Day 1: Arrival in Panama City; afternoon birding in Chepo

We will meet at 2pm for some local birding trip near Chepo just to the east of Panama City. There, we could find widespread tropical species like Greater Ani, Savanna and Roadside Hawks, Wattled Jacana, Red-crowned Woodpecker, or Pied Water-Tyrant. A single night will be spent in a business-style hotel close to Tocumen airport.

 

Day 2: Los Altos de Cerro Azul

In the morning, we will travel an hour east of Panama City to the cool forested hills around the high-end residences of Los Altos Cerro Azul. The feeders there will offer up photo opportunities of species like Shining, Red-legged and Green Hoenycreepers, Bay-headed Tanager, Blue-chested and Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds, and White-necked Jacobin. The violet flowers in the garden can also attract Rufous-crested Coquette on occasion too, so we will keep a sharp eye out for them too.

Away from the feeders, the pleasantly cool cloud forest hosts species like the near endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Chestnut-capped Warbler, and Hepatic, Black-and-yellow, and Carmiol’s Tanagers, as well as rarer species like Yellow-eared Toucanet and Rufous-winged Tanager. After much of the day there, and lunch at a local mountain café, we will descend into the lowlands once more, moving to Gamboa in the afternoon, close to both the legendary Pipeline Road and the impressive Panama Canal. Two nights will be spent in Gamboa.

​

Day 3: Rainforest Discovery Center, Pipeline Road & Panama Canal

We will begin our exploration of Soberania National Park, with a visit to the Rainforest Discovery Center 100ft-high canopy tower, where we will hope to find canopy-dwelling birds like Blue Cotinga, Black-chested Jay, Red-lored Amazon, White-necked Puffbird, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Masked Tityra, and up to three species of toucan. At ground level, nearby along the Pipeline Road, (one of the most revered sites in Neotropical birding), we can also search for a host of trogons, motmots, hummingbirds, antbirds, and puffbirds; Pied and Black-breasted Puffbirds, Rufous and Broad-billed Motmots, Slaty-tailed and Black-tailed Trogons, and Violet-bellied Hummingbird and Long-billed Hermit all occur. If we are lucky enough to find a swarm of army ants, we may also find some ant-following birds like Spotted and Ocellated Antbirds. Early in the afternoon, we will make a special visit to the Miraflores Viewing Platform that overlooks the magnificent Panama Canal, a must-see attraction for any visitor to Panama. A second night will be spent in nearby Gamboa.

​

Day 4: Gamboa to Panama City

Gamboa and Soberania National Park are wonderfully conveniently located only an hour from our hotel near Tocument airport, and so we will have most of the day to explore one of the many birding sites packed into this area, searching for species like White-tailed, Gartered and Northern Black-throated Trogons, Fasciated and Black-crowned Antshrikes, Golden-collared Manakin, Scarlet-rumped and Yellow-rumped Caciques, and Red-throated Ant-tanager, among many others. By late afternoon, we will have traveled back the 60-minute drive to the same airport hotel we used on the arrival day for another single night stay.

​

Day 5: Panama City to David & Birding Paradise

A morning flight of just over an hour will take us to the city of David in the western province of Chiriqui. While we will be sleeping in the highland town of Volcan, the road up there goes through some western foothills that are very appealing to us, and we will make the first of two visits to Birding Paradise, an excellent small private reserve with some feeders on the doorstep. We will particularly be hoping for a visit from the party of Fiery-billed Aracaris, and our visit has been timed for the best month for them to visit the feeders in numbers. Other birds that may visit the feeding area during our visit could include Lesson’s Motmot, and Scarlet-rumped Tanager. The gardens also host hummingbirds like Long-billed Starthroat, Crowned Woodnymph, and Charming Hummingbird. In the afternoon, we will ascend into the highland town of Volcan, where our hotel is located next to a series of wonderful restaurant for highland tourists like us. Our first two nights in the highlands will be spent in the town of Volcan, and then the last two nights at high elevation will be within a birding lodge in nearby Cerro Punta.

​

Day 6: Birding Paradise

Following an afternoon “taster” of Birding Paradise the day before, we will return for another morning.  There is plenty to look for there and 100+ species mornings are a regular occurrence.  It is one of the best sites for the scarce and local Costa Rican Brushfinch, and we may also find the gorgeous Orange-collared Manakin or equally appealing Scarlet-thighed Dacnis. Other targets there include Olivaceous Piculet, Crimson-fronted Parakeet, Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner, Orange-billed Nightingale-Thrush, Spot-throated Euphonia, Rufous-breasted and Riverside Wrens, and Crested Oropendola. Time-permitting, in the afternoon, if activity is fairly quiet at Birding Paradise, we may move on to the Volcan area, searching for another local species, the “Chiriqui” Yellowthroat, currently lumped under Masked Yellowthroat but may well be considered a separate species in the near future. A second night will be spent in Volcan.

​

Days 7-8: Tamandua Highland Reserve

This amazing highland reserve comes complete with some superb feeders, and several blinds for photographing a number of key species. Our first port of call will be the “moth blind” where a moth sheet attracts a host of photogenic species in the morning like Flame-throated and Black-cheeked Warblers, Collared Redstart, Yellow-winged Vireo, Sooty-capped Chlorospingus, and Ruddy-capped Nightingale-Thrush. After this early morning flourish of birds and bird photos, we will take a cooked breakfast, before checking two other sets of feeders – hummingbird feeders for White-throated Mountain-Gem and Fiery-throated and Talamanca Hummingbirds, and grain feeders at a blind for Large-footed Finch, Yellow-thighed Brushfinch, and Chestnut-capped Brushfinch. Some trail work will also be required to search for interior forest birds like the enigmatic Wrenthrush, Streak-breasted Treehunter and Buffy Tuftedcheek, among others. On one of these days we will also visitin another very special blind at lower elevations, where the rare Maroon-chested Ground-Dove has become remarkably regular. We will also visit a hummingbird garden for Scintillant Hummingbird and Lesser Violetear and other feeders for Acorn Woodpeckers and Silver-throated Tanagers.

​

Day 9: Cerro Punta to David; fly to Panama City for afternoon departures

There is no birding planned on this day as we make our way from Cerro Punta to David (a 2-hour car journey that will necessitate an early morning departure), then fly back to Panama City, where the tour ends. Flights out of Panama City should be planned for 4pm or later.​

​

Trip Considerations

PACE: Moderate. There are some early starts, and long days in the field (breakfasts at 5:00-5:30am are typical), although this is not a tough trip. There are no long drives on this tour, with all of the longest being under two hours (direct with no stopping, though these may take longer with birding stops!)

 

PHYSICAL DIFFICULTY: Easy to moderate. Most of the walking will be easy, although there may be some trail walking on several days (e.g. to try and see Wrenthrush in the Chiriqui Highlands). 

 

CLIMATE: Panama is tropical, and so temperatures remain fairly constant year-round; in the lowlands (i.e. Panama City), it will be hot and humid, with temperatures ranging between 70-90 Fahrenheit (21-31 Celsius), and humidity generally at around 80%. In the foothills (Cerro Azul) and mountains temperatures will be considerably cooler, at around 50-66 Fahrenheit (10-19 Celsius). Some rain can be expected.

 

ACCOMMODATION: Good to excellent on all nights; all hotels have full-time electricity, wi-fi, hot water and en-suite facilities everywhere, and lowland hotels have AC. 

 

PHOTOGRAPHY: There are good photo opps at the feeders at Cerro Azul, Birding Paradise and Tamandua. Outside of the feeders the photography is more challenging, although Panama provides some of the easiest access to forest birds in the Americas, and there are usually plenty of on the fly opportunities away from feeders too.

WHEN TO GO: Panama offers good year-round birding, and therefore birders often visit in all months of the year. The highest bird lists are gathered in September to April, when the resident tropical birds are joined by considerable numbers of migrant boreal species too, so this is typically when most birders visit. We have timed this tour for November as this is a good time in general for feeder activity and a good time for the feeder activity at Birding Paradise in particular, and when the Fiery-billed Aracaris visit the most  frequently.

​

Other Information

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: A valid passport is required for entry into Panama. It must be valid for at least six months past the time of your scheduled return. A visa is NOT currently required for citizens of the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, and most Western European countries. For other nationalities, please contact your nearest Panamanian embassy or consulate for entry requirements. There are two further requirements for entering Panama: (1) that you can show you have sufficient funds for entering the country; usually considered to be $500 US Dollars or more. This can be proven by either carrying cash in excess of this amount, or carrying a recent bank statement, showing funds in excess of this amount are available to you. In reality, this is rarely asked of tourists entering Panama, but everyone on the tour should be prepared for this, in the case of the rare circumstance they may request proof of funds. (2) Proof of onward travel; please bring a print out of your return flight ticket home, (or onward to somewhere else), showing that you have an outbound flight from Panama at the end of your stay in the country.Travel requirements are subject to change; if you are unsure, please check with the nearest embassy or consulate, or ask our office staff for help.

 

WHAT’S INCLUDED?: Accommodation from the night of day 1 to the night of day 8; meals from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 9; some drinks as well as safe drinking water; Tropical Birding tour leader with scope and audio gear from the afternoon of day 1 to the morning of day 9; return airfare from Panama City to David and David to Panama City; ground transport for the group to all sites in the itinerary from the afternoon of day 1 to the morning of day 9; tips to drivers (if used), local guides, and lodge/restaurant staff; internal flights; entrance fees to birding sites mentioned in the itinerary; a printed and bound checklist to keep track of your sightings (given to you at the start of the tour – only electronic copies can be provided in advance).

 

WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED?: Optional tips to the Tropical Birding tour leader; tips for any luggage porters used; international flights; alcoholic beverages; travel insurance; excursions not included in the tour itinerary; extras in hotels such as laundry service, minibar, room service, telephone calls, and personal items; medical fees; other items or services not specifically mentioned as being included.