The Canopy Tower is a prime location from which to observe the birds and other wildlife of the forest canopy. Since they are right at eye level, it is usual to get fantastic views of birds you would hardly see otherwise. You don't have to leave the Tower to find birds, you don't even have to leave your bedroom! Tanagers and Tityras can be seen right from your window, and you don't have to worry about the rain. The dining area and the roof of the tower are better for finding elusive canopy birds, as well as Howler Monkeys, Tamarins and other mammals, since you can look in all directions around you. And all this without having to venture away from the Tower. But there are many other places to visit nearby, including the best birding spots in the Panama Canal Area.

You can start your explorations of the forests of Central Panama right on the road up Semaphore Hill. This paved road is a little more than a mile long, and passes through some of the forest protected by Soberanía National Park. Here you will get a chance to see birds and mammals that spend their lives closer to the forest floor, like antbirds and Agoutis. You can walk on the road, or use one of our modified observation vehicles, the Rainfomobile and the Birdmobile.

At night, the forest seems to be a completely different world. More than eight species of Owls and Potoos have been seen on this road, and since most mammals are more active at night, it's usual to add a Two-toed Sloth or even a Rothschild's Porcupine to your owling list.

The bird list of Semaphore Hill Road is extensive, and includes birds from the forest interior as well as edge dwellers. Olivaceous Flatbill and White-whiskered Puffbird are common, and Slate-colored Grosbeak, Bay-headed Tanager, and Great Jacamar are seen frequently. Great Tinamou and Marbled Wood-Quail are heard often, but to see them takes a little more work. This road is also great for raptors: White, Tiny and Bicolored Hawks have been seen, and during migation it's easy to see more than 10 species of warblers and migratory songbirds in one morning. Spring migration is especially striking, as birds will be wearing their breeding plumages.

Scientists from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute have identified and marked 46 species of trees around the Tower and in Semaphore Hill Road. Many of these trees have medicinal value, and most produce food for birds and mammals. We will lend you a booklet with the description of these trees and you can walk down the road, at your own pace, learning a little bit about them and the rich flora of the area. Click for the Canopy Tower Tree List.

Plantation Road, which starts right by the entrance to the tower, is a good, easy graded dirt road that passes through a mature forest for about four miles. The road follows a small creek, Río Chico Masambi, where sometimes a Louisiana Waterthrush spends the winter. In most places the forest is clear of undergrowth, which makes it especially suited for observing shy, interior forest birds like tinamous and leaftossers. Golden-crowned Spadebills are regular around the creek, and White-breasted Wood-Wrens are very easy to find. When visiting Plantation Road you also have a good chance to find an army ant swarm and many of the birds that follow these swarms as they roam the forest floor. Spotted, Bicolored and Ocellated Antbirds, Gray-headed Tanagers, and Plain-brown, Northern Barred and (if you're lucky) RuddyWoodcreepers. And if you're really lucky you may even find a Hook-billed Kite.

El Charco Trail is a looping trail similar to Plantation Road, and likewise follows another creek, Río Sardinilla. Right at the entrance to the trail proper the river has been dammed to form a pond with a gorgeous waterfall where you are free to take a swim after an exhausting day of stalking birds. The birdlist for El Charco trail is similar to that for Plantation Road, but with a few interesting additions. Rufescent Tiger-Herons have been reported from the creek, and Sulphur-rumped Flycatchers have been known to nest right over the pond.

Summit Gardens is a park managed by the Office of the Mayor of Panama City. There is a small zoo where you can get a better look at King Vulture, Harpy Eagle, Great Curassow and four species of macaws, as well as Jaguar, Spider Monkeys, and a host of other mammals. The botanical gardens are great for migratory warblers and other forest-edge species, and Blue Cotingas are seen every once in a while.

Old Gamboa Road is, you guessed it, the old road to Gamboa. The easiest way to get on it is to turn left at the entrance to Summit Gardens. Cross the railroad tracks and in a short while you'll get to Old Gamboa Road proper. If you turn right you'll cross two patches of forest before getting to the broadening of Culebra Cut. If you turn left, you'll get to Summit Ponds, where Boat-billed Herons nest and Capped Herons are seen every few years. Both Kiskadees, and both Green and Striated Herons are seen regularly, as well as the more common egrets. Going straight through the two ponds you'll be on Old Gamboa Road South, one of the birdiest spots around. This road passes through a variety of habitats, and has plenty of specialties: Blue Ground-Dove, Great Antshrike, Jet Antbird, Black-tailed and Royal Flycatchers, Lance-tailed and Golden-collared Manakins and Rosy Thrush-Tanager are a few highlights.

To get on the north half of Old Gamboa Road you'll have to get to the place where it joins Gaillard Highway: the second road to the left after you pass the entrance to El Charco Trail. The forests on this end of the road are not fragmented, and are more similar to the ones on the Atlantic Slope. You may find Great Jacamar, Thrush-like Schiffornis and other birds that rarely get on the Pacific Slope.

The Ammo Dump Pond is located just north of Gamboa, on the way to Pipeline Road. It's the best place to see the elusive White-throated Crake, as well as a host of other waterbirds. Least Grebes, Common Moorhens and Purple Gallinules are common, and Rufescent Tiger-Heron and American Pygmy-Kingfishers are around, but are not as easy to find. Sometimes you get Limpkin and maybe even a Least Bittern, and lately a few Snail Kites have been reported.

Pipeline Road is the best place in Central Panama to find forest birds, and plenty of them. Eight species of wrens, five trogons, four puffbirds, three motmots, many antbirds and even more flycatchers have been reported from the road. And if its 17 Km are not enough, there's plenty of side trails plus eleven creeks and rivers that can be followed into the forest. Army antswarms are found frequently, attended sometimes by Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo, and there are many Manakin leks right beside the road. Pipeline Road is also a great place for raptors: all three Forest-Falcons are heard if not seen with ease, and Tiny and Plumbeous Hawks and Ornate Hawk-Eagles have been reported a few times. A Harpy Eagle was seen one time right beside the road!

Located right next to Panama City, only 25 minutes from the Canopy Tower, the forests of the Metropolitan Natural Park are much drier than those around Pipeline or Plantation Roads. Therefore, you should expect to see some species of birds that are rare if not absent in those areas. The beautiful Rosy Thrush-Tanager is common, as is the striking Lance-tailed Manakin. It's also a good place to look for Sepia-capped Flycatcher and you have a shot at the endemic Yellow-green Tyrannulet as well. And if the resident birds are not enough, each September the birdlist of the park grows substatially with the arrival of two dozen species of warblers and other migratory birds. Finally, the lookout at the end of Mono Tití Road is one of the best places to witness the rivers of migrating Turkey Vultures and Swainson's and Broad-winged Hawks that fly right over downtown Panama City in October and November during the fall migration of raptors. The flow reverses direction in April and May when these birds return to their breeding grounds in North America.

El Valle is a picturesque little town located 3,000 ft above sea level in the crater of a gigantic extinct volcano. It is the largest inhabited volcano in the Western Hemisphere and the second largest in the World, after the Ngoro-Ngoro in Africa. Here we will look for foothill birds in the private reserve of the Arias de Para family. For example: Tody Mot Mot, Dull-mantled Antbird, Eye-ringed Flatbill, Buff-throated Saltator, White-tipped Sicklebill, Green Hermit, Sunbittern, Bay-headed and Emerald tanagers and the elusive Ground Cuckoo which has been seen occasionally in this area. Just to get a glimpse of this almost mythical bird is worth the trip to El Valle. The most adventurous of the group are welcomed to do the Canopy Adventure. This thrilling cable ride among the canopy of the rain forest is guaranteed to give you enough adrenaline to last you 24 hours. You might also want to bring a bathing suit because there is a wonderful swimming hole here. El Valle de Antón is also the location for a wonderful new birding lodge, Canopy Lodge. For more information visit the Canopy Adventure & the Canopy Lodge websites.