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One of the most exciting moments for a visitor to the tropical forests of Panama occurs when the first wild monkey is spotted. Panama has five different species of monkey, but the three most commonly encountered by visitors are the tiny "titi" or tamarin monkeys (Saguinus geoffroyi), white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus) and howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata). The Panamanian tamarin, known as the "red-crested" tamarin, is a very striking little monkey weighing some 500 grams (around 1 pound) when adult. The Panamanian species is characterized by a dazzling white chest and arms deep red-brown on the back of the neck, and rich tortoise mottling down the back and sides.

In Panama, tamarins are generally observed in disturbed areas or second-growth forest, as the vine tangles and other dense plant cover help protect them from predators, while simultaneously attracting the insects that compose an important part of the tamarin diet. Most of the rest of the diet is made up of ripe, sugary fruits.

Tamarins live in mixed groups of some 5 to 10 monkeys, composed of both adult males and females as well as immature offspring. Though there may be three or more adult females in a group, typically only one female has offspring. Unlike other monkeys, tamarins give birth to twins rather than a single infant. As the two infants are large at birth and grow rapidly, it would be a terrific energetic stress for the mother both to carry and nurse them. For this reason, the other members of the tamarin group act as helpers, carrying the two babies through the forest on their back until the infants are ready to nurse, at which time they are passed quickly to the mother, who then returns them to the nearest helper after the feeding.

Tamarins have a high pitched vocalization, which they give when humans are sighted. It is very similar to a bird call, and many people don't realize that it is actually a monkey giving the call. Tamarins tend to retire earlier than other monkey species, moving into leaf clusters and vine tangles at around 5 pm, before the many nocturnal predators begin their nightly hunts.

White-throated capuchin monkeys tend to be far more obvious in the tropical forest than tamarins, and thus more easily sighted. For one thing, they are larger in size, weighing some 3 kilograms (around 7 pounds) when adult. Their fur is white with black markings, and a round black head-crown which resembles the tonsure of a monk. From this has come their nickname of capuchin monkey.

Capuchins make a considerable racket as they travel through the forest, breaking branches to look for insects or small vertebrates to eat, as well as dropping fruits or rapping hard-shelled fruits against branches to break them open. As they travel, they also produce a fairly continuous set of vocalizations--twitters, screams and other calls that help keep the group coordinate themselves during travel, allowing each member know where the others are.

In Panama, capuchins live in mixed social groups of some 15 individuals. One male, the "alpha" male, is generally dominant over all other members of the group and has preferential access to the best feeding sites. Capuchins, like tamarins, eat ripe sugary fruits but with their superior size and strength, they also have access to harder fruits and nuts which the smaller monkeys cannot open.

Capuchins rely on insects for protein, thus they spend much of the day looking for insects as they travel through the forest from one fruit-producing tree to another. Like humans, capuchin monkeys have a high degree of manual dexterity and can manipulate foods and other items with their hands quite skillfully. They seem to take delight in moving quietly to a branch directly over an unsuspecting visitor, and then pushing down dead wood and debris. This can be dangerous, and visitors are warned to keep an eye out for capuchin monkeys overhead. In past times, the "organ-grinder's monkey" was usually a capuchin monkey, selected because of its intelligence, body size and the ability to hold and pass the collection cup after the organ grinder had played a tune.

Howler monkeys, the final species generally seen in Panamanian forests, are often heard long before they are seen. Their most outstanding characteristic, and the feature which gives them their name, is the ability of adult males to produce a loud, drawn-out sonorous vocalization--a howl--that is regarded as perhaps the loudest natural sound in the tropical forest. Able to carry through the trees for well over a mile, these howls are given together by all of the adult males in the troop and used to advertise the location of the troop to its neighbors so that encounters with neighboring troops can be kept to a minimum.

Different howler troops dislike one another intensely, and from the howler's point of view it seems better to avoid trouble than get into a fight--thus howler monkeys howl first thing in the morning to let all neighboring troops know where they are. In addition, they howl before and after they change locations in the forest and they howl when something such as a rainstorm temporarily traps them in a particular locale. Hearing this, other troops know where their neighbors are and can plan their daily activities so as to avoid these areas.

Howler monkeys in Panama are black in color. They are known as "mantled" howlers because of the long fringe of reddish-brown hair that adorns their flanks. Howlers are among the largest of the Neotropical primates, weighing some 7 kilograms (15 pounds or more) when adult. Males typically are around 33% larger than females.

In contrast to tamarins and capuchin monkeys, howlers do not eat insects. Rather, they are vegetarians and each day eat large quantities of tree and vine leaves, generally very young leaves. These leaves are high in protein and satisfy the daily protein requirement of the monkeys. Howler monkeys will also eat fruit when it is available, but regardless of how much fruit is found in the forest on any given day, they always save plenty of room for leaves too. Some flowers are also consumed.

In Panama, howler monkeys live in troops numbering some 15 to 20 individuals of both sexes and all ages. Infants are a very pale cream color at birth and thus contrast strikingly with the dark fur of the mother. The infant's coat begins to darken after a week or two and by one month of age, the little howler monkey's coat is the same as an adult's although it lacks the mantle--which only appears in older animals.