An expanding Panama tourism attraction

PANAMA’S  has a growing   tourism  treasure that is largely untapped  says The Panama Audubon Society which has been promoting birds in Panama for over 35 years and, according to its latest listing, the source is expanding.

The  official list of birds of Panama 2016, published in February names   1002 settled  and identified species across the isthmus up from 997 in 2015.

The catalog, is  available on the website of the nonprofit organization, and  includes, says Rosabel Miró, executive director of the Society, the newly registered winged members:

the Pinnated Bittern (pinado mirasol), white-faced ibis,  red phalarope, collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto) and plain-capped starthroat  (gorrioscuro Heliomaster) as the The lists of birds, which have published every year since the 1980s, are indicators of the natural wealth of the isthmus and the health of habitats that sustain them.
“For such a small country such as Panama, with such a  significant number of birds represents an opportunity that official authorities should take into account when marketing the country,” said Miro.
who points out that  tourist activities like bird watching, can be a sustainable economic incentive, “which is increasingly in demand among tourists, especially in central and northern Europe”..
Conservationist for the policy group, the lush avifauna of Panama puts the isthmus as a tourist destination, but also puts you at the head among Central American countries with the highest number of species of birds reported.
Panama is one of the  10 Latin American countries with the largest study of birds.
Although the country is only the size of the state of South Carolina (United States), the number of birds exceeds the combined species listed in the United States and Canada  And the Isthmus  has varieties of habitats that favor the development of hundreds of regional and local endemic species and migratory birds.
List of Birds of Panama 2016 was carried out using  a check list  of the American Ornithologists’ ‘Union which  studies birds from the North Pole to the Panamanian border with Colombia including the adjacent islands.
The process for preparing the list, says Miró, included gathering historical information about Panama and the region.
Additions or changes to the list mainly respond to reports of sighted in the country, which are then evaluated by a review committee, , consisting of six scientists and professionals in identifying birds responsible for making consensus decisions on acceptance-or rejection-reports or evidence of new birds in the country,  says Miró.
The five species that entered the record this year are specimens that have perhaps expanded their range and are now seen in Panama.
The 2016 inventory records changes in the taxonomy of some domestic species and changes in scientific and genus or family names.
The list of birds Audubon Society prepares Panama is official and is used by birdwatchers, consultants environmental impact studies and public authorities and institutions.

During the last ten years Audoban has  worked more directly on conservation and education about birds The  major areas of interest are the wetlands of the Upper Bay of Panama and the primary forests of El Chorogo, Chiriqui.

Audubon Panama works locally with public schools, and rural communities and hasa seat on the Patronato of the Metropolitan Nature Park and Amigos del Águila Harpía (Friends of the Harpy Eagle), Panama’s national bird.

During the year the society conducts more than 20 birding fieldtrips, including in Panama City’s Metropolitan Park, a tropical wilderness treasure undiscovered by large numbers of the population.  month. Other activities include four Christmas Bird Counts, Raptor Counts and the World Bird Festival.