The Story
I photographed this Chestnut-bellied Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca cinnamomeiventris) at El Palmar, the entrance to the Alto Combeima forest reserve in the Cañón del Combeima above Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia, at about 2,614 meters. It was set against dense green foliage. Its chestnut belly contrasts with its slate-gray upperparts. It lives in Andean cloud forest from Venezuela to Bolivia and is almost always found in dense vegetation along rushing streams or in wet, shady ravines. Its diet is thought to be mostly or entirely small insects. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L for this one, at 1/350 sec, f/6.7, ISO 3200. Cortolima, Tolima’s environmental authority, has brought local children to El Palmar for World Migratory Bird Day birding outings.
©2024 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Chestnut-bellied Chat-Tyrant (Ochthoeca cinnamomeiventris) 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 2024), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List