Barro Colorado Island
Everybody enjoyed sleeping a bit later, after a long night watching the pass through the first locks of the Panama Canal, the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks.
We woke up in the Gatun Lake, ready to visit Barro Colorado Island (BCI). BCI has been a biological reserve since 1923, not long after the area was isolated from the mainland by the creation of the Gatun Lake. That means that at the bottom of the lake are trees.
A new era of biological exploration and research began in 1923; the BCI became a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution, there were more than one hundred scientific visitors each year. In the year 1979 five mainland peninsulas were added to the protected area, it was then declared the Barro Colorado Nature Monument. With a total of 13,256 acres, crossed by approximately 25 miles of trails, its highest point is at 476 ft above sea level.
During our walks we could truly feel the temperature and humidity of the rainforests of Panama. But all that sweat was not going to take away the marvelous sensation when one sees a slaty-tailed trogon, dot-winged antwrens, crested guans, puffbirds, euphonias and a very curious and not at all shy, chestnut mandible toucan. All of them performed wonderful jumps, and twists, and rewarded us with an occasional look our way.
Perhaps more than any other kind of bird, toucans symbolize the American tropics. The word toucan comes from tucano, the name used by the Topi Indians in Brazil. Around 59 species of toucans (aracaris, toucanets and barbets) inhabit rain forest and woodlands of tropical America, chiefly at low altitudes; only a few species live high in the mountains. They normally range from 12-26 inches including their amazing, huge bills, which are surprisingly light, hollow structures, supported by bony fibers beneath the outer horny surface, so an ornithologist says “ the toucan is a large bill with a bird behind,” or that “ it appears to follow its own oversized bill.” Small flocks roam the canopy searching for fruiting trees, insects, small vertebrates, and occasional eggs and nestlings of small birds. Smaller species commonly nest in holes carved by woodpeckers, which they may enlarge, but the big Ramphastos toucans prefer cavities resulting from decay in living trees.
The toucan family is completely Neotropical; this means they occur nowhere else in the planet but southeast Mexico to Brazil, such as the manakins, cotingas and motmots. Costa Rica and Panama share the same 6 species. The chestnut mandibled toucan (Ramphastos swansonii) is a permanent resident, ranging from sea level up to 6 000ft, is the largest toucan in both countries. It range goes from east Honduras to north Colombia and western Ecuador.
Toucans are just fun to watch. We marveled at how one plucks off a fruit and holds it on the tip of its bill, then flips its head back, tossing the fruit into its throat; sort of what we try to do with popcorn.
Everybody enjoyed sleeping a bit later, after a long night watching the pass through the first locks of the Panama Canal, the Miraflores and Pedro Miguel locks.
We woke up in the Gatun Lake, ready to visit Barro Colorado Island (BCI). BCI has been a biological reserve since 1923, not long after the area was isolated from the mainland by the creation of the Gatun Lake. That means that at the bottom of the lake are trees.
A new era of biological exploration and research began in 1923; the BCI became a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution, there were more than one hundred scientific visitors each year. In the year 1979 five mainland peninsulas were added to the protected area, it was then declared the Barro Colorado Nature Monument. With a total of 13,256 acres, crossed by approximately 25 miles of trails, its highest point is at 476 ft above sea level.
During our walks we could truly feel the temperature and humidity of the rainforests of Panama. But all that sweat was not going to take away the marvelous sensation when one sees a slaty-tailed trogon, dot-winged antwrens, crested guans, puffbirds, euphonias and a very curious and not at all shy, chestnut mandible toucan. All of them performed wonderful jumps, and twists, and rewarded us with an occasional look our way.
Perhaps more than any other kind of bird, toucans symbolize the American tropics. The word toucan comes from tucano, the name used by the Topi Indians in Brazil. Around 59 species of toucans (aracaris, toucanets and barbets) inhabit rain forest and woodlands of tropical America, chiefly at low altitudes; only a few species live high in the mountains. They normally range from 12-26 inches including their amazing, huge bills, which are surprisingly light, hollow structures, supported by bony fibers beneath the outer horny surface, so an ornithologist says “ the toucan is a large bill with a bird behind,” or that “ it appears to follow its own oversized bill.” Small flocks roam the canopy searching for fruiting trees, insects, small vertebrates, and occasional eggs and nestlings of small birds. Smaller species commonly nest in holes carved by woodpeckers, which they may enlarge, but the big Ramphastos toucans prefer cavities resulting from decay in living trees.
The toucan family is completely Neotropical; this means they occur nowhere else in the planet but southeast Mexico to Brazil, such as the manakins, cotingas and motmots. Costa Rica and Panama share the same 6 species. The chestnut mandibled toucan (Ramphastos swansonii) is a permanent resident, ranging from sea level up to 6 000ft, is the largest toucan in both countries. It range goes from east Honduras to north Colombia and western Ecuador.
Toucans are just fun to watch. We marveled at how one plucks off a fruit and holds it on the tip of its bill, then flips its head back, tossing the fruit into its throat; sort of what we try to do with popcorn.
