested Guan, Scaly-breasted Hummingbird, White-necked Puffbird, Spot-crowned Barbet, Rufous Motmot, Keel-billed Toucan, Black-cheeked Woodpecker, Blue Cotinga, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Golden-collared and Lance-tailed Manakins, Green Shrike-Vireo, Song Wren, and Flame-rumped and Rosy Thrush-Tanagers. One one day we’ll venture to the Caribbean side of the Canal Zone and visit the Achiote Road area, where we can expect a different set of birds, including the possibility for new specialties such as Jet Antbird, Pacific Antwren, White-headed Wren, and Black-chested Jay. The tour will end in Panama City.
For those who would like a longer tour, this trip can be combined with our Panama: Canopy Lodge tour.
