The Story
This Green-tailed Trainbearer (Lesbia nuna) was at the Observatorio de Colibríes in La Calera, near Bogotá, Colombia when I photographed it. The Green-tailed Trainbearer also eats insects caught on the wing or gleaned from flowers. Its cup nest of moss and rootlets is usually tucked beneath an overhang on a slope. The female has white underparts with glittering green spots and a shorter tail than the male. At least 14 hummingbird species visit the observatory’s single hectare, where the family has planted about 300 native flowering trees and shrubs. IUCN lists the Green-tailed Trainbearer as Least Concern, with a stable population.
I made this frame with a Pentax K-1 and the HD Pentax-D FA 150-450mm f/4.5-5.6, at 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200. Visits are limited to groups of 20 and to Tuesday through Saturday, because, as the founder says, the hummingbirds also need a rest from people.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Green-tailed Trainbearer (Lesbia nuna) 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 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List
