On February 2nd, 2006 Marshall J. Iliff and a VENT tour group found a hummingbird at Altos del Maria
that they determined was almost certainly a Brown Violet-Ear. Although this was the first (and thus far only)
sighting of this species from this area, it was not totally out-of-the-blue. There are historic sight records of Brown
Violet-Ear from Cerro Campana (just to the east of Altos), and the species in general is found across a wide range in Central
and South America.
UPDATE!
The Brown Violet-Ear has shown up for a second consecutive Panamanian summer! Tino Sanchez found the bird first on 12/31/06, and Danilo Rodriguez
located it twice in the following week. Tino Sanchez and I (your webmaster, Ken Allaire) found the violet-ear again on January 7th, 2007, and this time I captured
recordings of its distinctive call. The bird seemed to only call while perched, and we witnessed long, silent interludes while the bird flew off to (presumably)
feed. The GPS location of the Brown Violet-Ear is as follows: N.8° 38' 998", W.80° 4' 347". Given the appearance of this species at nearly the same location, in the same time of
year, it seems reasonable to guess that this individual indicates a seasonal, altitudinal migration of the species. Future appearances certainly
merit careful study.
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