Presents results of aerial surveys undertaken to determine the principal areas used by nearctic shorebirds and other species of water birds on wintering grounds on the coast of Panama. Additional information is presented on numbers and distributions of these groups of birds on the coast of the Gulf of Panama during migration periods. Surveys of wintering populations were carried out in January 1993, while surveys of populations present during southward and northward migration periods were conducted in October 1991 and February 1988 respectively. Information is also included on aerial survey methodology; the geography, physical oceanography, and climate of Panama; and coastal habitats and their distribution in Panama.

This book is the outcome of a major international conference on waterbirds held in Edinburgh in April 2004.