Birds in Panama Bay

Estuaries, mudflats, and mangroves such as those found in Panama Bay, which skirts the ever-expanding Panama City, are a critical gateway for millions of Pacific shorebirds like the Western Sandpiper (30% of the global population relies upon the Bay for survival), Whimbrel (22%), Semipalmated Plover (20%) and 28 other shorebird species.

Western Sandpiper

Long-billed

Whimbrel

Prothonotary Warbler

Dense mangrove forests provide winter homes for songbirds like the Prothonotary Warbler. In fact, hundreds of bird species require the ecosystem’s mix of marine life, plants, and food—so rich in this tiny isthmus—to survive their yearly migratory journeys throughout North and South America. Panamanians and the country’s economy also depend on healthy habitats for fisheries and need the Bay’s complex mangrove system to mitigate the threat of flooding from heavy rains and sea-level rise due to climate change.

National Audubon Society has partnered with the Panama Audubon Society since 2006 to promote the conservation of the Bay of Panama and other conservation efforts in Panama. Together we developed a conservation plan to save the Bay, launched environmental education programs with more than 15 local schools, and built an association of local groups focused on preserving wetland areas critical to birds.

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Songsters

Bird Song Songbirds learn their songs and perform them using a specialized voice box called a syrinx. Vocally, they’re in a league of their own. These adaptations have been remarkably successful songbirds make up almost half of the world’s 10,000 bird species including warblers, thrushes, and sparrows. The vast majority of non-songbird species make simpler sounds that are instinctual rather than learned. Birds are often up before dawn singing their hearts out and adding their voices to the dawn chorus. Many of the songs heard at dawn are thought to function as warnings given by male birds in defense of their territory and mate. While the dawn chorus is a common phenomenon wherever birds live, little is known about why birds concentrate their efforts during these early hours. Bird Songs at Sunrise Read and listen much more here Have fun with All About Bird Song!

National Bird of Panama

Harpy Eagle 💖 Harpia harpyja Photo by David Tipling Panama’s national bird—the Harpy Eagle—is the largest, most powerful eagle in the Americas. Found in the lowland rainforests of tropical America, this mighty forest eagle is on every birder’s wish list! It is easily identifiable by its massive size, which separates it from all other raptors in these tropical lowlands. It has a long, divided crest on its head, often swept back but readily held erect and often blows around freely in the breeze. Males and females are distinguishable by their size; female Harpy Eagles are significantly larger than males. The Harpy Eagle is 1 meter in length and has a wingspan of 2 meters long. The main difference is by weight; males weigh 4-4.8 kg (9-11 lbs.) and females weigh 7.6-9 kg (16-20 lbs.). Females can weigh over 2x more than their mate! They are solitary and monogamous and mate for life. A Harpy Eagle pair maintains a home range up to 25km2. When it comes time to breed, a pair

Birds of Panama

Birds of Panama The Republic of Panama is a small country situated on the southern end of the Central American Isthmus. Its surface area is approximately 76,000 Km ². These range from the small patches of deciduous dry forests of the Pacific Slope through the virgin, greener, and rainier Caribbean, to the cooler, mistier, and lusher cloud forests of the foothills and highlands. Panama as a meeting point for the faunas of North and South America has an extraordinary wealth of birds for a country of its size, with 972 species recorded. Panama contains portions of five EBAs(Central American Caribbean Slope, Costa Rica and Panama Highlands, South Central American Pacific Slope, Darién Lowlands, and Darién Highlands); these hold a total of 103 restricted-range bird species, the ninth-highest total of any country in the world. A total of 12 restricted-range species occur in Panama alone, including the Escudo Hummingbird Amazilia handleyi , which has one of the smallest ranges of any species.

Birds of Panama

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