In addition to our birding and nature tour packages that offer you a worry-free birding holiday, we offer additional tours to our guests for those who would like to add on a tour to a specific destination, explore the forest at night during a night drive or discover the wonders of the wildlife of the Panama Canal by boat, and other fantastic birding destinations! Browse through tours that can be purchased during your stay.
Explore the beautiful grounds of the Canopy Lodge and the tranquil forest trails of the Canopy Adventure for a great variety of forest and semi-open area birds. Crimson-backed, Flame-rumped, Dusky-faced and Blue-gray tanagers, Collared Aracari, Bananaquit, Clay-colored Thrush and Thick-billed Euphonia feed on the bananas at the feeders every morning. Bay Wren, Chestnut-headed Oropendola, Gray-headed Chachalaca and several species of hummingbirds including Long-billed Starthroat, White-vented and Bronze-tailed plumeleteers, Snowy-bellied and Rufous-tailed hummingbirds and the tiny Rufous-crested Coquette could be seen, among others on the grounds of the Lodge. Sunbitterns are occasionally seen along the rushing waters of the stream passing by the Canopy Lodge. The trails at the Canopy Adventure are a great place to search for Mottled Owl, Buff-rumped Warbler, Tawny-crested Tanager, Red-crowned Ant-tanager and is one of the best places to see the rare and spectacular Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo! During these guided nature trips, you will stop by “Chorro El Macho”—the largest waterfall in the area!
Las Minas is an excellent place to get a wide variety of birds. These nature trips follow the ridge line, with sweeping vistas of forested mountains, speckled with grasslands and small fincas. On a clear day near the summit, both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans may be seen! Specialties include Black-and-yellow, Bay-headed & Emerald tanagers, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, White-tipped Sicklebill and many others. The endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker, Spotted Woodcreeper, Red-capped & White-ruffed manakins, Black-headed Antthrush and Black Guan have all been recorded here!
Cara Iguana Trail is outstanding for foothill birding in some of the last remaining examples of quality Dry Pacific Forest. Specialties are Yellow-bellied and Lesser elaenias, Yellow-olive & Panama flycatchers, Pale-eyed Pygmy-Tyrant, Lance-tailed Manakin, Rufous-breasted & Rufous-and-white wrens, Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Tody & Whooping motmots and Long-billed Gnatwren. Hummers to watch for are Garden Emerald, Long-billed Starthroat and White-vented Plumeleteer.
La Mesa Road offers a visually pleasing blend of secondary forest, scrubby pastures, overgrown fincas and grassy borders. Here is where we look for such great specialties as Spot-crowned Barbet, Cinnamon Becard, Scarlet-thighed Dacnis, Silver-throated, Golden-hooded, Tawny-crested & Bay-headed tanagers, Spot-crowned Antvireo, Spotted Woodcreeper and the spectacular White-tipped Sicklebill! Rufous-crested Coquette is among the variety of hummers we search for. Also resident are Blue-throated Toucanet, Bran-colored Flycatcher, Scale-crested Pygmy-Tyrant and Orange-bellied Trogon.
Water Cress Trail, named after the herb which is commercially grown here, is an easy trail traversing through good secondary forest full of birds. Rosy Thrush-Tanager, Black-headed Saltator, Great Antshrike, White-ruffed Manakin, White-thighed Swallow, White-bellied Antbird and Tody Motmot are resident along with many other fantastic birds! We will also listen for Purplish-backed Quail-Dove along this trail.
Cerro Gaital, namesake of Cerro Gaital Natural Monument, protects more than 335 hectares of mature cloud forest. Sightings of Black Guan, Blue-throated Toucanet, Orange-bellied Trogon, Spotted Barbtail, Common Bush-Tanager, Silver-throated Tanager, Black-headed Antthrush, Blue Seedeater, Rufous-capped Warbler, White Hawk, Tawny-capped Euphonia, Pale-vented Thrush and many others are possible! This is a very popular area to get specialties quite easily! Scaled Antpitta and Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo have been recorded here.
These nature trips are accessible by a paved road and pass 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 see a nice colony of Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, and try for Tody Motmot, Yellow-throated Vireo, Yellow-backed Oriole, White-bellied Antbird, Gray-chested Dove, Yellow-billed Cacique, Black Hawk-Eagle, Lance-tailed Manakin, Panama Flycatcher, and many other great birds! Wrens are abundant here: Black-bellied, Rufous-and-white, Bay & Rufous-breasted wrens lurk about in the thickets!
The following full-day tours require a minimum of four persons:
The Dry Pacific Forest and its wonderful suite of birds is the theme of the day! Crested Bobwhite, Yellow-headed Caracara, Gray-lined & Short-tailed hawks, Peregrine & Aplomado Falcons, White-tailed Kite, Veraguan Mango, Sapphire-throated Hummingbird, Straight-billed Woodcreeper, Red-breasted Blackbird, Fork-tailed Flycatcher and Crested Oropendola are among our hopefuls. We enjoy a picnic lunch at Playa Santa Clara! Blue-footed & Brown Boobies and Sandwich, Royal & Elegant Terns cruise along the beach. At Juan Hombron rice fields we hope to find Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture, Crested Caracara, Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Pale-eyed-Pygmy-Tyrant and a host of other terrific birds!
Caribbean Slope birding at its best! These fine, forested areas are not well-birded, so who knows what might turn up! Rio Indio is a great spot to try for the area’s specialties: Sulphur-rumped Tanager, Spot-crowned Barbet and Barred Puffbird, along with White-vented Euphonia, Buff-rumped Warbler and Long-tailed Tyrant! Cinnamon & White-winged becards, Black-chested Jay, Bay Wren, along with Tawny-capped Euphonia and many others will also be in the offing! During this tour we enjoy a pleasant picnic lunch at a thatched-roof shelter at Rio Jordanal.
Altos del Maria harbors an exciting variety of highland forest birds. Some of the characteristic species include Black-crowned Antpitta, Black-headed Saltator, White Hawk, Barred Forest-Falcon, Orange-bellied Trogon, Spotted Woodcreeper, Red-faced Spinetail and many others. The bizarre Brown-billed Scythebill is seen here regularly! Hummeringbirds include Band-tailed Barbthroat, the exquisite Snowcap, Purple-throated Mountain-Gem, White-tipped Sicklebill and Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer. We enjoy a picnic lunch in the field!
Prices are per person, 2 person minimum (or as indicated); all nature tours include snacks and beverages. Full day birding tours include picnic lunch.
All of our birding tours are led by expert bilingual bird guides equipped with binoculars and a scope. Our guides are also equipped with green laser pointers to help you locate the birds and with i-pods with bird vocalizations. Recordings are used judiciously on birding tours.
Our groups are of a maximum of 8 guests per guide.
Private guide services cost $225 per day, plus the cost of the tour.
All nature tours are exclusive to Canopy Lodge guests.
For more information, call us at 1.800.616.7451 or email us at contactus@canopytower.com.
