About Pipeline Road
Pipeline Road runs into the lowland rainforest of Soberanía National Park, next to the town of Gamboa and the Panama Canal. It was built during the Second World War as a service road for a fuel pipeline across the isthmus. Today it is closed to traffic and is one of the most famous birding spots in Central America.
We bird on foot along the first 4 km of the road, through tall secondary and mature tropical forest with some scrubbier patches. Small creeks cross the road all along the way, and we follow them in for species that keep to the streams. If an army-ant swarm is active, we stay with it: antbirds, woodcreepers and other ant-followers gather around the ants.
Close by are the Ammo Dump ponds, known for water birds, and the edges of the Pipeline Road entrance and Gamboa town, which are also good for birds.
The Panama Rainforest Discovery Center (PRDC)
The Panama Rainforest Discovery Center is a nature center about 2 km inside Pipeline Road, run by the Eugene Eisenmann Avifauna Foundation. Its visitor center was built with recycled materials and runs on solar power and rainwater. What we do there:
- Observation tower: a 32-meter (100-foot) steel tower with 174 steps and rest platforms every 8 meters, each at a different layer of the forest. From the top deck you look out over the treetops, with toucans, raptors and other treetop birds at eye level.
- Hummingbird feeders at the visitor center.
- Forest trails: a 1.1 km circuit of easy gravel trails, with a lookout platform at Lake Calamito.
What to expect
With an early start, expect to see 60 to 80 species by noon. If you stay for a full day, a final count of 90 or more is common.
Want more time? Pipeline Road and the PRDC can also be done as a full day, or over several days as part of a multi-day package. Old Gamboa Road and Summit Ponds are only 15 minutes away.
Birds to look for
This list comes from our own tours, plus sightings shared by friends and clients. It changes all the time, so send us your sightings at info@guidedbirdtours.com. For everything else, see the Central Panama bird list.
Specialties
- Rufous-vented Ground-Cuckoo (very rare)
- Great Curassow
- Agami Heron
- Pheasant Cuckoo
- Wing-banded Antbird (uncommon)
- Spot-crowned Antvireo
- Russet Antshrike
- Tawny-faced Gnatwren
- Speckled Mourner
- Gray Elaenia
- White-ringed Flycatcher
- Brownish Twistwing
- Sirystes
- Sepia-capped Flycatcher
- Yellow-green Tyrannulet (Panama endemic)
- Lance-tailed Manakin (uncommon)
- Rosy Thrush-Tanager (uncommon)
- Red-crowned Ant-Tanager
Also look for
- Keel-billed Toucan
- Collared Aracari
- Spot-crowned Barbet
- Slaty-tailed Trogon
- Squirrel Cuckoo
- Rufous-tailed Hummingbird
- White-necked Puffbird
- Black-breasted Puffbird
- Red-crowned Woodpecker
- Lineated Woodpecker
- Barred Antshrike
- Chestnut-backed Antbird
- Bare-crowned Antbird
- Golden-collared Manakin
- Purple-throated Fruitcrow
- Masked Tityra
- Panama Flycatcher
- Yellow-bellied Elaenia
- Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher
- Northern Bentbill
- Bay Wren
- Black-bellied Wren
- Stripe-breasted Wren
- Northern Waterthrush
- Gray Hawk
- Pale-vented Pigeon
- Short-billed Pigeon
- Thick-billed Euphonia
- Flame-rumped Tanager
- Golden-hooded Tanager
- Streaked Saltator
- Buff-throated Saltator
- Variable Seedeater
- Yellow-faced Grassquit
- Yellow-tailed Oriole
- Scarlet-rumped Cacique
- Yellow-rumped Cacique
What have we seen lately? Our guides log their sightings on eBird, the bird-checklist database run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. See our recent checklists from Pipeline Road and the rest of Panama.
Practical information
Weather
Usually warm: mornings in the 70s °F (21–26 °C), afternoons in the 80s (27–32 °C), sometimes the low 90s (33 °C) and humid at midday. Rain can come any time, most often in the rainy season (about May to early December). We bird in the cooler hours, when birds are most active.
What to wear
Light clothing in earth colors, long pants (better than shorts), hiking shoes, a hat and a poncho. Bring insect repellent and sunscreen, and be ready for rain.
What to bring
Binoculars, a notebook and a camera if you like. Your guide carries a spotting scope and a field guide, and we bring drinking water.
Staying nearby
Gamboa has small, comfortable family-run B&Bs and the Gamboa Rainforest Resort, and Panama City is only 45 minutes away. Ask us and we will help with the booking.
Food
There is no restaurant on Pipeline Road. For lunch we offer El Encanto de Gamboa, a local fonda-style cafeteria in Gamboa, or the lobby restaurant or buffet at the Gamboa Rainforest Resort. Each traveler pays for their own meal.
Field guides we recommend
The Birds of Panama: A Field Guide by George Angehr and Robert Dean (2010), the main reference for Panama. An Illustrated Field Guide to the Birds of Panama by Ernesto Ponce and Giselle Muschett (2006), handy for quick checks.
