Scarlet-rumped Cacique: Canopy Tower, Panama, July 2022 — The Scarlet-rumped Caciques visited the Tower every day…though catching a look at the scarlet rump was not easy. Caciques are members of the same family as orioles and oropendolas. I was told in the Amazon that the name means “Indian Chief” or “king”, and a brief search on Google this morning confirms that. Sony Rx10iv at 500mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 800, 1000, and 1250. f4 @ 1/500th.

Slaty-tailed Trogon: Gamboa, Panama, July 2022 — On our walk near the Gamboa Sloth Santuary, Igua and I found a pair of Slaty-tailed Trogons along the road. We saw the female (without the eye-ring) on the way in and the way out, and the male on the way out. Panama has 10 species of Trogons, including the Resplendent Quetzal. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Male ISO 800 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Female ISO 1000 @ f4 @ 1/500th, plus 1EV exposure compensation.

White-bellied Antbird, Chestnut-backed Antbird: Gamboa, Panama, July 2022 — There are 11 species of Antbirds in Panama. We saw two of them, the White-bellied Antbird and the Chestnut-backed Antbird, working the shrubs at the edge of the same brushy field near the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. Two in our group were visiting the the Gamboa Sloth Sanctuary, while Igua, our guide for several days at the Canopy Tower, and I walked some trails near the Sanctuary looking for whatever we could find. 🙂 The light was not great, and these are more or less for-the-record shots, but interesting birds none-the-less. Sony Rx10iv at 600 and 580mm. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Nominal exposures: White-bellied at ISO 2000 and 2500 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Chestnut-backed at ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/60th.

Blue Cotinga: Canopy Tower, Panama, July 2022 — One of the most sought after birds of any visit to the Canopy Tower (or elsewhere in Panama) is the Blue Cotinga. It features in the Canopy Family logos, on their tee-shirts, and on the covers of their publications. If you look at the range maps, the Blue Cotinga has a very limited range, from Central Panama down along the lowlands of the extreme northwest corner of South America in both directions. I forget, between Cotinga sightings, just how big many Cotingas are. They are certainly much closer to the size of a Crow than they are to a Tanager. When I was at the Tower, the male had not been seen for several weeks, and it visited us only for a few moments one morning before the mist at canopy level had burned off. Still, it eventually came in close enough to the observation deck around the old radar dome at the top of the tower for a few good shots. The Blue makes my 3rd Cotinga: Lovely in Honduras, Snowy in both Costa Rica and Panama (north-east Panama in Bocas del Toro), and the Blue at Canopy Tower (and that is not counting the Fruiteaters, Fruitcrows, Cock-of-the-rocks, and umbrella birds I have seen, which are also members of the 66 speices family of Cotingas). Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus 1EV exposure compensation.