A few months ago, Kevin and I went to visited the Biodiversity museum in Panama City. We learned about the crazy diversity of the animals and plants in Panama. The country is 75,420 sq km - look how it stacks to the United States.
Because of it's prime geographical position in Central America, it supports many wonderful birds, insects, mammals and reptiles. This blog posts shares some of the breath-taking animals that we have encountered here. The majority of the photography and videos are captured by my Uncle Dolan.
They showcase glimpses in time -- capturing a creature living day-to-day.
It's awesome slowing down a bit and just being in the present, in that moment -- observing a creature's quest for sustenance or just relaxing. I hope this blog post shares some of their stories with you....
1) The Capuchin Monkeys
We spent about an hour total watching a troop of monkeys pull fruit from the tree and throwing it to the ground (sometimes at us). You will recognize these monkeys in many of movies like, "Night at the Museum.
If you click on the gallery and scroll through the pictures below, you can see these capuchin monkeys' story as they hang out in the canopy of a tropical rain forest.
2) The Agouti
This was my cousin's favorite animal here. They are a rodent, related to the guinea pig, and they didn't seem too shy of humans. They stand on their hind legs to feed.
3) The Great Kiskadee
We are privileged to see these beautiful, fly catching birds, almost everyday.
4) The Howler Monkey
We were walking through the rainforest and heard these crazy, low-pitched grunts and cheers that echo through the canyons. Then a few seconds later, you hear another troop of Howler monkeys return the call. They honestly sound super scary but are harmless to humans.
5) Iguanas
We stayed at a house in Bocas Del Torro with an Iguana feeding station. We would place veggies in their bowl and, they would come down from the trees to eat. Their coloring is gorgeous and they look super pre-historic.
5) Hummingbirds
The are 59 different types of species of hummingbirds reported here. They sit on the branches of our trees and sprint to feed on the sugar water that we hang from our porch. (Side note: We need to be more diligent about filling our feeder on our porch).
7) Spiders
There are more larger spiders than we are used to in the middle of the United States. This is an example of a "not so little guy" chilling with my family during out trip to Bocas Del Torro.
8) Yellow-headed Caracara
We watched him soar down from the sky and grab a lizard. You can see how he clutches it in his claw.
9) Locust
Even insects that we dub as "pest" are beautiful.
10) Red-Crowned Woodpecker
11) Leaf Cutter Ants
Watch these little guys go. Did you know that leaf cutter ants can carry 5000 times their body weight?
12) Capybaras
Capybaras are nocturnal and can grow to up to the size of a medium dog.
13) Lizard
These lizards look super-annoyed that we took their pictures. But, they definitely gave us time to capture the perfect shot.
14) Blue Morpho
The largest butterfly in Central America. If you see one of them, you can always call it a "him." Females are colored brown and yellow.
The males get their electric blue from scales on their wings that reflect light; thus their iridescent coloring shifts depending on their movements and angles.
15) Butterflies
The word for butterflies in Spanish is "Mariposa." In my opinion, it more eloquent sounding than BUTTER + FLY = HUH?!?
I love how colors on butterflies have evolved to look like predators or warn off predators -- whether it be the owl or snake (see patterns in picture below) or vibrant colors to indicate poison to the butterfly's predators.
16) The Blue-Gray Tanager
Even though it is not the best quality photo, I had to capture a photo of this bird. We get to see them often on our morning walks.
17) Pipers
Pipers sit on the beach watching the waves roll into shore. As the waves reside, little crabs try to dig towards the earth's core while the pipers snap them up, just before another wave rolls in ---the timing is perfect.
Even cooler is watching the onyx starlings mirror the piper's behavior on the beach, a completely "learned" behavior.
18) Unknown Bird A
I need to borrow Jon's bird book for this one. I'm not sure what type of bird it is, but it is gorgeous.
19) Unknown Bird B
20) The Motmot bird
I absolutely love seeing these birds fly around our town, Santa Clara. Besides the lush green and blue feathers, they have a little tuft on the bottom of their tail.
