The Story
I photographed this White-banded Swallow (Atticora fasciata) at Playa El Diablo, near La Macarena, Meta, Colombia, in February 2021. It lives in the tropical lowlands of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, in forested country near both blackwater and whitewater rivers. It nests in burrows and does not use artificial cavities. In Colombia and Venezuela it is found more often near blackwater rivers, nesting on rocky outcrops, and although it lives near water it is rarely seen over lakes. 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 1/1500 sec, f/16, ISO 3200. La Macarena National Park traces its origins to the La Macarena Biological Reserve of 1948 and today covers 629,280 hectares of humid forest, flooded forest, scrub and Amazonian savanna.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The White-banded Swallow (Atticora fasciata) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
