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Sadly, I had to leave Panama and scrap my field season due to the pandemic. BUT I still have some awesome videos from manakin leks that I can share. For example, here& #39;s a male display--dancing with a female.
Manakins clear these courts on the forest floor through persistence. Here& #39;s a male dislodging a leaf from a tough spot, then removing.
Here& #39;s what it looks like when all that persistence pays off.
I also got some cool bycatch on camera. This was my favorite: a jaguarundi. The first (non-domestic) cat I& #39;ve ever gotten on a camera trap!
More bycatch: this tamandua (a species of anteater).
Also this tamandua.
And this tayra. It& #39;s in the weasel family.
But it wasn& #39;t all mammals! There was also this group of gorgeous Olive-backed Quail-doves. A species I never saw except on camera.
And plenty of these Black-faced Antthrushes. A species I often heard but never saw.
I did see plenty of Gray-headed Chachalacas, but it was always fun to get them on camera.
This is one video I selected out of the ~1 billion I got of Little Tinamous. I caught a tiny glimpse of one the whole month I was in Panama, but they were abundant on camera.
OK, one more mammal. A northern naked-tailed armadillo!!! I was super excited to see this guy on camera.
I saved the best (in my opinion) for last. This was from a series of videos of an army ant swarm surging past one of the manakin courts. A Red-throated Ant-tanager grabs a meal by watching for insects scared up by the swarm. A Chestnut-backed Antbird also makes an appearance.
