Black-crowned Antpitta: Canopy Lodge, Panama, July 2022 — The Antpittas are all smallish birds that stay pretty close to the ground in the dense undergrowth of old growth rainforest through Central and South America, where they follow Army Ant swarms and feast on other ants of the forest. Most are listed as “rare”, but I think that is due mainly to how difficult they are to see. The Black-crowned ranges through most of Panama, and is found in Columbia and Costa Rica as well. We found this one in dense forest on the edge of the huge chicken farm above Canopy Lodge. And of course, photographing an antpitta is always a challenge…down low in heavy undergrowth, with limited lines of sight,and never enough light. They do have the habit of hopping up on a log and running the length of it…every antpitta I have seen, we first spotted when it did that. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications and multi-frame noise reduction. Processed in Pixelmator Photo and Apple Photos. Equivalent ISO 6400 @ f4 @ 1/20th and 1/25th. Plus .3 EV.