SEABIRDS OFF THE PACIFIC COAST OF PANAMA

Abstract

Little information has been added to our knowledge of Panama’s Pacific coast seabirds since the last century.  In order to increase and update our knowledge, systematic observations were made of seabirds on a total of 20 trips, conducted in 2010, then every year from 2012-2019 off the Pacific coast of Panama, and the percentage of all 1-hour observation periods during which each species was recorded according to location (continental shelf or continental slope/deep waters) and season (dry or wet) was calculated. Thirthy-nine species of seabirds of 11 different families during 120 1-hour observation periods were recorded. The most frequently detected species for all observations was Fregata magnificens (present in 65.8% of 1-hour observation periods), followed by Sula leucogaster (64.2%) and Chlidonias niger (63.3%). These observations increase our knowledge of seabird species occurring off the Pacific coast of Panama, adding three new species to the list of birds of Panama, and documenting another two with photographs for the first time, offering us an idea of the species that are within the reach of the pelagic avitourist.