Day 16 - Departure And so our Neotropic adventure comes to the end. Our flight was booked for just before noon, so modern airport best practice would suggest we should be there by 9am. We were a therefore a little surprised our transfer was timed to leave at 4.30am for a trip Google maps said should be about 2.5 hours. The first part of the trip went smoothly but as we approached Panama City traffic got heavier. We were still making good time though when traffic ground to a halt on the ring road on the northern edge of the city. All we could see was traffic stopped as far as the eye could see. Our driver soon found out the cause - some workers who had not been paid for three months were staging a protest by blocking the road. I could see their point but I had a plane to catch... Just as I was starting to get really worried the traffic started to move, the police had moved the protesters off the road. There was a tyre burning in the centre of the road which we had to drive around, but there was no further disruption and we arrived at the terminal at five minutes to nine. Everything went like clockwork from then, we even left LA a few minutes early. I arrived home 37 hours after leaving the lodge. Last bird seen in Panama was the same as the first, a great-tailed grackle. It was a wonderful trip, and a great introduction to this megadiverse region of the world. I still have to verify the lists, but at the moment I saw 30 mammal species and 327 bird species. Almost all were new, only a handful had been seen previously in North America. Two species that were not mentioned were the house sparrow and the European starling, as I had seen them both at home earlier in the year. We saw both these species only once, and fortunately these introduced birds don't seem to have made much of an inroad. The most dramatic growth in number of species for a Family was the Tanagers, which jumped from zero to 30 species. In time i will be publishing a full list here, as well as any amendments and an invertebrates list. I will also be putting up a few photos when I get to them.
Family Matters One aspect of wildlife watching I am paying more attention to these days is the relationship between species and the degree of diversity. I am watching Families and find when travelling that I tend towards locations where I can see new Families. Of course there are other factors for instance time, cost, convenience, and safety, but new Families are right up there. For instance, I have long wanted to visit both Madagascar and Borneo. Both are large tropical islands with incredible biological diversity and plenty of endemic species. Borneo (in particular Sabah, the part of Borneo I am most likely to visit) is easy and close. But when I look at Families, I find it has only one mammal and three bird Families I have not seen, and they are all monotypic. By contrast, Madagascar has seven new mammal Families and four new bird Families. Only one is monotypic, the Aye-aye. For that reason, Madagascar is the priority. “Collecting” bird Families is also becoming popular amongst birdwatchers. Nobody is ever going to see all the bird species (although one bloke is getting close) but seeing most if not all the Families is much more achievable. Panama was excellent for new families for me. I saw 18 mammal families of which 11 are new and 62 bird Families, of which 20 are new. Here is a list of Families seen with the new Families in bold: Mammals · Didelphidae: opossums · Rheida: howler and spider monkeys · Aotidae: night monkeys · Cebidae: capuchin and squirrel monkeys · Callitrichidae: marmosets and tamarins · Caviidae: cavies · Erethizontidae: NW Porcupines · Sciuridae: squirrels · Leporidae: rabbits and hares · Emballonuridae: sheath-tailed bats · Phyllostomidae: NW leaf-nosed bats · Molossidae: free-tailed bats · Procyonidae: racoons · Chlamyphoridae: armadillos · Myrmecophagidae: anteaters · Bradypodidae: three-toed sloths · Choloepodidae: two-toed sloths · Cervidae: deer Birds Anatidea: ducks and geese Cracidae: guans Odontophoridea: NW quail Columbidae: pigeons Eurypygidae: sunbittern Nyctibiidae: potoos Caprimulgidae: nightjars Apodidae: swifts Trochilldae: hummingbirds Cuculidae: cuckoos Railidae: rails Aramidae: limpkim Pelecanidae: pelicans Ardeidae: herons Threskiornithidae: ibis Fregatidae: frigatebirds Sulidae: boobys Phalacrocoracidae: comorants Anhingidae: darters Haematopodidae: oystercatchers Charadriidae: plovers Jacanidae: jacanas Scolopacidae: waders Laridae: gulls Cathartidae: NW vultures Pandionidae: ospreys Accipitridae: hawks Strigidae: typical owls Trogonidae: trogons Galbulidae: jacamars Bucconidae: puffbirds Picidae: woodpeckers Ramphastidae: toucans Capitonidae: NW barbets Momotidae: motmots Alcedinidae: kingfishers Falconidae: falcons Psittacidae: NW & Af parrots Pipridae: manakins Cotingidae: cotingas Tityridae: titryas Tyrannidae: tyrant flycatchers Thamnophilidae: antbirds Conopophagidae: gnateaters Grallariidae: antpittas Furnariidae: horneros Vireonidae: vireos Corvidae: crows & jays Passeridae: OW sparrows Fringillidae: typical finches Passerellidae: NW sparrows Parulidae: wood warblers Icteridae: NW blackbirds Cardinalidae: grosbeaks Thraupidae: tanagers Ptiliogonatidae: silky flycatchers Troglodytidae: wrens Polioptilidae: gnat-catchers Sturnidae: starlings Cinclidae: dippers Turdidae: thrushes·
I concur; I am after 26 more bird families, and those with the most species are Trumpeters (6), Kiwis (5) and Todies (5). This year’s targets are both Rockjumpers, and Secretarybird.
I've just started going through my photos, so here is a taster. A golden-hooded tanager, which we saw in a variety of locations other than in the cloud forest. Golden-hooded tanager by MRJ posted 14 Apr 2024 at 11:19 AM
