The Story
I photographed this female Coppery Emerald (Chlorostilbon russatus) in the Cincinati area above Minca, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia. Females are coppery green above with smoky gray underparts. This small hummingbird, 7 to 8.5 centimeters long, is found only in Colombia and Venezuela, from sea level to about 2,600 meters, and it may shift elevation with the seasons. Its cup nest is lined with plant down and is usually placed on a sloping branch about 0.8 meters off the ground. 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 1/500 sec, f/6.7, ISO 1600. The Sierra Nevada is the highest coastal range in the tropics, and its roughly 17,000 square kilometers feed 36 rivers across Magdalena, Cesar and La Guajira.
©2021 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Coppery Emerald (Chlorostilbon russatus) 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
