Panama may be a small country, but it’s home to more than 1,000 species of birds, both endemic and migratory, making it one of the best places in Central America for bird-watching.
In fact, the country’s bird population is home to 10 percent of the world’s known bird species. Panama City is near to three parks where travelers can experience the joys of bird-watching, all located within the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor, as well as the Metropolitan Natural Park, a sanctuary home to more than 200 bird species.
This city sanctuary is easily accessible and allows travelers to catch a glimpse of some incredible species, like blue-crowned motmots, lance-tailed manakins, wrens, greenlets, trogons, flycatchers, woodpeckers, toucans, tanagers and the collared aracari.
Panama’s great bird migration, which takes place from September to April, means visitors can spot an abundance of migrants around the country in addition to native birds. Panama’s wealth of food and extensive habitat make it a major attraction for Western and semipalmated sandpipers, black-bellied plovers, red knots and marbled godwits that gather in the city and on its coastline.
To find parrots and macaws in their natural habitat, the Camino de Cruces National Park and Soberania National Park are perfect destinations. Soberania’s Pipeline Road set the world record for 24-hour bird counts. It’s also home to some rare bird species, like the crested eagle.
Along the Panama Canal watershed, travelers can visit Barro Colorado Island, which is the most researched tropical rainforest in the world, home to nearly 400 bird species, including toucans, antshrikes and tropical mockingbirds.
The largest national park in Panama is Darien National Park, and it makes for one of the best places in the region for bird-watching. Near the Colombian border, the park offers rainforests and mangroves that provide sanctuary to birds like the quetzal, oropendola, cotinga and harpy eagle, the country’s national bird.
In the northern region by the country’s border with Costa Rica, travelers will find La Amistad International Park (PILA), the largest and most remote nature preserve in Central America. It’s accessible from Las Nubes and is renowned for protecting the UNESCO-designated forest along the Central Mountain Range. It’s home to over 600 bird species, including the rare bare-necked umbrellabird.
Panama is a place of great biodiversity, and birdwatchers around the world should consider experiencing the joys of bird-watching in one or several of its protected areas.
