Birdwatching at the Pipeline Road

Certainly, the Cinnamon Woodpeckers were not the only birds we observed and photographed at the Pipeline Road on that occasion, most of these birds have been previously shown on this blog so we won't expand too much on their information and natural history.

Olivaceous Flatbill (Rhynchocyclus olivaceus) is olive-green with pale yellow underparts, and the most striking feature is perhaps the white eye-ring which surrounds the large dark eye. It feeds mainly on arthropods, foraging either alone or sometimes within mixed-species flocks comprising mainly antbirds and ovenbirds.

Rufous Motmot (Baryphthengus martii) feed on insects, lizards, fish, crabs, and also consume many fruits, especially those of palms and Heliconias. These birds often sit still on a canopy perch, and in their dense forest habitat can be difficult to see, despite their size and colour. The binomial commemorates the German botanist and explorer Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius.

The only new species was this hard to photograph small antbird, the White-flanked Antwren (Myrmotherula axillaris). It is perhaps the most widespread of the antwrens, and the only antwren with bold white flank patches that contrast with otherwise dark plumage. These patches are particularly conspicuous because of this birds' habit of nervously flicking its wings to reveal the flanks. It occurs in the understory of lowland forest from Honduras south through northern South America to Bolivia and coastal eastern Brazil, and on Trinidad. It often associates with mixed species flocks, feeding on small insects and other arthropods taken from twigs and foliage in the lower branches of trees. The adult male (as shown) has dark grey upperparts, black underparts, and black wings with bars of white spots. The flanks and underwings are white. In Panama it's common on entire Caribbean slope, and on Pacific slope on western Chiriquí from Panamá Oeste Province eastward.