Charles Eldermire, the Bird Cams Project Leader from Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, with Daniel Arias, the executive vice president of Canopy Family, installing the live camera on the fruit feeder at the Canopy Lodge on December 17, 2017.
About three years ago, John Fitzpatrick, the executive director of Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology, visited the Canopy Lodge in a tour group. As soon as John saw how many amazing birds there were in the gardens of the Canopy Lodge, he immediately set his mind to installing one of the live Cornell Lab Bird Cams at the place. Canopy Family, more than happy with the news, started the task and encountered a huge problem: There was not enough bandwidth at the time to maintain a camera streaming live 24/7. Therefore, we started a long process with the internet company, which had never taken internet with the required velocity to a place like the Canopy Lodge in El Valle, to make the live cam a reality. Finally, on December 17, 2017, Charles Eldermire, the Bird Cams Project Leader from Cornell, installed the camera, which started transmitting live in January 2018 with the collaboration of explore.org. We are so proud of being one of the two places in Panama, and one of the few places in the tropics, with one of these unique cameras. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology currently has 11 live cameras located in Bermuda, Peru, Canada, New Zealand, Panama and in many locations throughout the United States. The cameras allow scientists, biologists, managers and bird lovers to discover new information every day, and several research projects regarding Red-tailed Hawks, Lance-tailed Manakins and endangered species like the Bermuda Petrel and California Condor are going on thanks to the cameras. The Cornell Lab is even preparing a citizen science research project that focuses on the Panama Fruit Feeder Cam at the Canopy Lodge, which has been visited by at least 56 different species of very colorful birds, featuring tanagers, honeycreepers, chachalacas, oropendolas and even some mammals like Central American Woolly Opossum and Northern Tamanduas!
Ever since we installed the first bird feeders at the Canopy Lodge, we have noticed how much our visitors enjoy watching them, either online or live from the Lodge veranda. Some visitors even remain at the Lodge observing the feeder instead of going on a tour! Therefore, we decided to add some new bird feeders at the Canopy Camp too! There are currently four feeders that you can observe from the comfortable living room and dining room while you are having your meals or lounging. For now, they don’t have a camera streaming live, but for sure they will make your stay at the Canopy Camp even more enjoyable! Also, the feeders will improve our visiting photographers’ experience, since they will be able to take amazing photos of species that are otherwise very difficult to spot close enough. Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, Bananaquits and Golden-hooded Tanagers have been visiting us at the feeders, and we are expecting more species of birds to come. Moreover, we are also working on a secret operation that would keep the amazing King Vulture nearby the Canopy Camp!
One of the new fruit feeders at the Canopy Camp, Darién, where Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, Bananaquits and Golden-hooded Tanagers are starting to arrive. We are expecting more species of birds to come!