Morning tour: Canopy Tower & Semaphore Hill Road

Your guide will be waiting for you at the Observation Deck for early morning guided bird watching. 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 observation deck are Green & Red-legged Honeycreepers, Green Shrike-Vireo, Blue Cotinga, Scaled Pigeon, Mealy & Red-lored Parrots, Keel-billed Toucan, Collared Araçari, Red-capped & Blue-crowned Manakins, a huge diversity of flycatchers and tanagers, and raptors including King Vulture and Black Hawk-Eagle!

After breakfast, at mid-morning, you’ll begin your bird tour by taking a pleasant walk down Semaphore Hill Road. This winding, shady paved road, festooned on the shoulders by wildflowers of many types, is a little more than a mile long and crosses a large creek about half-way down.

The bird list here is extensive, and includes birds from the forest interior as well as edge-dwellers. OlivaceousFlatbill, Plain Xenops, Lesser Greenlet, Black-breasted & White-whiskered Puffbirds, Fasciated & Black-crowned (formerly Western Slaty) Antshrikes, Slate-colored Grosbeak, Bay-headed & White-shouldered Tanagers, Black-throated Trogon, Broad-billed & Rufous Motmots, and even Great Jacamar may be found. Great Tinamou is often heard, but is harder to find.

This road is also great for raptors, including White, Tiny & Great Black Hawks. During migration it’s easy to see more than 10 species of warbler in one morning. Your morning bird list will be impressive, as we get a much-welcomed ride back from this morning’s bird tour, just in time to enjoy a delicious lunch at the CANOPY TOWER.

Afternoon tour: Ammo Dump Ponds

The Ammo Dump Ponds are 15 min. from Canopy Tower. They are located 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 (recent split from Blue-crowned), Yellow-tailed Oriole, Southern Lapwing, Anhinga, Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, Scrub Greenlet, Lesser Kiskadee, Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Panama, Social & Rusty-margined Flycatchers, and even Olivaceous Piculet!

Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY TOWER.

Morning tour to Pipeline Road entrance

You will make your way with your guide to the entrance of Pipeline Road (20 min from Canopy Tower). Today we will concentrate our efforts at the beginning of Pipeline, another diverse area full of birds. 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 may be seen here. Other birds recorded are Black-bellied & Buff-breasted Wrens, Golden-collared Manakin, White-necked Puffbird, Gartered, Slaty-tailed, Black-throated, White-tailed & Black-tailed Trogons, Purple-crowned Fairy, Yellow Tyrannulet, White-bellied & Dusky Antbirds, and Fasciated & Black-crowned Antshrikes. During migration this entrance road is excellent for migrant warblers, flycatchers, grosbeaks, and tanagers.

Lunch at CANOPY TOWER.

Afternoon: Summit Gardens/Harpy Exhibit (10 min. from Canopy Tower)

Summit Gardens is 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 & Great Black Hawks, Collared Forest-Falcon, Tropical Pewee, Masked Tityra, Golden-fronted & Scrub Greenlets, Yellow-crowned Tyrannulet, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Giant, Shiny & 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. The Harpy Eagle is Panama’s national bird, and this park has an exhibit, including a life-size nest and interpretive panels, tracing the importance of the Harpy in Panamanian history and culture dating back to Pre-Columbian times.

Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY TOWER.

Morning excursion to Plantation Trail

After breakfast, you will continue your bird tour at Plantation Trail (5 min from Canopy Tower) at the base of Semaphore Hill, one of Panama’s premier birding areas, often said to rival the Pipeline Road itself! 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 & Spotted Antbirds; Broad-billed & Whooping Motmots, five species of trogon; White-whiskered Puffbird; hummingbirds (Blue-chested, White-necked Jacobin and others); Plain-brown, Northern Barred, Cocoa, & Ruddy Woodcreepers; Cinnamon, Crimson-crested & Black-cheeked Woodpeckers; White-breasted Wood-Wren; Song Wren; Dot-winged, Checker-throated & White-flanked Antwrens; Purple-throated Fruitcrow; Bright-rumped Attila; Gray-headed Tanager; Long-billed Gnatwren; Black-crowned & Fasciated Antshrikes; Red-capped & Blue-crowned Manakins; Great Tinamou; Ruddy-tailed, Royal & Yellow-margined flycatchers; Yellow-rumped Cacique; Scaly-throated Leaftosser; and, occasionally, Great Jacamar or the endemic Yellow-green Tyrannulet!

Lunch at CANOPY TOWER.

Afternoon tour to Chagres River/Gamboa Feeders

After lunch, you will take a short drive to the Chagres River (15 min from Canopy Tower) and the accompanying fields & forest. First stop will be at the Canopy Bed & Breakfast in the picturesque village of Gamboa, to look at the bird feeders!

With a beautiful backdrop of Cerro Pelado, the backyard at the Canopy B & B is teeming with bird life. At the fruit feeders, we are likely to see Red-legged, Shining & Green Honeycreepers, Flame-rumped, Crimson-backed & Blue-gray Tanagers, Thick-billed Euphonia, Yellow-bellied & Variable Seedeaters, Whooping Motmot, and Gray-headed Chachalaca.

You will then continue to Chagres River, the main tributary for the Panama Canal. The birding along the river banks and the forest edges of Gamboa Resort can be spectacular. Here, we search for Amazon, Green & American Pygmy Kingfishers, as well as Whooping Motmot and Cinnamon Woodpecker. We could also see Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Cocoi, Green & Striated Herons, Wattled Jacana, Pied-billed Grebe, Anhinga, Royal & Sandwich Terns, Brown Pelican, Neotropic Cormorant, Tricolored & Little Blue Herons, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Mangrove Swallow, Black-chested Jay, Lesser Kiskadee, Rusty-margined Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cacique, Black-bellied & Buff-breasted Wrens, Fasciated & Barred Antshrikes, Cinnamon Becard, Slaty-tailed Trogon, White-bellied Antbird, and even Slaty-backed Forest-Falcon and Blue Cotinga at times!

Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY TOWER.

World famous Pipeline Road full day bird tour

After breakfast you will continue your guided bird watching tour by boarding the Birdmobile or El Tinamu, both open-air vehicles, to take you to the Pipeline Road (20 MIN. FROM CANOPY TOWER), the best place in Central Panama to find forest birds and one of the premier birding spots in the world! Eight species of wren, 5 trogons, 4 puffbirds, 3 motmots, several tanagers, Great Jacamar, Common Potoo, Pheasant Cuckoo, Great Tinamou and many other species have been recorded here, even including the elusive Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo and the majestic Harpy Eagle!

Pipeline Road is also a great place for raptors. Three forest-falcons are resident as well as Tiny & Semiplumbeous Hawks and Ornate & Black Hawk-Eagles.

There are also plenty of side trails, plus 11 creeks and rivers that can be followed into the forest that you can explore.
Picnic lunch in the forest.

Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY TOWER.

Morning tour to Summit Ponds Old Gamboa Road

Old Gamboa Road (10 min from Canopy Tower) and the associated ponds at Summit are great places to find Canal Zone birds. On this afternoon’s guided bird watching tour at Summit Ponds, we will scan for Green, Striated, Capped & Boat-billed Herons as well as Green, Ringed, Amazon, Green-and-rufous (rare) & American Pygmy Kingfishers, which are all resident here! Also we seek out Rusty-margined & Streaked Flycatchers, Lesser & Great Kiskadees, Greater Ani, Mangrove Swallow, Bat Falcon, Cocoa Woodcreeper, and Lineated Woodpecker.

Going straight past the two ponds you’ll be on Old Gamboa Road, one of the birdiest spots around. This road passes through a variety of habitats and has plenty of specialties, including Blue Ground Dove, Great Antshrike, Jet Antbird, Black-tailed, Bran-colored & Royal Flycatchers, Lance-tailed & Golden-collared Manakins, and the delightful Rosy Thrush-Tanager! We also will find species like White-bellied Antbird, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Yellow-backed Oriole, Boat-billed & Fork-tailed Flycatchers, Yellow-headed Caracara, Crane Hawk, Black-chested Jays and more.

Also resident are Gray-headed Chachalaca, with Spectacled Owl a real possibility too, as the guides know where they often roost.

Lunch at CANOPY TOWER.

Afternoon: Chagres River Gamboa Grounds (15 min. from Canopy Tower).

Here, along the banks and in the accompanying forest edges, Amazon, Green & American Pygmy Kingfishers, as well as Whooping Motmot, Cinnamon Woodpecker, and Cinnamon & White-winged Becards, are resident. We could also see species like Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Green & Striated Herons, Black-tailed Flycatcher, Wattled Jacana, White-throated Crake and Anhinga.

There have been good sightings of Rosy Thrush-Tanager here recently as well. Indigenous Embera trails lead from the river, and we often see Embera villagers fishing from their canoes. In the river we search for Least Grebe, Muscovy Duck, and Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, and along their trails we sometimes find Little Tinamou, Scarlet-rumped & Yellow-billed Caciques, Yellow-tailed Oriole and even Blue Cotinga!

Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY TOWER.

Morning tour to Panama Rainforest Discovery Center

After breakfast you will continue your guided bird watching tour at the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center, an ecotourism and environmental education facility created and administered by Fundacion Avifauna Eugene Eisenmann. It is located off Pipeline Road adjacent to Soberanía National Park. The center contains several attractions, the best of which is a 100-foot-tall observation tower, with 4 rest platforms—each stopping at a different layer of the rainforest.

The view from the top is incredible! Here, we scan for raptors like Double-toothed Kite and Semiplumbeous Hawk and canopy birds like Scaled Pigeon, Pied Puffbird, and Blue Cotinga. You will also take a quick bird tour through the 1.1 kilometer circuit of well-maintained forest trails, one ending at a pond, which is excellent for birds! Snail Kite, Wattled Jacana, Little Blue Heron, Least Bittern, and Sungrebe are often resident at the pond, and along the trails we look for White-necked & White-whiskered Puffbirds, motmots, trogons, manakins, antbirds, wrens, tanagers, flycatchers, and many others.

The covered Visitor Center has several hummingbird feeders (attracting many species that may be photographed easily), bathrooms, eating tables and a small gift shop with drinks and snacks.

Lunch at CANOPY TOWER.

Afternoon: Miraflores Locks (Optional)

This afternoon you have the option to relax on your own, catch up on some photography, or visit the Miraflores Locks Museum.

In addition to seeing first-hand the operation of the Canal, with huge container ships negotiating the narrow locks, you may also explore the world-class museum there. Magnificent Frigatebirds can be seen gliding overhead, so you won’t miss out on any Panama birding opportunities!

Dinner on property.
Accommodation at CANOPY TOWER.

Departure to Airport
After breakfast you will be driven to Tocumen International Airport on time for your return flights home.