The Story
I photographed this Drab Water Tyrant (Ochthornis littoralis) near La Macarena, Meta, Colombia, in February 2021. It is the only member of its genus, a small sandy-brown flycatcher about 13 centimeters long with a faint whitish eyebrow, and males and females look alike. It is always found near water, especially large rivers, often along steep banks and on islands. It lives in the western Amazon Basin, from eastern Colombia south to Bolivia. 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 1/350 sec, f/6.7, ISO 800, −1 EV. 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 Drab Water Tyrant (Ochthornis littoralis) 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 stable. Source: IUCN Red List
