Fauna of Panama

Other pages from our visit to Panama:
Monkeys, Embara village, Flora, Canal and lake, Modern Panama, Old Panama, Museum, Hotels and friends

Some pictures of mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians, and insects we saw during our visit to Panama.

Reptiles

I think that this is a  spectacled caiman (Caiman crocodilus) though it could be an American alligator.
It slipped into the canal within about a second of this picture.
Without a splash.


A red eared slider (Trachemys scripta)
If you recognize this it may be because they were often sold as pets years ago.


A green iguana (Iguana iguana)
Usually just called an iguana.
Iguana is a fun word and good for Scrabble if your tray is long on vowels.
We saw this one near the tower in old Panama.


American alligator (A. mississippiensis)
It was no trouble for us in a boat with it on the shore.


Mammals

Specifically greater capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) making little capybaras.
  

And a little one though obviously not from that pairing.


We got a close look at several Linnaeus's two-toed sloths (Choloepus didactylus) when we visited a sloth sanctuary.
. 

Butterflies

White peacock butterfly (Anartia jatrophae)

 
Blue-frosted banner, blue-frosted Catone, Grecian shoemaker or stoplight Catone (Catonephele numilia)
Just a bit of the blue frosting is visible on the back edge of the underwing.


The red postman (Heliconius erato)


I think this one is a Fruhstorfer's Owl-Butterfly (Caligo oedipus)
The "eye spot" toward the back of the wing on this one  is thought to confuse potential predators.


The first Menelaus blue morpho (Morpho menelaus) we saw had was badly damaged but it was the best picture I have showing the upper side of the wing.
The wings in the second picture were moving rapidly and so are blurred.
The third shows the markings on the under side of the wing and just a touch of the top of the top.
The best view is when they are flitting around you but they close their wings when they land.


An empty chrysalis from which a butterfly has emerged.


Other insects

I haven't been able to identify this beetle
Not surprising since there are more than 350,000 species of beetles.


A termite nest. They taste a little like turpentine if you can bring yourself to try them.
I did.


Amphibians

Some poison dart frogs. There is considerable variation in the coloration and patterns of these frogs so I hope that I have gotten them properly identified
Green-and-black poison dart frog (Dendrobates auratus)


Panama rocket frog (Colostethus panamansis)


Strawberry poison-dart frog (Oophaga pumilio)



Birds

Thanks to my daughter-in-law Denise for her help with these identifications. 
We both think that the biologists who were responsible for some of these names weren't all there.
For instance this one doesn't have a trace of red so far as we can see.
Reddish egret (Egretta rufescens)


House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)


Snail Kite (Rostrhamus sociabilis) adult male and the third picture is a juvenile or female.


We couldn't see what this black vulture (Coragyps atratus) was enjoying but he was working hard on it.


Tropical Kingbird (Tyrannus melancholicus)


 A black manakin (Xenopipo atronitens).
OK, the biologists seem to know what black is.
This is the blackest bird I have ever seen.


My tentative identification is that this is an western osprey (Pandion haliaetus).


This one remains unidentified.
It was quite common but I haven't been able to pin it down.
If you know what it is please send me a note.  Our email is at the bottom of the page.
  

Other pages from our visit to Panama:
Monkeys, Embara village, Flora, Canal and lake, Modern Panama, Old Panama, Museum, Hotels and friends

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