Voluntariado con rapaces en Panamá: RAPTORS OCEAN TO OCEAN.

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 comit 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 SÁNCHEZ, Executive Director, Panama Audubon
Society (EM: lesanch@cwpanama.net)
or
GEORGE ANGEHR, Director for Science, Panama Audubon
Society (EM: angehrg@tivoli.si.edu).