Cerro Hoya National Park is a protected area in south-western

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Geography

The park is located in the south-western portion of the Azuero Peninsula. Cerro Hoya () is the highest peak in the park, and the park's namesake. The park also contains

Punta Mariato Punta Mariato or Mariato Point (Spanish: ''Punta Mariato'') is a cape in western Panama and is the southernmost point on the mainland of North AmericaIsthmian-Pacific moist forests cover the lowlands and foothills of the peninsula, while the

Talamancan montane forests The Talamancan montane forests ecoregion, in the tropical moist broadleaf forest biome, are in montane Costa Rica and western Panama in Central America. Setting The Talamancan montane forests cover a discontinuous area of in Cordilleran mount ...

cover higher elevations above approximately 950 meters elevation, including Cerro Hoya.Cerro Hoya
Digital Observatory for Protected Areas (DOPA) Explorer. Accessed 30 January 2023. The montane forests cover 77 km² of the park. These montane forests are an outlier, separated by over 150 km from the main montane forest block further north in the Central Cordillera of Panama and Costa Rica.Miller, Matthew & Angehr, George & Ridgely, Robert & Klicka, John & López Ch, Oscar & Araúz, Jacobo & Campos, Euclides & Buitrago Rosas, Daniel. (2015). Annotated checklist of the birds (Aves) of Cerro Hoya National Park, Azuero Peninsula, Panamá. Checklist. 11. 1585. 10.15560/11.2.1585.

Fauna

Some 225 species of birds have been recorded in the park. These include populations of

crested eagle The crested eagle (''Morphnus guianensis'') is a large Neotropical eagle. It is the only member of the genus ''Morphnus''. The crested eagle can grow up to long, with a wingspan up to , and weigh up to . The plumage varies between a light br ...

Azuero dove The Azuero dove or brown-backed dove (''Leptotila battyi'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is endemic to Panama. Taxonomy and systematics The Azuero dove, the grey-fronted dove (''Leptotila rufaxilla'') and pallid dove ('' ...

great green macaw The great green macaw (''Ara ambiguus''), also known as Buffon's macaw or the great military macaw, is a critically endangered Central and South America parrot found in Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. Two allopat ...

golden-winged warbler The golden-winged warbler (''Vermivora chrysoptera'') is a New World warbler. It breeds in southeastern and south-central Canada and in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeastern to north-central United States. The majority (~70%) of the globa ...

three-wattled bellbird The three-wattled bellbird (''Procnias tricarunculatus'') is a Central American migratory bird of the cotinga family. The sexes are very dissimilar in appearance. The male has a white head and throat and the remaining plumage is chestnut brown. ...

great curassow The great curassow (''Crax rubra'') is a large, pheasant-like bird from the Neotropical rainforests, its range extending from eastern Mexico, through Central America to western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. Male birds are black with curly c ...

and

scarlet macaw The scarlet macaw (''Ara macao'') also called the red-and-yellow macaw, red-and-blue macaw or red-breasted macaw, is a large yellow, red and blue Neotropical parrot native to humid evergreen forests of the Americas. Its range extends from south ...

. The park and its neighboring areas are the sole habitat of the Azuero parakeet, which has a total range of only 700 km².BirdLife International (2023
Important Bird Areas factsheet: Cerro Hoya National Park
Accessed 30 January 2023. The park has been designated an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

(IBA) by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

. Native mammals probably include the

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...

, puma,

jaguarundi The jaguarundi (''Herpailurus yagouaroundi''; or ) is a wild felidae, cat native to the Americas. Its range extends from central Argentina in the south to northern Mexico, through Central America, Central and South America east of the Andes. T ...

ocelot The ocelot (''Leopardus pardalis'') is a medium-sized spotted Felidae, wild cat that reaches at the shoulders and weighs between on average. It is native to the southwestern United States, Mexico, Central America, Central and South America, ...

Neotropical river otter The neotropical otter or neotropical river otter (''Lontra longicaudis'') is a near-threatened (per the IUCN) otter species found in freshwater systems from Mexico and Central America through mainland South America, as well as the island of Trini ...

Panamanian night monkey The Panamanian night monkey or Chocoan night monkey (''Aotus zonalis'') is a species of night monkey formerly considered a subspecies of the gray-bellied night monkey of the family Aotidae. Its range consists of Panama and the Chocó region ...

Azuero howler The Azuero howler (''Alouatta coibensis trabeata'') a type of monkey that is a subspecies of the Coiba Island howler ''A. coibensis''. This subspecies is endemic to the Azuero Peninsula in Panama. The Azuero howler is distinguished primarily by ...

Central American spider monkey Geoffroy's spider monkey (''Ateles geoffroyi''), also known as the black-handed spider monkey or the Central American spider monkey, is a species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central America, parts of Mexico and possibly a ...

Panamanian spiny pocket mouse The Panamanian spiny pocket mouse (''Heteromys adspersus''), also known as Peter's spiny pocket mouse, is a species of heteromyid rodent endemic to Panama. It is very closely related to Salvin's spiny pocket mouse, and has been placed in the sa ...

, and

Darien harvest mouse The Darien harvest mouse (''Reithrodontomys darienensis'') is a species of rodent in the family Cricetidae. It is found only in Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central ...

. The frog ''

Craugastor azueroensis ''Craugastor azueroensis'' is a species of frog in the family Craugastoridae. It is endemic to Panama's Azuero Peninsula. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, and rivers be ...

'' has been recorded.

References

{{reflist National parks of Panama Important Bird Areas of Panama Isthmian–Pacific moist forests Talamancan montane forests Veraguas Province Protected areas established in 1984 1984 establishments in Panama