Current view: Text account
Site description (2003 baseline):
Site location and context
This site includes the extensive area of mangroves (6,200 ha) and mudflats (3,900 ha) surrounding Chame Bay at the mouth of the Chame River, 50 km west of Panama City. Taborcillo is a low sandy crescent-shaped island in the entrance of Chame Bay, 1.6 km offshore between the mainland and Punta Chame. The bay is sheltered by the long sandspit that forms Punta Chame.
Taborcillo Island includes an important heron and wader colony. A total of 358 nests of White Ibis were counted in 2004, resulting in a population estimate of 1,074 individuals (2 parents and 1 young per nest). The colony also is estimated to contain more than 1,000 individuals of Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, or more than 1% of the Central American population, as well as nationally important numbers of Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Black-crowned Night-Heron (Angehr and Kushlan MS). Chame Bay is an important site for migratory shorebirds, with a maximum one-day count of 7,846 in January 1993, of which 7,000 were small shorebirds, representing 3.0% of the national total, and 800 were medium shorebirds, representing 6.6% of the national total (Morrison et al. 1998). The site is also an important feeding area for the heron colony nesting on Taborcillo Island. A heron nesting colony of c. 2-3 ha is located in the dry scrub and cactus on the southeast corner of the island. In April 1976 one hundred thirty pairs of Tricolored Heron and one hundred pairs of Yellow-crowned Night-Heron were recorded (Ridgely and Gwynne 1989), making Taborcillo the largest known colony of both these species in Panama at that time. However, only a few young of these species were observed in August 2000 (Angehr, pers. obsn.). Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Black-crowned Night-Heron, and White Ibis also breed.
Non-bird biodiversity: Neotropical River Otter and American Crocodile probably occur, and Hawksbill, Olive Ridley, and Green Turtles nest on Taborcillo Island and probably Punta Chame as well.
The bay is surrounded by large areas of mangroves. There are very extensive mudflats within the bay and around Taborcillo Islans. Parts of the mangroves have been converted to shrimp ponds. Taborcillo is low, flat, and sandy, with dry scrub forest primarily on the eastern and western ends. In 1997 the island was purchased by the Taborcillo Development Corporation, based in Austria. The company, has built a small tourist resort, a replica Wild West village, on the island, which it calls "John Wayne Island," and also sold lots for the construction of holiday cottages. The company has declared the heron colony a private reserve. The surrounding area is inhabited by latinos and devoted to cattle and subsistence agriculture. There is a small town at Punta Chame whose residents engage in fishing.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
Portions of the mangroves have been converted to shrimp ponds in recent years, and the mangroves are also threatened by extraction for wood, tannin, and charcoal. Pesticides and agricultural chemicals from surrounding areas could have a detrimental effect on the ecosystem. Large amounts of sand have been dredged from the bay, including from around Taborcillo, in recent years for use in construction in Panama City and elsewhere, which appears to have caused the rapid erosion of the island. The island has been reduced from 40 ha in 1960 to 25 ha today, or a reduction of 37%. Because the colony is on the seaward side nest trees are being undermined by erosion and carried away. It is unknown to what extent this has contributed to the evident changes in colony composition between 1976 and today.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
None known.
The Taborcillo Development Company has declared the area of the heron colony a reserve and prohibits entry during the breeding season. The area is otherwise unprotected.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Taborcillo Island and Chame Bay (Panama). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/taborcillo-island-and-chame-bay-iba-panama on 24/12/2024.
