The Story
I photographed this Pale-naped Brushfinch (Atlapetes pallidinucha) at Pueblito Antiguo in Cuítiva, by Lago de Tota, Boyacá, Colombia, at about 3,030 meters. It lives in the Andes of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru, and in Colombia’s Eastern Andes it ranges south to Cundinamarca. It feeds on insects, berries and seeds, foraging in pairs or family groups and often joining mixed-species flocks. Its territorial song is a wheet-tew-tew-tew. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L, at 1/1000 sec, f/6.7, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. Cuítiva sits on the Altiplano Cundiboyacense between Sogamoso, Aquitania and Tota, and its lands run from about 2,700 to 3,200 meters beside Lago de Tota, Colombia’s largest lake.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Pale-naped Brushfinch (Atlapetes pallidinucha) belongs to the family Passerellidae (New World Sparrows) 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 stable. Source: IUCN Red List
