Birding was the main point of the trip but I'm not much of a bird photographer so I only got a few shots, mostly digiscoped through other peoples' spotting scopes. Better photos of birds from the same trip can be seen at Will Cook's web site.
| This Black-breasted Puffbird was along the road downhill from Canopy Tower. |
| White-necked Puffbird |
| Pied Puffbird. Odd that of my few pictures I happened to get 3 of the 4 Puffbird species that we saw. I guess it's because they sit still for a long time. |
| Yellow-headed Caracara |
| Rufous Motmot |
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Black-throated Trogon. This photo is worth looking at full size.
Note the fine vermiculation on the coverts of the disproportionately small wings.
There is a whole series of different trogon species that look essentially alike but differ in whether the belly is yellow, orange or red, whether the male's head is green or purple, and whether the underside of the tail is black, white or barred. Most have a ring around the eye that gives them a blank expression. |
| The Resplendent Quetzal is just a big, and indeed resplendent, trogon. Sacred to the Mayans, and the national bird of Guatemala, its beauty is admired even by non-birders. They are about 14-15 inches long without the tail streamers (actually upper tail coverts) which can add more than two feet to the total length of the male. The belly is red, the upperparts shimmering green. The wing coverts are elongated and wrap part way over the breast. |
| Here you can kind of see the male's crest. |
| Here you can see the red belly and white tail, and you can also see that the streamers are not tail feathers but originate above the tail. |
| Three-wattled Bellbird, another much sought-after bird. Its distinctive vocalization is not at all bell-like but more of an electronic-sounding bonging. |
| Three-wattled Bellbird. |
| Looking at the Bellbird. |
| Oropendola nests at Lake Gatun |
| Spectacled Owl |
