The Story
I photographed this Scrub Tanager (Stilpnia vitriolina) at Entreaguas Reserva Natural, near Coello in Ibagué, Tolima, Colombia. It is found only in Colombia and Ecuador, where its natural habitats are humid montane forest, high-elevation shrubland and heavily degraded former forest. It belongs to Stilpnia, a genus of 15 tanagers introduced in 2016, and it is one of several birds I photographed at Entreaguas on the same May morning. Locally common, it lives mostly in scrub, open woodland, gardens and cultivated land in dry, semi-open country between about 500 and 2,500 meters, and it may be spreading into deforested areas. IUCN lists it as Least Concern.
I used a Canon R5 with the RF 800mm f/11 for this one, at 1/350 sec, f/11, ISO 3200. Entreaguas, in the Coello–Cocora area of Ibagué, offers ecological walks and birdwatching tours.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Scrub Tanager (Stilpnia vitriolina) belongs to the family Thraupidae (Tanagers 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 2024), with the population trend listed as stable. Source: IUCN Red List