Upload
others
View
2
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Let’s go to Panama!
Where is
Panama?
Panama is in Central
America. It connects
North and South America.
Panama is an “isthmus”. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land that connects two larger land areas.
Panama is about 2,000 miles away from
Washington, D.C. An airplane flight from D.C.
to Panama takes about 4.5 hours.
Birds must stop to
rest and eat along
the way, so it usually
takes us a few
weeks to cover that
distance.
Did you know that some of the birds
that live in your area in the summer
travel to Panama for the winter?
These birds are called “Neotropical
migratory birds”.
The Summer Tanager is one kind of
migratory bird that lives in the
Washington, D.C area during the
summer and migrates to Panama
for the winter.
We love to
eat bees and
wasps!
Summer Tanagers must have insects
to eat all year, but they will also
eat fruit, like these mulberries.
Female Summer Tanagers are
yellow, and the males are red.
Bees, wasps, and fruit are hard to find during our
winter. So in the fall, Summer Tanagers and many
other insect-eating birds leave their summer homes
(such as this forest in Virginia) …
…and fly to tropical countries, such as Panama. There
they will find plenty of insects and fruits to eat.
This is what a Summer
Tanager’s path from D.C to
Panama might look like. It’s
a long way to Panama, and
it isn’t an easy journey.
Birds face many challenges
and dangers along the way.
Songbirds such as the Summer Tanager
migrate at night, using the stars to
guide their way. During the day, they
rest and eat to build up energy for the
next part of their journey.
Lights shining from cities at night can confuse birds that use the
stars to guide their way. They are attracted to the lights on tall
buildings. They can become trapped in a maze of lit buildings
and end up colliding with windows or walls.
Where am I? I can’t
help but follow this
light beam!
Yikes!
That’s a lot
of lights!
People in some large
cities are helping
migratory birds by
turning off lights in
tall buildings at night
during migration.
During the daytime, migratory birds need to take a break
and eat some food. It’s dawn, and this male tanager is
passing through a city…
Birds are fooled by reflections in
glass windows, and often fly
right into them. In the United
States alone, millions of birds are
killed this way every year.
Maybe there’s
a resting spot
up ahead?
…oh no! He doesn’t realize
that’s a window.
Let’s hope the Summer Tanager feels better soon. If a bird
survives after crashing into a window, it will likely be dizzy
and weak, and need time to recover.
You can keep birds from
crashing into windows
by decorating the glass.
That breaks up the
reflection and makes the
windows more visible.
Ouch, that hurt! I
don’t think I can fly
right now…
Outdoor cats are a huge threat to
birds and other wildlife. You can
help keep birds safe from cats by
keeping your cat indoors. Your cat
will live a longer, healthier life too!
Our tanager is weak, but he can’t rest for long…
here comes a cat!
I could
really use
a break!
Another challenge migratory birds face is finding
safe places to rest and look for food along the way.
Fortunately, this bird is not too far away from Panama!
What happened? Last year
I stopped here to rest and
eat. Now I have to find a
different place!
¡Bienvenidos a Panamá!
Pictured above is Panama City,
the capital of Panama.
I made it! Now I just
need to find something
to eat, and then I’ll
take a nap!
This is Panama’s
national flag.
Panama is bordered by Costa
Rica to the west, Colombia
to the east, the Caribbean
Sea to the north, and the
Pacific Ocean to the south.
Panama has a tropical climate.
Temperatures do not change much throughout the
year. During the day, the temperature in most places
stays between 70 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit.
Temperatures are cooler higher up in the mountains.
banana plants
bromeliad
Like other tropical locations,
Panama has two seasons
instead of four. There is a dry
season from December through
April, followed by a wet season
from May through November.
Yum,
bananas!
Panama’s national bird is the Harpy Eagle.
The Harpy Eagle is the largest
and strongest eagle in the
world! They are found only in
the tropics of Latin America.
The Harpy Eagle is
featured on Panama’s
coat of arms (a coat
of arms is a group of
symbols representing
a person or place).
A Harpy Eagle’s
body is about 3
to 3.5 feet long.
Panama has many
different types of
landscapes.
Archipelagos*
Rainforests
Mountains
Beaches
Mangroves
*An archipelago
is a group of islands.
Tropical dry forests
Panama’s diverse landscapes offer
homes for many different kinds of
plants and animals.
The birds pictured here live in different
types of habitats, including tropical
forests, beaches, and mangroves.
These are all
“resident” birds, which
means they live in
Panama all year long.
Panama has about 995 bird species.
About 170 of them are Neotropical
migratory birds that either spend our
winter there, or pass through while
migrating to or from South America.
South Carolina, which is
about the same size as
Panama, has only 427
bird species.
427
985
There are more bird species in
Panama than in all of the United
States and Canada combined!
Here are some of the other migratory birds that nest
in Maryland, Washington, DC and /or Virginia and
winter in Panama.
Great crested flycatcher American redstart Osprey
Blue grosbeak Black-and-white warbler Wood thrush
Like Summer Tanagers, Broad-
winged Hawks migrate from
the eastern United States
to countries such as Panama
for the winter.
Those specks in the sky
over Panama City are
Broad-winged Hawks!
Unlike songbirds, hawks migrate
during the day using “thermals”.
Thermals are rising columns of warm air that
form over land as the sun heats up the earth.
Hawks soar upward in circles until they reach
the top of one thermal, and then they glide
through the air to the next one.
There are at least 250 hawks in this
one patch of sky over Panama City!
This is a common sight over Panama during migration. Because hawks migrate using
thermals which only form over land, hawks are funneled over the narrow land
bridge that Panama forms between North and South America.
Willets are another kind of bird that migrates from the eastern
United States to Panama in the fall. Willets are a kind of
shorebird. Shorebirds are a group of birds that have pointed bills
and wade in mud or shallow water to search for food.
You can tell Willets apart
from other shorebirds by
their large size and the
black and white pattern
on their wings.
Mudflats, like this one next to Panama
City, are important habitats for shorebirds.
Where are those Summer Tanagers? They are probably
looking for bees and a home for the winter.
Look! They are
hunting for bees right
by the Panama Canal!
What is the Panama Canal?
The Panama Canal is a man-made channel
that cuts through the middle of Panama.
It is used by ships to travel between the
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
A company from France began building a
canal across Panama in 1880, but after 20
years was unable to complete it. In 1904, the
United States took over the project. After 10
years and millions of pounds of dynamite,
the canal was finished.
Before the canal was built, a trip
from New York City to San
Francisco by ship used to take at
least 3 months! The only option
was to go around South America.
These are students from
one of Panama’s rural
areas. You can see what
one of their houses might
look like below…
Like here in the U.S., some people in Panama live in
cities while others live in rural areas.
This is what a family might serve for
a nice weekend dinner: rice, fried
plantains, and fresh fish.
Students in Panama City typically
go to school wearing a uniform.
These students might live in an
apartment building, such as these
in the Marbella neighborhood.
These kids probably take advantage
of all the street food Panama City has
to offer! After school, students often
stop by kioskos to buy antichuchos,
which are skewered beef hearts.
These students live and go
to school in the city.
People who live in Panama City do not have
to travel far to experience nature. The
rainforest of Metropolitan Park is close-by.
During a field trip to the park, these
kids are learning how to identify
birds using a field guide.
Did you know that
the male Summer
Tanager is the only
all red bird in the
U.S.? Can you
find the male
Summer Tanager in
this field guide?
In Panama, some kids are helping to
study and protect wildlife.
Shown below are kids creating a mural that
highlights Panama’s biodiversity. Their goal
is to inspire adults to make decisions that
will protect wildlife.
These Panamanian girls
won a scholarship to work
with scientists studying
birds. Here they are
holding a resident bird
called a Rufous Motmot.
Panama’s indigenous cultures are an important part of the nation’s
identity. Indigenous refers to the people whose ancestors lived in
Panama before people from Europe arrived.
• Kuna culture and reservationThere are three indigenous
groups in Panama that still
follow the traditional ways of
life of their ancestors: the Guna,
the Guaymí (also known as the
Ngöbe-Buglé), and the Emberá-
Wounaan (also known as the
Chocó).
One of the Guna’s best known traditions is the mola, or cloth artwork. This photo
shows a Guna woman holding one of the molas she created. Inspiration for molas
often comes from nature. Let’s see one up close…
This mola is inspired by the Guna’s tradition of fishing and
the environment of the San Blas Islands where they live.
Hopefully you have enjoyed this introduction to Panama and to the migratory birds that connect us with that country. The Summer Tanagers have settled into their winter home in this Panama City garden. Looks like a nice place to stay until its time to return to the United States in the spring. ¡Hasta luego!
This presentation was created with help from
Johanna Dunlap, Education Program Intern
with the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center.
This project received Federal support from the
Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the
Smithsonian Latino Center.