A resident of El Valle de Anton (Panama) recently reported seeing a Baltimore Oriole in his yard, and suggested keeping an eye out for this brilliant orange and black colored bird.

The Baltimore oriole’s habitat ranges from the Eastern half of the United States all the way down to Venezuela, so in Panama we’re at the southern end of its range.

It’s head, throat, mantle, wings, and tail are all black. The underparts, shoulders, tip and edges of tail, and rump are orange to yellow orange. The orange on the chest deepens to almost a sunset orange. There is a single white wingbar; the orange shoulder makes a second wingbar. The bill is pointed and silvery.

Panama has 972 species of birds. Because of its unique location as a connector of Central and South America, Panama gets visits from migratory birds from the entire range of the Americas.

El Valle is a birder’s paradise, and in fact there are hotels devoted specifically to birders. Every morning in El Valle one wakes up to bird song. It’s quite lovely.