Panama’s Cloud Forest: The Junction of Bird Communities

This lecture will be presented on Zoom.  Please RSVP, and the link will be emailed to you on the afternoon of April 29.

The mountains of Western Panama are a mixing pot for birds. Neotropical migrants come to winter or pass through on their travels. Altitudinal migrants move in and out with the seasons, and then there are the permanent residents that make up a complex and diverse component. Central America is an active geological area, and over the last ten million years, the formation of the Isthmus has had a profound influence on the bird communities found throughout North and South America, including those in Washington state. Come learn more about this fascinating place, its influence on the Western Hemisphere, see some of flora and fauna, and listen to sounds from the cloud forest.

Thomas Bancroft is a writer-photographer focused on the natural world. His goal is to capture
people’s imagination, hopefully getting them to think about life, nature, and the importance of
protecting wild things. Through stories about birds and wild place, he uses his scientific
knowledge, photography, and sound recordings to help the reader see nature in a new way,
slow down, and ponder the earth. His Ph.D. is in Ornithology, and he was the Vice President of
the Research Department at the Wilderness Society and Chief Scientist for National Audubon.
He now lives in Seattle Washington where he also serves on the scientific advisory board for
Birdnote, the Board of Washington Ornithological Society, and chairs the Naturalist Group at
the Mountaineers. He teaches nature courses for Eastside Audubon Society and The Mountaineers.