El Valle de Anton Webcam – Panama Fruit Feeder Birds

The El Valle de Anton Webcam is the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Panama Fruit Feeder Cam, a live view of a feeding table in the garden of the Canopy Lodge, just outside the mountain town of El Valle de Anton in central Panama. Pieces of papaya, banana and citrus sit on a metal-framed tray in front of a long, moss-covered log, while red hummingbird feeders hang from wires behind it and bromeliads cling to the tree trunks. The lodge restocks its feeders through the day, so the table can fill with tanagers, honeycreepers, oropendolas and chachalacas at once. It is a pan-tilt-zoom camera, so the picture can switch from the whole table to a close-up of one toucan working at a banana.

About El Valle de Anton and the Canopy Lodge

The camera stands on the grounds of the Canopy Lodge, a birding lodge just under 3 kilometers (1.7 miles) north of the town center, on the road toward La Mesa. According to Cornell, the site is just over 610 meters (2,000 feet) above sea level in the low mountains of Cerro Gaital, the feeding table is about 12 meters (40 feet) from the main lodge, and a small stream, the Rio Guayabo, runs past behind the feeders. Cornell installed the camera on December 17, 2017, and it went live in January 2018 as a joint project with the Canopy Family, which runs the lodge, and explore.org.

Cornell has logged 85 species on the El Valle de Anton Webcam since the stream began. The Canopy Family names golden-hooded tanagers, chestnut-headed oropendolas, chachalacas, honeycreepers and bananaquits among the visitors, and Cornell’s own artwork for the stream shows a keel-billed toucan at the table. Mammals come too: the lodge lists Central American woolly opossums and northern tamanduas, a small anteater.

El Valle de Anton itself is a town of 7,602 people (2010 census) at about 600 meters (1,969 feet), built on the floor of the crater of the El Valle volcano. The crater is about 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) wide, and the volcano last erupted roughly 300,000 years ago. Around 500 bird species have been recorded in the area, which is listed as an Important Bird Area covering 10,600 hectares (about 26,200 acres), and its forests are habitat for the critically endangered Panamanian golden frog. In October and November, millions of broad-winged and Swainson’s hawks funnel over Panama on their way to South America, a passage traced on our bird migration map.

Weather and Climate in El Valle de Anton

Altitude gives El Valle a milder climate than the Panamanian lowlands, and Cornell describes the lodge as having a mild springtime climate all year. Modeled climate data for 2015 to 2024 at the lodge’s elevation put typical daytime highs at 26 to 28 C (79 to 82 F) in every month, with nights around 20 to 21 C (68 to 70 F). The seasons here are about rain, not heat, and at 8.6 degrees north of the equator the days stay close to 12 hours long all year.

The dry season runs from about January to March, when rainfall averages only 30 to 46 millimeters (1.2 to 1.8 inches) a month and the tray can sit in bright, dappled sun. April is the changeover, at around 130 millimeters (5.1 inches). From May to November the wet season brings 290 to 340 millimeters (11.4 to 13.4 inches) a month, with heavy showers that tend to arrive in the afternoon, and December eases back to about 128 millimeters (5 inches). In the wettest months a downpour can turn the picture gray until it passes.

Things to Do Near El Valle de Anton

Chorro El Macho, the best known waterfall in the valley, is a few minutes’ walk up the same road from the Canopy Lodge, and Las Mozas is a second waterfall worth the trip. The town’s thermal pools are three cement basins filled with mineralized water. Behind the Hotel Campestre stand the so-called square trees, and west of town La Piedra Pintada is a site carved with petroglyphs.

The town center has a public market that opens seven days a week. El Nispero is a small zoo, and the valley also has a serpentarium, a butterfly house and the APROVACA orchid center, which displays more than 100 native orchid species. A small museum covers the valley’s history and geology.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

For more tropical birds and more of Panama, try these cameras next.

• Hummingbird Feeders Webcam
• Panama Canal Webcam
• Cornell Hawks Webcam

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is El Valle de Anton located?

El Valle de Anton is in Cocle province in central Panama, about 97 kilometers (60 miles) west of Panama City. The town sits inside the crater of an inactive volcano, and the Canopy Lodge is just under 3 kilometers (1.7 miles) north of the center.

What can you see on the El Valle de Anton Webcam?

A fruit feeding table in the Canopy Lodge garden: a metal tray of papaya, banana and citrus in front of a mossy log, red hummingbird feeders hanging behind it, and dense tropical planting with bromeliads on the trunks. A strip of lawn can show on the right in wider shots, and when the camera zooms in a single bird can fill the frame.

Is this the Cornell Lab Panama Fruit Feeder Cam at Canopy Lodge?

Yes. The stream on this page is the Panama Fruit Feeder Cam run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology with the Canopy Family and explore.org, broadcast on the Cornell Lab Bird Cams channel. The caption bar at the top of the picture shows the local date and time in El Valle, five hours behind UTC.

Which birds visit the Panama Fruit Feeder Cam?

Cornell has recorded 85 species since 2018, including more than a dozen tanagers, hummingbirds and toucans. Visitors named by the lodge include golden-hooded tanagers, chestnut-headed oropendolas, chachalacas, honeycreepers and bananaquits.

What is the weather like in El Valle de Anton by month?

Warm and steady: highs of 26 to 28 C (79 to 82 F) and lows near 20 to 21 C (68 to 70 F) in every month. January to March is the dry season, with under 50 millimeters (2 inches) of rain a month, while May to November is wet, with 290 to 340 millimeters (11.4 to 13.4 inches) a month.

What is the elevation of El Valle de Anton?

The town lies at about 600 meters (1,969 feet) on the crater floor, and the Canopy Lodge grounds sit just over 610 meters (2,000 feet) up, in the low mountains of Cerro Gaital.

How far is El Valle de Anton from Panama City?

About 97 kilometers (60 miles) to the west. The bus takes roughly 2.5 hours, leaving the Pan-American Highway for the last 25 kilometers (16 miles) up into the valley.

Does the El Valle de Anton Webcam show the town or the volcano crater?

No. The camera is aimed at the feeding table in the lodge garden, close enough to pick out individual birds, so the town, the market and the crater rim are not in view. Only forest and garden planting appear behind the table.

Source: Cornell Lab Bird Cams