The Story
The shot
I photographed this juvenile Olive-gray Saltator (Saltator olivascens) in Taganga, near Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia. It lives in northern South America, from northeastern Colombia through Venezuela and the Guianas to far northern Brazil, and on Trinidad. It uses forest edges, scrub, second growth and gardens. It eats mostly fruit and leaves, along with flower buds and seed pods. Adults are gray with a white eyebrow and a white throat framed by black stripes, while juveniles are washed with olive and yellow. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/90 sec, f/16, ISO 3200, +0.5 EV. Taganga and Santa Marta, both founded in 1525, are two of the oldest remaining colonial settlements in Colombia.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Olive-gray Saltator (Saltator olivascens) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2021), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
