The Story
The shot
I made this photo of a Forest Elaenia (Myiopagis gaimardii) at Hotel Waka Rural in Honda, Tolima, Colombia. It is a small tyrant flycatcher found from Panama through Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas to Bolivia and Brazil. It lives in forest and forest edges, alone or in pairs, catching insects and spiders high in the foliage, and it often eats berries too. Honda, on the Magdalena in northern Tolima, was the first river port of the New Kingdom of Granada and was named a heritage town of Colombia in 2010. Between 1850 and 1910 Honda was the country’s main river port on the route between the Caribbean and Bogotá.
I used a Pentax K-1 with the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6 for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100, +0.3 EV. IUCN lists the Forest Elaenia as Least Concern, with a decreasing population.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Forest Elaenia (Myiopagis gaimardii) 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 2025), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
