Panama: Bocas del Toro and the Western Highlands

The many mangrove-fringed islands of the Bocas del Toro Archipelago have long attracted those with a sense of adventure, and a new ecolodge built on the southern tip of Isla Bastimentos and adjacent to a large protected area of coastal forest now serves as a welcome and very comfortable base for the visiting naturalist.

We’ll explore the islands, canals, and adjacent mainland in pursuit of birds such as Three-wattled Bellbird (present most years), Red-billed Tropicbird (at a breeding colony), Stub-tailed Spadebill, Snowy Cotinga, and the colorful Montezuma Oropendola. We’ll travel to the mainland on at least two of our days, exploring the bird-rich foothill forests below the La Fortuna Forest Reserve, where birds such as Sulphur-winged Parakeet, White-bellied Mountain-Gem, Slaty-backed and Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush, and Spangle-cheeked, Emerald, Black-and-Yellow and Silver-throated Tanagers occur. And around the coast near the banana-producing town of Changuinola we’ll seek out Black-throated, Bay, and Canebrake Wrens, the scarce Nicaraguan Seed-Finch, Scarlet-rumped Tanager, and a wealth of tropical lowland species. We’ll combine these days in the Caribbean lowlands with several days in the fertile and perpetually spring-like Talamanca Highlands.

The highlands of western Panama and eastern Costa Rica encompass a large area of lightly developed mountains. Forests draped in bromeliads over a carpet of tree ferns and mosses cloak the upper reaches of the hills, while the verdant valleys play host to small coffee plantations and rural villages, all under the shadow of multiple volcanoes, including the hulking 11,400-foot Volcán Barú. These highlands, shared with neighboring Costa Rica, have been designated a globally important bird area, with almost 50 regional endemic bird species. This long list of specialties includes such spectacular birds as Fiery-throated, Scintillant, Volcano and Talamanca Hummingbirds, Prong-billed and Red-headed Barbets, Long-tailed and Black-and-Yellow Silky-Flycatchers, Flame-throated Warbler, Collared and Slate-throated Whitestart, the enigmatic Wrenthrush, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, and Yellow-thighed Brushfinch. In addition, the highlands here are home to the stunning Resplendent Quetzal, surely one of the most evocative birds on the planet.

For those interested in a longer Panamanian adventure with a truly mind-boggling diversity of birds, this tour can be combined with Panama: Canopy Tower on one end and/or Panama: The Darién Lowlands on the other.