ML382014921
Contributor
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Location
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Observation details
*First documentation in eBird for Panama, and generally rare and hard to find throughout its small range. Detected during a random 5 minute checklist. Finally got a recording, as I heard them from very far off and was able to record with my phone as they flew by at a distance. Flock of five flew by heading east. Immediately recognized the shrill, shorebird-like calls from far off as they approached; to my ear the call has always sounded superficially like Dunlin flight calls. They are tiny and their flight is very fast and shifty (also, coincidentally, superficially similar to a flyover flock of migrating Dunlin) and generally not paired up, unlike parakeets and parrots which often pair up. Red-fronted Parrotlets aren't "supposed" to be here, but I had a twenty sightings here 2018-2020, all between September and March. They actually seem more regular here than elsewhere in Panama (I've now had them here 23 times, compared to 73 total eBird records for all of Panama). The parrotlets here in the lowlands may be nonbreeding flocks, perhaps more vocal and more wide-ranging than breeders, which might make them easier to find. But they are evidently always rare, as those 23 sightings were spread out over hundreds of days in the field and their calls are distinctive enough that I am able to detect them even when not specifically birding.
Technical information
- Recorder
- Microphone
- Accessories
- Original file size
- 2.98 MB