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The first hint that Blue Seedeater might prove to be more common than expected
in central Panama came with well-described birds seen by multiple observers at Cerro Campana in August and September
of 1998. But the doors were blown wide-open regarding the known range of this species when Michael Harvey and Danilo Rodríguez,
in the summer of 2005, found Blue Seedeater to be fairly common at Altos del Maria and especially at Cerro Gaital (these were the first e. Coclé records).
It is anything but an easy find; I have heard the species on several occasions (I am familiar with the call from sightings in western Chrirquí) at these sites but never seen it.
Best of all, breeding has been confirmed with the observation of immature birds at Cerro Gaital in July of 2005.
Birds of Panama takes note of several records from the Canal Zone; I find it astounding that Ridgely
does not question the veracity of the records of this high-elevation species from essentially lowland habitats.
One of the records is of a specimen collected in the mid-19th century, from an era when specimens were mislabelled with alarming frequency.
The second is of specimens collected in the late 1960's, harder to dismiss out-of-hand without specific familiarity with the collectors involved. The third
is a sight record from the late 1970's, absolutely incredible without verifying documentation.
Habitat is one of the best criteria for distinguishing this rare species from the nearly-identical Blue-black Grassquit.
UPDATE! Carlos Bethancourt and a VENT group found male and female Blue Seedeaters at Cerro Gaital on 1/14/07, lending credulity to the thought that the species breeds in the area. The numbers of this bird around Cerro Gaital are certainly low, as more birders miss this species than find it ( I whiffed a week before Carlos' trip). |
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