Our Budget Panama birding tour is a joy, as long travel days and arduous hikes are not necessary. We spend several days at Canopy Tower in the Canal Zone, allowing us an unrivalled opportunity to explore the rainforests of Soberanía National Park. These exquisite forest and wetland sites provide diverse birding, while mammal opportunities are excellent. Pipeline Road, Ammo Dump Ponds and the tower itself are among the most famous birding sites in Panama. The diversity and quality of birds and birding in the area very near to the Panamanian Capital makes this area perhaps the most convenient and fruitful birding anywhere in Latin America. Some 350 species can be found within a 30-mile radius of the city! We then head to the delightful hill country of El Valle de Antón where we explore cloudforest and the Caribbean slope and a new range of mouth-watering Panama birding species!
Panamanian Tyrannulet, Veraguan Mango, Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Rufous-vented Ground Cuckoo, Blue Cotinga, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Great & Little Tinamous, Keel-billed and Chestnut-mandibled Toucans, Collared Aracari, Yellow-eared Toucanet, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Spot-crowned Barbet, Black-eared Wood Quail, Fasciated, Russet & Black-crowned Antshrikes, Red-capped, White-ruffed, Lance-tailed, Blue-crowned & Golden-collared Manakins, Broad-billed and Rufous Motmots, White-whiskered & White-necked Puffbird, Spotted, Dusky, Bicolored, Ocellated & White-bellied Antbird, Black-faced Antthrush, Dot-winged, White-flanked, Slaty, Moustached & Checker-throated Antwrens, Red-lored & Northern Mealy Amazons, Blue-headed & Brown-hooded Parrots, Slaty-tailed, White-tailed Trogon, Black-bellied Wren, White-breasted Wood Wren, Crimson-crested and Lineated Woodpeckers, Scaled, Black-crowned and Streak-chested Antpittas, Bay-headed, Speckled and Black-and-yellow Tanagers, Green Shrike-Vireo, Black-chested Jay, Yellow-rumped Cacique, Southern Bentbill, White-winged Becard, Northern & Russet-winged Schiffornis, Northern Barred Woodcreeper, Speckled Mourner, Spot-crowned Antvireo, Black-and-white & Ornate Hawk-Eagles, Crested Owl, Barred Forest Falcon, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Spotted Barbtail, Black Guan, White Hawk, Red-faced Spinetail, Ochraceous Wren, White-vented Euphonia. Hummingbird fans: Rufous-crested Coquette, White-tipped Sicklebill, Band-tailed Barbthroat, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Green Thorntail, Violet-capped, Violet-headed & Snowy-bellied Hummingbirds, Green Hermit, White-tailed Emerald, Green-crowned Brilliant, Purple-throated Mountaingem, Snowcap.
Mantled Howler Monkey, White-faced Capuchin, Ocelot, sloths
rainforest, cloudforest, marshes, rivers
mostly tropical conditions; warm and humid
8 with 1 local birding leader
mostly relaxed pace with some longer hikes
very comfortable
moderate with some tricky species
260+
Panama Canal, pristine rainforest
good
As is the tradition with all of the Rockjumper guides that we've had the pleasure of being in the boonies with, Tuomas Seimola was outstanding. We enjoyed the trip a lot.
First let me just say that the tour was excellent, the birding sites were interesting, the pace was perfect, Rob and both local guides were amazing. Top marks.
Forrest is an outstanding guide. I often have trouble getting on a bird and he was very patient with me. He lived up to all the hype my friend told me. Looking forward to more trips with Rockjumper and especially with Forrest.
I really enjoyed the tour. Guides were knowledgeable and helpful, the group dynamics were good and - most importantly, we saw loads of exciting birds. I would undoubtedly have missed many species without the expert guidance and knowledge of Tuomas Seimola and the team.
Kudos to the entire Rockjumper team for making this tour on the cusp of a global pandemic a complete success: Rob for remaining in the present during our week in the highlands, always congenial, informative and entertaining despite facing complete uncertainty about being able to return to the UK; our superb local guide, who immediately found sites outside the closed national parks for our target birds. For five magical days we had good birds, good coffee, and good vibes all around.
Tour Leader: Local Leader
Tour price (Per person): USD3,795 * GBP3,006 * EUR3,521 * AUD5,829
Single Supplement: USD350 * GBP277 * EUR325 * AUD538
Can be linked with: Panama - Budget Darien Extension 2024
Panama - Best of Birding 2022 - March 2022
Panama - Best of: Darien Extension 2022 - March 2022
Panama - Best of Birding 2019 - March 2019
Panama - Best of Birding 2018 - March 2018
Panama - Best of: Darien Extension III 2017 - April 2017
Panama - Best of Birding I 2017 - March 2017