The Story
I photographed this Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) in the Cincinati area above Minca, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia, at about 1,480 meters. It lives in Colombia and Venezuela, and in northern Colombia it ranges from Sucre east to the Venezuelan border. Immature birds are duller than adults, and little is known about the species’ diet. Current eBird taxonomy places it in Saucerottia rather than Amazilia. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I photographed it with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/180 sec, f/11, ISO 6400, +0.5 EV. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated range, separate from the Andes, that rises to 5,700 meters just 42 kilometers from the Caribbean coast.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) belongs to the family Trochilidae (Hummingbirds) 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
