The Story
I photographed this Red-breasted Meadowlark (Leistes militaris) near La Macarena, Meta, Colombia, in February 2021. The male is mainly black, with a bright red throat, belly and wing epaulets, and that redcoat look gives it the species name militaris and the Trinidadian name soldier bird. It is about 19 centimeters long, and males are larger than females. It used to be called the Red-breasted Blackbird, but it is not closely related to the Red-winged Blackbird group. 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 1/500 sec, f/6.7, ISO 400. Birds recorded in the La Macarena reserve up to 1978 already numbered 456 species, about 27 percent of all the birds of Colombia.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Red-breasted Meadowlark (Leistes militaris) belongs to the family Icteridae (Troupials and Allies) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2020), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List
