The Story
I photographed this Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola) at Finca Ecoturística San Javier, in the vereda Chucuní near Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. In Venezuela it is called canario de tejado, the roof canary, but it is not related to the Atlantic Canary. Linnaeus described it in 1766, and its species name comes from the Latin flavus, golden or yellow. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. It is tolerant of people and visits suburban areas.
I photographed him with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/750 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. Finca San Javier began as a pig farm in 1997 and turned to ecotourism in 2017, and today it offers guided birding and aims to help conserve the tropical dry forest around it.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Saffron Finch (Sicalis flaveola) 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 2018), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
