MIGRATION! MIGRATION! MIGRATION!

MIGRATION! MIGRATION! MIGRATION!

Right now, billions of birds are moving all around the globe in search for a good place to survive the winter.

Sometimes moving all across the globe; other times just a few hundred miles. Bird migration is one of the must noticeable natural shows.

But now technology enable us to "follow" the migration as it moves.

Satellite tracking technology is helping us to understand better the routes, timing and obstacles of the journey to survival.

Here are some links to witness the ongoing migration of some birds.

Turkey Vulture

Broad-Winged Hawk

Peregrine Falcon

Black-bellied Plover

Whimbrel


If you love birds, maps and migration, check those links! You may discover something interesting!

Toco Toucans are not from Panama!

 A friend of mine sent me a picture of a toucan that was used in an advertisement to promote visits to Panama!

For my surprise, it wasn't any of the species of toucan that inhabit our country!

It was a Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) from South America!

The actual distribution of Toco Toucan
NOT FOUND IN PANAMA

When my friend so the add he got a little upset and send it to me to see if we could do something! I went around the internet and grab some more examples and I will explain WHY you should be very careful when you pick the company you're traveling with

1) if a company can not make the difference between a Toco toucan and Keel-Billed Toucan you should not handle your money! This is very simple: they are not being respectful to you. They consider that you would be as simple tourist without the capacity to analyze or understand the place you are visiting. They assume that you will be enchanted with any colorful toucan and you going to buy if they show you anything colorful!

2) That means that they're not taking care or considerations when they hiring local providers to fit your tours. It is very likely that they never had gone out to look at toucans in Metropolitan Nature Park or Pipeline Road! They may have never visited Panama before and have no idea how things are here!

3) It also means that you will be supporting a company that, perhaps, maybe involve in other nasty kinds of tourism like sex tourism or abusing of local outfitters.

I going to show you some pictures of Panamanian companies or companies from abroad that use Toco toucan a South America species, not found in Panama, to promote my beautiful country.

Panama has already 8 species of toucans all of them extremely beautiful!

So please use a company that respects you, respect the country they are doing business and respect the Toco Toucan. Don't give money to crooks! 

Beny Wilson. Self introduction

It is slow season!

It is slow season! Time to evaluate. The perfect moment to check our lives and bring it into perspective. Enjoy the video and plan your days for the rest of the year.

Bird by Bird you get to know the Caribbean...

When Birds Caribbean told me that “bird by bird I will get to know the Caribbean” I was totally unaware of the scale and extent of their promise!

Until then, the Caribbean to me was just rum, sun, beaches an and endless torrent of music in different tempos, languages and moods.

 

JAMAICAN TODY Check more pictures in this Flickr Album 

I had planned a visit to the Caribbean before but never got so close until 2 years ago when Caribbean Birding Trail (a project of Birds Caribbean) contacted Rick Morales to facilitate training birding guides in the Island of Grenada. Someway somehow Rick ended up contacting me to assist him on the training and there I was: in an island smaller than Coiba, Panama's largest island, but with so much more history and nature all packed in a mountain in the middle of the ocean!

JAMAICAN OWL Check more pictures in this Flickr Album 

This year we had the opportunity to train in Jamaica and my whole vision of the Caribbean got turned inside out and battered in a thick sauce of history, culture and flavors: exactly that component of the Caribbean that I did not understood until this trip.

Here are some pictures and videos of the Caribbean Birding Trail Guide Training in Jamaica. Enjoy them, share them, store them but don't forget: more than 700 islands are home to 178 endemic birds through the entire Caribbean Archipelago!

A little dance to celebrate Earth Day!

Birding: How to begin!

Yesterday I had a short conversation with my friend Antonio Mojica and realized that very often people are interested in birding but have no idea of where and how to begin birdwatching. So I decided to make a post on some resources that could help you begin this hobby/art/sport

1. GOOD EQUIPMENT: You must get a nice binocular. 8X42 are the preferred size. This video may help you understand better binoculars. Nice guide to birds of Panama. The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide by George Angher is the most up to date in the market. However if you have and old Guide to the birds of Panama by Ridgley guide book it is just a matter of updating the names on the list and you will have a great book. Also get A Bird-Finding Guide to Panama!

2. LEARN HOW TO IDENTIFY BIRDS As in many other hobbies, practicing is key to become a great birder. Panama Audubon Society offers an introductory tour every first Sunday of the month. They are very good to learn how to ID the common birds of our backyard. You can also make new friends with much more experience that would make the learning process easier. The Inside Birding series of videos are super handy on organizing the process we use to ID birds.

3. KEEP NOTES Sounds simple but it isn't. Keeping track of what and where you saw its not that easy. Fortunately there is eBird now! Great and easy way to organize your sightings, keep them updated and remember what you had seen and what you need to find! Good Luck birding!