The Story
The shot
I photographed this White-winged Swallow (Tachycineta albiventer) at the Raudal del Guayabero, near San José del Guaviare, Guaviare, Colombia, in February 2021. It is a 14-centimeter swallow with iridescent blue-green upperparts, white underparts and rump, and white edges to the secondary flight feathers. It catches flying insects in low flight, usually over water, and it nests in tree holes, between boulders or in man-made structures, usually a few meters above the water. It is not found west of the Andes. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11 plus the RF 1.4x extender, at 1/1000 sec, f/16, ISO 1600. The Raudal del Guayabero is a narrows where the Guayabero River runs between the Serranía de La Lindosa and the Serranía de la Macarena, about 38 kilometers by fast boat from San José del Guaviare.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The White-winged Swallow (Tachycineta albiventer) belongs to the family Hirundinidae (Swallows) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
