Pied Water-Tyrant

The Story

I photographed this Pied Water-Tyrant (Fluvicola pica) at the Charca de Guarinocito, near La Dorada, Caldas, Colombia, in February 2020. It lives in northern South America and Panama, mostly below 450 meters, though it reaches 1,000 meters in Colombia. It feeds on insects. Both sexes build a round nest of dried grass and leaves with a side entrance near the top, lined with feathers. It is considered common in Colombia and Venezuela. IUCN lists it 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 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 400. People living around the lagoon see the birds as an attraction for visitors and do not allow them to be hunted.

The bird

The Pied Water-Tyrant (Fluvicola pica) 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 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List