Panama is a longtime favorite of birders looking to gorge on tropical birds, either as a first tropical destination, or to supplement previous trips to other ones. The appeal of Panama to visiting birders is obvious; it is graced with a birdlist of over 1000 species in a country that mimics South Carolina in size, making long drives unnecessary, and many sites being easily visited by way of day trips from a business style hotel on a quiet edge of the country’s capital. It is also equipped with excellent US-style facilities throughout, and the widespread use of the US Dollar also makes things easy for people traveling from that part of the world. The reason for its extraordinary diversity is that Panama can be said to lie at the crossroads of North, Central and South America, which gives rise to a very different selection of birds as you move west to east through the country. This Birding With A Camera® tour focuses on the most accessible part of the country, Central Panama, combining this with higher elevation forests and habitats in western Panama. In the far west lies the Chiriqui Highlands (home of the Resplendent Quetzal), which are shared only with Costa Rica. East from there in Central Panama is the arguably the most famous engineering project built in the region, the Panama Canal. The canal also happens to be located in one of the richest lowland birding areas of the country, where legendary birding sites like Gamboa, Pipeline Road and Soberania National Park are all located just a short distance from Panama’s capital city.