Panama is an explosion of bird diversity where Central and South American species are found side by side, with tanagers, puffbirds, jacamars, and toucans lighting up the forests. The world-famous Canopy Lodge and Canopy Tower are our bases for the main tour, while those fortunate enough to join the pre-tour extension will visit Canopy Camp in the Darién (Harpy Eagle!)

• Sept. 1 – Canopy Tower 
• Sept. 2 – AM: Canopy Tower and Semaphore Hill, PM: Ammo Dump Ponds and environs
• Sept. 3 – AM: Pipeline Road, PM: Summit Gardens
• Sept. 4 – Cerro Azul
• Sept. 5 – AM: Plantation Trail, PM: Chagres River
• Sept. 6 – Transfer to Canopy Lodge
• Sept. 7 – AM: La Mesa Road, PM: Cara Iguana
• Sept. 8 – AM: Cerro Gaital, PM: Valle Chiquito
• Sept. 9 – Altos del Maria
• Sept. 10 – AM: Las Minas, PM: Mata Ahogado
• Sept. 11 – Transfer to Tocumen Airport, Panama City

Upon arrival at the airport, you will be met by our drivers who will transfer you to the Canopy Tower, located at the top of Semaphore Hill in the rainforest of Soberanía National Park. For those arriving early, the view from the observation deck provides some incredible Panama birding opportunities! Here, you get a unique eye-level perspective of the rainforest canopy. Many birds in the rainforest, including toucans, parrots, tanagers of various species, hawks, and dozens of others, as well as monkeys, two species of sloth, and other mammals are commonly seen. From this vantage point you can also see ships transiting the Panama Canal, the majestic Centennial Bridge, and miles of rainforest! You may also want to watch the hummingbird feeders at the base of the Canopy Tower for Long-billed Hermit, White-necked Jacobin, Violet-bellied and Blue-chested hummingbirds and White-vented Plumeleteer. Occasionally, a Snowy-bellied Hummingbird is spotted! After this first Panama birding, a welcome dinner will be served.

We’ll start the day with early morning birding from the observation deck. While you look for birds, you can enjoy hot coffee, tea, and orange juice. Some of the bird species that we may see from the deck are Green and Red-legged honeycreepers, Green Shrike-Vireo, Blue Cotinga, Scaled Pigeon, Mealy and Red-lored parrots, Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Araçari, Red-capped and Blue-crowned manakins, a huge diversity of flycatchers and tanagers, King Vulture, and Black Hawk-Eagle! 

At mid-morning, we will start exploring Soberanía National Park by taking a pleasant walk down Semaphore Hill Road. This winding, shady paved road, festooned on its shoulders by wildflowers of many types, is a little more than a mile long and crosses a large creek about half-way down. Birds from the interior forest as well as edge-dwellers such as Olivaceous Flatbill, Plain Xenops, Lesser Greenlet, Black-breasted and White-whiskered puffbirds, Fasciated and Black-crowned antshrikes, Slate-colored Grosbeak, Bay-headed and White-shouldered tanagers, Black-throated and Slaty-tailed trogons, Broad-billed and Rufous motmots and even Great Jacamar may be found here. Great Tinamou is also often heard but harder to see. This road is also an excellent location to look for raptors such as White, Tiny and Great Black hawks. During migration it’s easy to see more than ten species of warblers in one morning. Your morning bird list will be impressive, as we catch a ride back just in time to enjoy a delicious lunch at the Canopy Tower.

In the afternoon, we visit the Ammo Dump Ponds just past Gamboa on the way to the Pipeline Road. It is the best place to see the elusive White-throated Crake, as well as a host of other waterbirds. Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Wattled Jacana, and Purple Gallinule are common, and Least Grebe and American Pygmy Kingfisher are also resident. In this area we often find Greater Ani, Red-legged Honeycreeper, Whooping Motmot, Yellow-tailed Oriole, Southern Lapwing, Anhinga, Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, Scrub Greenlet, Lesser Kiskadee, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Panama, Social and Rusty-margined flycatchers, and even Olivaceous Piculet! 

This morning, we board the Birdmobile or El Tinamu, both open air vehicles, that take us to the Pipeline Road, the best place in Central Panama to find forest birds, and one of the premier birding spots in the world! We concentrate our efforts at the beginning of Pipeline, where we will look for Greater Ani, Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Yellow-tailed Oriole, Masked Tityra, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Isthmian (formerly Plain) Wren, Streaked Flycatcher, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, Squirrel Cuckoo, Gray-headed Chachalaca, Southern Bentbill, Forest Elaenia, Panama Flycatcher, Blue Ground Dove, and Little Tinamou. Other birds recorded here are Black-bellied and Buff-breasted wrens, Golden-collared Manakin, White-necked Puffbird, Gartered, Slaty-tailed, Black-throated, White-tailed and Black-tailed trogons, Purple-crowned Fairy, Yellow Tyrannulet, White-bellied and Dusky antbirds, Fasciated and Black-crowned antshrikes, and many more. During migration this entrance road is excellent for migrant warblers, flycatchers, grosbeaks, and tanagers. We’ll head back to the Canopy Tower for lunch.

Our birding hotspot in the afternoon is the Summit Gardens, a center for recreation, education, and conservation, dedicated to reflecting and enhancing Panama’s tropical and cultural diversity. The botanical gardens are great for migratory warblers and other forest-edge species, including a colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, Yellow-margined Flycatcher, Laughing Falcon, Gray-lined, Crane and Great Black hawks, Collared Forest-Falcon, Tropical Pewee, Masked Tityra, Golden-fronted and Scrub greenlets, Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Giant, Shiny and Bronzed cowbirds, and Blue Cotinga. This park is the best place to find Streak-headed Woodcreeper, a difficult species to get elsewhere on this tour.

Cerro Azul is located in the hills above Tocumen International Airport where a completely different climate and, more importantly, a different suite of birds awaits you! The weather will be much cooler and breezier as we ascend the foothills of the San Blas Mountains toward Cerro Azul (2,500 ft. or 610 m) and Cerro Jefe (3,300 ft. or 1,005 m), named after the two tall peaks in the area. Major targets in these cloud-forested hills with peaks of elfin forest will include Yellow-eared Toucanet, Black-and-white and Ornate hawk-eagles, Spot-crowned Barbet, Black-eared Wood-Quail, and a nice mix of tanagers, including Silver-throated, Emerald, Speckled, Rufous-winged, Bay-headed, Black-and-yellow, Golden-hooded, and Hepatic. We can also search for the specialty hummers, including Rufous-crested Coquette, White-tipped Sicklebill, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Green Thorntail, as well as Violet-capped, Violet-headed and Snowy-bellied hummingbirds! We should also find the endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, along with Lineated Woodpecker, Black-striped and Spotted woodcreepers, Red-capped and White-ruffed manakins, Russet Antshrike, and White-vented and Tawny-capped euphonias. We will have lunch at a picturesque residence overlooking miles of Chagres National Park’s impressive rainforest!

After breakfast, we take a short ride to the Plantation Trail at the bottom of Semaphore Hill, one of our premier birding areas! This easy trail passes through mature rainforest and follows a small creek (Rio Chico Masambi) and is a reliable place to find Golden-crowned Spadebill. Oftentimes at the parking area near the entrance we find Black-chested Jays. Other birds to look for along the trail include Ocellated, Bicolored, Chestnut-backed, White-bellied and Spotted antbirds, Broad-billed and Whooping motmots, five species of trogon, White-whiskered Puffbird, hummingbirds (Blue-chested, White-necked Jacobin and others), Plain-brown, Northern Barred, Cocoa, and Ruddy woodcreepers, Cinnamon, Crimson-crested and Black-cheeked woodpeckers, White-breasted Wood-Wren, Song Wren, Dot-winged, Checker-throated and White-flanked antwrens, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Bright-rumped Attila, Gray-headed Tanager, Long-billed Gnatwren, Black-crowned and Fasciated antshrikes, Red-capped and Blue-crowned manakins, Great Tinamou, Ruddy-tailed, Royal and Yellow-margined flycatchers, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Scaly-throated leaftossers, and, occasionally, Great Jacamar or the endemic Yellow-green Tyrannulet! We will drive back up the hill for lunch at the Canopy Tower.

In the afternoon, we bird along the Chagres River and the accompanying fields and forest. The birding along the riverbanks and the forest edges of Gamboa Resort can be spectacular! Here, we search for Amazon, Green and American Pygmy kingfishers, as well as Whooping Motmot and Cinnamon Woodpecker. We could also see Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Cocoi, Green and Striated herons, Wattled Jacana, Pied-billed Grebe, Anhinga, Royal and Sandwich terns, Brown Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant, Tricolored and Little Blue herons, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Mangrove Swallow, Black-chested Jay, Lesser Kiskadee, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cacique, Black-bellied and Buff-breasted wrens, Fasciated and Barred antshrikes, Cinnamon Becard, Slaty-tailed Trogon, White-bellied Antbird, and even Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon and Blue Cotinga at times! 

After breakfast, we will drive to the Canopy Lodge, located in the mountains of El Valle de Antón, nestled in the cloud forests of Cerro Gaital Natural Monument. At 2,400 feet (600 m) in elevation, you will immediately appreciate the noticeably cooler temperatures here! We will arrive in time for lunch.

In the afternoon, we will explore the lodge grounds, which offer excellent opportunities. The various fruit feeders attract stunners like Crimson-backed, Blue-gray, White-lined, Flame-rumped, Dusky-faced and Plain-colored tanagers are about, as are Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Thick-billed Euphonia, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Streaked and Buff-throated saltators, Lineated and Red-crowned woodpeckers, Red-legged Honeycreepers, Yellow-faced Grassquit, Social Flycatcher, Ruddy Ground Dove, Barred Antshrike, Clay-colored Thrush, Rufous Motmot, Rufous-tailed, Snowy-bellied and Violet-headed hummingbirds, White-vented Plumeleteer, and Garden Emerald! 

After breakfast, we continue our quest for more lifers with a trip to La Mesa Road. This area, which is a visually pleasing blend of secondary forest, scrubby pastures, overgrown fincas and grassy borders, is home to many of the area’s specialties. Here we look for such great birds as Spot-crowned Barbet, Cinnamon Becard, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Silver-throated, Golden-hooded, Tawny-crested and Bay-headed tanagers, Spot-crowned Antvireo, and Spotted Woodcreeper. Hummingbirds include White-tipped Sicklebill, Rufous-crested Coquette, Crowned Woodnymph, and Black-throated Mango. Also resident are Northern Emerald-Toucanet, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, and Orange-bellied (Collared) Trogon. We return to the Lodge in time for lunch.

With a full stomach and some rest, we head to Cara Iguana Trail, where we enjoy outstanding foothill birding in some of the last remaining stands of quality Pacific dry forest. Exclusive birding opportunities in this area include Lesser Elaenia, Yellow-olive and Panama flycatchers, Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Lance-tailed Manakin, Rufous-breasted and Rufous-and-white Wrens, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Tody and Lesson’s motmots, and Long-billed Gnatwren. Also resident are Striped Cuckoo, Little Tinamou, Common Potoo, Dusky and White-bellied antbirds, Barred Antshrike, White-winged Becard, Tropical Screech-Owl and Bat Falcon. Hummers to watch for in particular are Garden Emerald, Long-billed Starthroat and White-vented Plumeleteer. During migration we look for Bay-breasted, Chestnut-sided, Black-throated, Green and Worm-eating warblers.

Today after breakfast, we proceed to Cerro Gaital, a steep, forested, mist-shrouded mountain that you see from the Canopy Lodge! Cerro Gaital (3,500 ft. or 1,670 m) is the namesake of Cerro Gaital Natural Monument, which protects more than 335 hectares of mature cloud forest. This area offers sightings of Black Guan, Northern Emerald-Toucanet, Orange-bellied (Collared) Trogon, Spotted Barbtail, Common Chlorospingus, Silver-throated Tanager, Black-headed Antthrush, Slaty Antwren, Spot-crowned and Plain antvireos, Black-faced Grosbeak, Blue Seedeater, Rufous-capped Warbler, Gray-headed Kite, White Hawk, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Pale-vented Thrush, Northern Schiffornis, White-tailed Emerald, Green-crowned Brilliant, Violet-headed Hummingbird and Crowned Woodnymph. Scaled Antpitta and Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo have been recorded here! After a full morning of bird watching, it’s time for lunch at the Canopy Lodge. 

After lunch, we are off to Valle Chiquito for more bird watching! This valley is accessible by a newly paved road and passes through nicely forested woodlands crossed by two rivers. At Rio de Jesus we will search for Green Kingfisher and listen for Sepia-capped Flycatcher. We will also admire a nice colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas in a Cecropia tree. We will try for Tody Motmot, Yellow-throated Vireo, Yellow-backed Oriole, White-bellied Antbird, Gray-chested Dove, Yellow-billed Cacique, Zone-tailed and Gray-lined hawks, Black Hawk-Eagle, Lance-tailed Manakin, Panama Flycatcher, Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher, Little Tinamou, Long-billed Starthroat, and Garden Emerald. Wrens are abundant here, with Black-bellied, Rufous-and-white, Bay, and Rufous-breasted wrens all lurking about in the thickets! 

Departing early in the morning after breakfast, we drive from El Valle in air-conditioned 4×4 SUVs up into the mountains. As the sun rises over the highlands ahead of us, spectacular mountains, vast valleys, and towering cliffs come into view! Altos del Maria is set in the mountains on the continental divide east of El Valle. Ascending an excellent paved road, we will climb a ridge to our destination, an expansive area of cloud forest at 3,600 ft. (1,100 m). This area harbors an exciting variety of highland forest birds. Some of the characteristic species of this cloud forest include Yellow-eared Toucanet, Black Guan, Black-crowned Antpitta, Black-headed Saltator, White Hawk, Barred Forest-Falcon, Orange-bellied (Collared) Trogon, Spotted Woodcreeper, Red-faced Spinetail, Spotted Barbtail, Russet and Great Antshrikes, Tufted and Sulphur-rumped flycatchers, Rufous-browed Tyrannulet, White-ruffed Manakin, Ochraceous Wren, Gray-breasted Wood-Wren, Pale-vented Thrush, Green Shrike-Vireo, Yellow-billed Cacique, Slate-colored Grosbeak, and Black-and-yellow, Bay-headed, Dusky-faced and Tawny-crested tanagers. Even the bizarre Brown-billed Scythebill is seen here regularly. Hummers we may spot include Band-tailed Barbthroat, the exquisite Snowcap, Garden and White-tailed emeralds, Purple-throated Mountain-Gem, White-tipped Sicklebill, and Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer. After a picnic lunch in the field, we will drop down into a valley and climb to the ridge on the opposite side. Reaching some large swaths of mature humid forest along this ridge, we will explore some trails and roadside spots in search of even more forest birds. Around mid-afternoon, we will head back into El Valle for some relaxation time prior to dinner.

After breakfast, we head to Las Minas. The road follows the ridge line, with sweeping vistas of forested mountains, speckled with grasslands and small fincas. The views from here are fantastic, as on a clear day near the summit both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans can be seen! Specialties of the region include Wedge-tailed Grass-Finch, Black-and-yellow, Bay-headed and Emerald tanagers, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant, Spot-crowned Antvireo, Gray-headed Kite, Barred Hawk, Bat Falcon, Ornate Hawk-Eagle, Swallow-tailed Kite, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, White-tipped Sicklebill, Green Thorntail, Orange-bellied (Collared) and Black-throated trogons, Tawny-faced Gnatwren, Plain Antvireo, the endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Spotted Woodcreeper, Red-capped and White-ruffed manakins, Band-rumped Swift, and Black Guan. A forested slope here is also our best chance for Black-crowned Antpitta and Black-headed Antthrush! After this birding excursion, we get back in time for lunch.

After lunch, we are off to Mata Ahogado, to spend the afternoon birding along the scrubby roadsides! Good birds here are Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Black-headed Saltator, Great Antshrike, White-ruffed Manakin, White-thighed Swallow, White-bellied Antbird, Tody Motmot, and hummers such as Long-billed Starthroat, Rufous-crested Coquette and, when the Inga is in bloom, Snowcap! We will also listen for Purplish-backed Quail-Dove. Upon arrival at the Lodge, we’ll enjoy a delicious farewell dinner. 

After a leisurely breakfast, if time permits you may do some last-minute bird watching in the gardens surrounding the Canopy Lodge. Then, we will drive back to Panama City and catch our return flights home!