The Story
I made this photo of a White-headed Marsh Tyrant (Arundinicola leucocephala) at Hacienda El Escobal in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. It is a small flycatcher of around 13 centimeters and 13 grams. Females have a white forecrown and throat with a grayish-brown breast and flanks. Its usual way of hunting is a sally strike, and it catches most of its prey at the water’s surface. It is a resident bird, though it may move when wetland conditions change. Hacienda El Escobal is part of the Picaleña lagoon complex, and by eBird’s December 2021 data 309 bird species had been reported there.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 200. IUCN lists the White-headed Marsh Tyrant as Least Concern, with a stable population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The White-headed Marsh Tyrant (Arundinicola leucocephala) belongs to the family Tyrannidae (Tyrant Flycatchers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
