Welcome to Panama! After arriving at Tocumen International Airport you will transfer to the beautiful Summit Rainforest Resort. After settling in at the hotel, you will meet your guide and enjoy some birding around the hotel grounds in the afternoon. Blue-gray, Palm, and Crimson-backed tanagers, Clay-colored Thrush, Red-crowned Woodpecker, Ruddy Ground Dove, Tropical Mockingbird, Bat Falcon, Collared Aracari, and other common Neotropical birds can be seen right on the property. Overnight at Summit Rainforest Resort.

Morning birding at the world-famous Pipeline Road. A “Panamanian birding bucket list” spot.

Our first stop will be at the Ammo Dump Ponds to scan the open wetland for Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Purple Gallinule, Wattled Jacana, White-throated Crake, Greater Ani, Yellow-tailed Oriole, and forest edge species. Pipeline Road is a trail through the lowland rainforest of Soberania National Park and is home to hundreds of species, including Red-capped Manakin, Black Hawk-Eagle, Purple-throated Fruitcrow, Slaty-tailed Trogon, Spotted Antbird, Cinnamon Woodpecker and some other less common rainforest species, including Ocellated Antbird, Streak-chested Antpitta and Pheasant Cuckoo. In the afternoon we will stroll around the grounds of the Gamboa Rainforest Reserve. This property offers trails, forest, open areas, wetlands and is rich with birdlife. Here we’ll keep an eye out for Gartered and Black-throated Trogons, Golden-hooded Tanager, Yellow-throated Toucan, and Black-striped Sparrow. Overnight at Summit Rainforest Resort.

A visit to the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center will bring us up above the canopy of the rainforest on their 100-foot tower, where Yellow-throated Toucan, Blue Cotinga, Black-breasted Puffbird, and Gray-headed Kite are often seen. This is also a great place to take in spring raptor migration overhead. We’ll walk the trails in hopes to find Blue-crowned Manakin, Black-headed Antthrush, Red-throated Ant-Tanager, White-whiskered Puffbird and much more. The covered veranda with buzzing hummingbird feeders brings us up close to White-necked Jacobin, Violet-bellied Hummingbird, Long-billed Hermit and other amazing hummingbirds. After lunch and a rest, we’ll head over to Summit Ponds and the Old Gamboa Road to look for American Pygmy Kingfisher, Lesser Kiskadee, Gray-cowled Wood-Rail, Collared Forest-Falcon, Gartered Trogon, and other forest edge species. Overnight at Summit Rainforest Resort.

Today we’ll enjoy a day of birding in the cooler foothills of Cerro Azul and Chagres National Park. It is one of the best places to look for Yellow-eared Toucanet, Sulphur-rumped, Emerald, Speckled and Rufous-winged tanagers, Black-eared Wood-Quail, White-ruffed Manakin and the Panamanian endemic Stripe-cheeked Woodpecker! We’ll scan the open vistas for King Vulture and Black-and-white Hawk-Eagle. But most of all, Cerro Azul is a paradise for hummingbirds and hummingbird photography – White-tipped Sicklebill, Violet-capped Hummingbird, Snowy-bellied Hummingbird, Bronze-tailed Plumeleteer, Green Hermit, Purple-crowned Fairy and Rufous-crested Coquette can be found here. We’ll enjoy a picnic lunch in the field, surrounded by the beautiful riparian landscapes and climate of Cerro Azul. In the afternoon we’ll stop at Costa del Este or Panama Viejo to scan the mangroves and mudflats for shorebirds and waterbirds. Overnight at Riande Aeropuerto Hotel.

This morning we will check out of our hotel and take a short flight from Panama City to David, the gateway to the Panama’s exquisite western highlands! We will transfer to Mount Totumas Cloud Forest Reserve (approx 2 hrs drive), a fantastic region near the Costa Rican border and the best place to find Three-wattled Bellbird in Panama. Upon arrival we will settle in and have lunch. Afternoon birding at Mount Totumas will introduce us to the birds of western Panama. We may come across Band-tailed Pigeon, Rufous-browed Peppershrike, Chiriqui Foliage-gleaner, Mountain Elaenia, Flame-colored Tanager, Yellowish Flycatcher and Sulphur-winged Parakeet. This is an excellent place for hummingbirds – Lesser and Brown violetears, Talamanca Hummingbird, White-throated Mountain-gem, Stripe-tailed Hummingbird, Violet Sabrewing and the tiny Magenta-throated Woodstar are some of the common species here. We’ll enjoy delicious dinner in the restaurant with sweeping vistas of the reserve. Overnight at Mount Totumas Cloud Forest.

We have these two full days to explore the trails of the Mount Totumas Cloud Forest Reserve and La Amistad International Park. The cloud forests of the Talamanca Mountain range are home may regional endemics including Chiriqui Quail-Dove, Black-faced Solitaire, Slate-throated Redstart, Dark Pewee, Silvery-fronted Tapaculo, Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, Peg-billed Finch, Flame-throated Warbler and much more. There will also be more opportunities to see and photograph Three-wattled Bellbird, Resplendent Quetzal, hummingbirds and others. Mount Totumas is also an excellent place for finding dozens of species of butterflies and other insects of the region, and after dark it is worth visiting the moth sheet at Bellbird Lodge to see an incredible diversity of nocturnal insects! Overnights at Mount Totumas Cloud Forest.

Today we will have an early breakfast then depart Mount Totumas. We will head up to the Cerro Punta area, in Panama’s highland agricultural region. We will visit the Las Nubes Station at La Amistad International Park, where, around the trails, we hope to see Wrenthrush, Large-footed Finch, Yellow-thighed Brushfinch, Sooty- capped Chlorospingus, Golden-browed Chlorophonia, Buffy Tuftedcheek, Collared Redstart, Black-cheeked Warbler, and many others. This is also a good place to try for the rare Ochraceous Pewee! Up in this area we will also seek out large bamboo stands in hopes to come across Maroon-chested Ground Dove. After our day of birding in Cerro Punta, we will then drive to Boquete and arrive at our lodge in time for dinner. Overnight at Boquete Tree Trek.

We will enjoy a day of birding around Boquete. There are plenty of areas to explore and even more birds to be found! We will spend the morning walking local trails in search of Black-thighed Grosbeak, Brown-capped and Yellow-winged vireos, Yellowish Flycatcher, Ruddy Treerunner, Streak-breasted Treehaunter, Purple-throated Mountain-gem, and many others. This afternoon, there is the option to bird at the summit of Volcan Baru, Panama’s highest peak at 3,474 meters. We will seek out the higher elevation specialties here including Volcano Hummingbird, Volcano Junco, Sooty Thrush, and Timberline Wren. We will enjoy a picnic dinner with a spectacular view from the summit at dusk, then head back down the road with stops seeking Dusky Nightjar, Bare-shanked Screech-Owl, and Unspotted Saw-Whet Owl after dark! Overnight at Boquete Tree Trek.

We will be up early today to head to Paraiso Birding, in hopes to catch the Fiery-billed Aracaris as they take in their breakfast at the fruit feeders. This morning we will focus our attention to the hummingbirds and the lovely trails this property has to offer. Species include Charming Hummingbird, Long-billed Starthroat, Brown Violetear, and Green Hermit. We will also look for Black-hooded Antshrike, Costa Rican Brushfinch, Orange- collared Manakin, and Spot-crowned Euphonia. After lunch we will return to David to catch our flight back to Panama City. We will enjoy a final dinner together. Overnight at Riande Aeropuerto Hotel.

This morning after breakfast we will transfer via hotel shuttle to the international airport for our return flights home. Or, if you are joining us for the Darien Extension tour, we’ll set off on our next Panamanian adventure!