RAPTORS OCEAN TO OCEAN (raptor watches in Panama )

Volunteers are needed to conduct raptor watches in Panama this coming migratory season. The Panama Audubon Society, in collaboration with Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and international and local partners including The Peregrine Fund, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, CEASPA, Metropolitan Nature Park, the Canopy Tower Hotel, and the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, will conduct the first annual "Raptors Ocean to Ocean" hawk watch from 4 Oct to 15 Nov 2004 in Panama. Every year several million raptors, primarily Broad-winged Hawks, Swainson's Hawks, and Turkey Vultures, pass through Panama on their way to and from wintering grounds in South America. In 2004 we plan to conduct counts at 10-12 watch sites stretching across the Isthmus of Panama from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean to assess the main routes of passage through this 50-mile wide migratory bottleneck. A previous count at three sites in 1998 recorded a total of more than 1.6 million raptors in six weeks, with the highest one-day count totaling more than 460,000 birds. Counts will be conducted by a combination of overseas volunteers and local participants. Overseas volunteers will be expected to pay their own travel costs to Panama but will receive free room and board while participating in the count, to the extent that space is available. The count will include sites in and near Panama City (which are expected to record the largest number of raptors, with nearly 700,000 birds counted at Ancon Hill in 1998) as well as sites within tropical forest in nearby National Parks and in rural communities. Most watch sites are near the Panama Canal. A limited number of spaces are still available at Panama's Canopy Tower and Rainforest Resort hotels, two of Panama's premier birding destinations. Overseas volunteers will be expected to commit to at least one week of participation, and for a daily count period of 8 AM to 6 PM. Preference will be given to those with previous hawk watch experience. Spanish language skills are not essential (but of course would be helpful). For further information, contact LOYDA S�NCHEZ, Executive Director, Panama Audubon Society (EM: lesanch@cwpanama.net) or GEORGE ANGEHR, Director for Science, Panama Audubon Society (EM: angehrg@tivoli.si.edu).