Falcons In The City And Other Signs Of A Healthy Ecology In Panama

Falcons in the City and Other Signs of a Healthy Ecology in Panama

The Morning Chorus in January

I have always enjoyed the morning chorus, the birds chirping just before dawn. It not only brings joy to the heart but is a sign that things are right with nature. I particularly enjoy hearing the morning chorus outside my apartment in downtown Panama City. There is a lot of concrete where I live close to a major Latin American banking district, the Panama Bancaria. However, there are also a lot of trees and the occasional vacant lot awaiting another high rise. The birds seem to cope pretty well and I enjoy the wild green parakeets that come to chat with our two caged Australian parakeets on the balcony.

The other frequent visitors are the little ruddy ground doves who, I suspect, only come to visit because the parakeets are messy eaters and there are seeds all over the balcony floor. There are bright blue birds, and red birds, and others that flit on past but dont visit. The point of all this is that these guys are all chirping and flying and visiting in the depths of January when North American is covered with ice and snow. That would be Panamas summer for those not familiar with Central America.

Falcons in the Bancaria

Ongoing concerns in Panama and elsewhere include deforestation, global warming from greenhouse gases, and the loss of species due to change of habitat. However, not all species are hurt by human activity and some habitats seem to be healthier than others. One particular species of lowland falcon, Milvago chimcima, the yellow headed caracara has extended its range and increased its numbers in open areas after forests are cleared. This bird is common from Southern Central America to Northern Argentina and is found on a number of Caribbean Islands. The Yellow Headed Caracara, however, is not a pigeon to be commonly found nesting in sheltered areas in cities. Thus, I was surprised on a recent Sunday afternoon when I heard a scree, scree out behind our apartment where the balcony faces the banking district across Via Espaa.

The two parakeets were uncharacteristically silent. The ruddy ground doves, that spend their lives eating the seeds that the parakeets spill, were nowhere in sight. Looking down onto the roof over the parking lot next door I saw two yellow headed birds, roughly 18 inches from head to tail. They were preening, flying from spot to spot, and generally just hanging out. After half an hour these lowland falcons with the yellow heads flew away. A look on the internet told me that our visitors were yellow headed caracaras. These birds may be pretty common around Gamboa on the Panama Canal but the birds came from the cement streets and buildings between Via Espaa and Calle 50.

Anyway, the caracaras flew away and, maybe an hour later, the parakeets started chirping again and the next morning the little doves came back to clean the balcony floor of seeds. I am of the opinion that Panama is not just a place where property values are currently low and not just a healthy place for Northern retirees to cluster. It is a healthy place for wildlife. Panama has more separate bird species that all of North America. Subsistence farms abandoned when folks move to the city for work have 30 foot tall trees in 10 years. All in all this is not just a good place to invest and do business. It is a place to rejuvenate while listening to bird song at dawn.

by: Gary H. Edwards

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