Birds of the Canopy Lodge

Arrival, Orientation, Canopy Lodge Grounds/Feeders

Upon arrival at the airport, you will be met by our driver who will transfer you 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 in elevation, you will immediately appreciate the noticeably cooler temperatures here!  A member of our staff will greet you as you arrive at the Lodge, and you will be provided with an orientation on the use of the facilities.  At this time we will answer any questions you may have.  As your luggage is being ferried to your room, or after you get settled in, you may visit the dining area and enjoy a refreshing drink and snack. You will immediately want to scan the fruit feeders and grounds for birding opportunities! Crimson-backed, Blue-gray, White-lined, Flame-rumped, Dusky-faced & Plain-colored Tanagers are about, as are Red-crowned Ant-Tanager, Thick-billed Euphonia, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Streaked & Buff-throated Saltators, Lineated & 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 & Violet-headed Hummingbirds, White-vented Plumeleteer, and Garden Emerald!  Dinner at CANOPY LODGE.

AM: Las Minas Trail (20 min. from Canopy Lodge)

After breakfast (during which we watch for Orange-billed Sparrow and Bay Wren calling just around the dining area), we head to Las Minas, an excellent trail for Panamanian bird watching. 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 & 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) & Black-throated Trogons, Tawny-faced Gnatwren, Plain Antvireo, the endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Spotted Woodcreeper, Red-capped & 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 at the CANOPY LODGE.

PM: Cara Iguana (15 min. from Canopy Lodge)

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 Panamanian birding opportunities in this area include Lesser Elaenia, Yellow-olive & Panama Flycatchers, Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant, Yellow-bellied Elaenia, Lance-tailed Manakin, Rufous-breasted & Rufous-and-white Wrens, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Tody & Lesson’s Motmots, and Long-billed Gnatwren. Also resident are Striped Cuckoo, Little Tinamou, Common Potoo, Dusky & 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 & Worm-eating Warblers.  Dinner at CANOPY LODGE.

AM: La Mesa Road (15 min. from Canopy Lodge)

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 & 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.  Lunch at CANOPY LODGE.

PM: Mata Ahogado Road (15 min. from Canopy Lodge)

After lunch we are off to Mata Ahogado, to spend the afternoon birding along the scrubby roadsides, often full of birds! 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.  Dinner at CANOPY LODGE.

Pacific Dry Forest & Santa Clara Beach (45 min. from Canopy Lodge) FULL DAY

After breakfast we are off for a full day of Panama bird watching in the Pacific dry forest, with its unique cast of birds! Among the species we will be seeking out today are Yellow-headed Caracara, Roadside, Gray-lined, Zone-tailed, Savanna & Short-tailed Hawks, Peregrine & Aplomado (rare) Falcons, White-tailed Kite, and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl.  We will also search for Crested Bobwhite, Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant, Golden-fronted Greenlet, Grassland Yellow-Finch, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Brown-throated Parakeet, Blue Ground Dove, Red-breasted Meadowlark, Fork-tailed Flycatcher, and Crested Oropendola.  We stop at a spot where we sometimes find Common Potoo.  Hummers to be on the watch for in this unique scrubby area are the near-endemic Veraguan Mango and Garden Emerald.  We enjoy a picnic lunch at a popular beach at Santa Clara where we hope to spot Sapphire-throated Hummingbird working the coastal shrubbery.  You may want to bring your bathing suits to take a dip in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean (83F/28C).  On the beach or flying by may be Least, Western & Spotted Sandpipers, Sanderling, Blue-footed & Brown Boobies, Sandwich, Royal & Elegant Terns, Willet, Whimbrel, and Franklin’s & Laughing Gulls.  At the Juan Hombron rice fields we hope to find Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Crested Caracara, Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Northern Scrub-Flycatcher, Southern Lapwing, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Black-crowned Night-Heron, Glossy Ibis, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Pale-breasted Spinetail, Plain-breasted Ground Dove, Mouse-colored Tyrannulet, Common (or Mangrove) Black Hawk, and Pearl Kite.  Dinner at CANOPY LODGE.

AM: Cerro Gaital (20 min. from Canopy Lodge)

Today after breakfast, we proceed to Cerro Gaital, a steep, forested, mist-shrouded mountain that you see from the lodge!  Cerro Gaital (3,500’) 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 & 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 Panama bird watching, it’s time for lunch at the CANOPY LODGE.

PM: Valle Chiquito (20 min. from Canopy Lodge)

After lunch we are off to Valle Chiquito for more Panamanian 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 search for Green Kingfisher and listen for Sepia-capped Flycatcher.  We also admire a nice colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas in a Cecropia tree.  We try for Tody Motmot, Yellow-throated Vireo, Yellow-backed Oriole, White-bellied Antbird, Gray-chested Dove, Yellow-billed Cacique, Zone-tailed & 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!  Dinner at CANOPY LODGE.

Rio Indio & Jordanal (40 min. from Canopy Lodge) FULL DAY

After breakfast we depart for a fun-filled day of Caribbean slope birding!  These fine, forested areas are not well-birded—by anybody—so who knows what might turn up!  First stop is at Rio Indio, a great spot to try for the area’s specialties—Sulphur-rumped Tanager, Spot-crowned Barbet, and Barred Puffbird!  We also strive to find Crested Oropendola, White-vented Euphonia, Buff-rumped Warbler, Long-tailed Tyrant, and raptors such as White & Gray-lined Hawks and Black Hawk-Eagle, as well as White-collared & Band-rumped Swifts.  Hummers to look for are Green, Long-billed & Rufous-breasted Hermits, and White-necked Jacobin.  We search for Lineated & Red-crowned Woodpeckers, Jet & Dusky Antbirds, Lesser & Yellow-bellied Elaenias, Tropical Pewee, Dusky, Piratic & Gray-capped Flycatchers, Cinnamon & White-winged Becards, Black-chested Jay, Bay Wren, Tawny-capped Euphonia, and Emerald, Bay-headed & Golden-hooded Tanagers!  If that is not enough, we hope to see Shining Honeycreeper, Yellow-bellied Seedeater, Thick-billed Seed-Finch, Black-striped Sparrow, and Streaked & Buff-throated Saltators!  After a pleasant picnic lunch at a thatched-roof shelter on the Jordanal River, we bird our way back to the Canopy Lodge where a relaxing afternoon awaits us—but not until we check the feeders one last time!  Dinner at CANOPY LODGE.

Altos del Maria (1 hr. from Canopy Lodge) FULL DAY

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!  Set in the mountains on the continental divide east of El Valle, Altos del Maria provides a spectacular addition to the Birds of the Canopy Lodge tour.  Ascending an excellent paved road, we will climb a ridge to our destination, an expansive area of cloud forest at 3,600 ft.  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 & Great Antshrikes, Tufted & 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 & 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 & 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 at the CANOPY LODGE.

Departure to Airport (about 3 hrs. from Canopy Lodge)

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

Please note that the itinerary is flexible, and may change without prior notice due to weather, alterations in habitat or other conditions.

Download the Birds of the Canopy Lodge itinerary in pdf here