The Story
This Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) was at Reserva Natural El Encanto de Guanapalo in Casanare, Colombia when I photographed it. The Solitary Sandpiper breeds in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska, where it lays its eggs in the old tree nests of songbirds, which is unusual for a sandpiper. Unlike most shorebirds, it usually migrates alone rather than in flocks, and it winters from Mexico and the Caribbean through Central America and South America. The Guanapalo River is a tributary of the Meta, and with the Pauto it drains a basin of about 2,100 square kilometers, mostly in San Luis de Palenque. IUCN lists the Solitary Sandpiper as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/400 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100. El Encanto de Guanapalo pays for its conservation through traditional cattle ranching, ecotourism and carbon credits, using the Cataruben Foundation’s Co2Bio model.
©2019 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Solitary Sandpiper (Tringa solitaria) belongs to the family Scolopacidae (Sandpipers 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 2024). Source: IUCN Red List
