The Story
I photographed this Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) at Finca La Florida, at Kilometer 18 near Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia, at about 2,020 meters, in February 2021. Males and females look alike, about 8 centimeters long, with glossy green and bronze upperparts and pale underparts speckled with green and bronze. The black cheek patch below the eye, with a white stripe above it, is a good field mark. It is the only species in its genus and lives in cloud forest of the Andes from Venezuela to Argentina. 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 1/60 sec, f/6.7, ISO 12800. The San Antonio cloud forest at Kilometer 18 is recognized as an Important Bird Area and a Key Biodiversity Area, with the Multicolored Tanager as its symbol species.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Speckled Hummingbird (Adelomyia melanogenys) 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 decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List
