The Story
I photographed this Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) in the Cincinati area above Minca, in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Magdalena, Colombia, at about 1,480 meters. It is found in Colombia and Venezuela, mostly from sea level to 1,500 meters, and little is known about its diet. It was long placed in the genus Amazilia, and current eBird taxonomy puts it in Saucerottia. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. Adult males have greenish to steel-blue undertail coverts.
I made this frame with a Canon R5 and the RF 800mm f/11, at 1/180 sec, f/11, ISO 3200, −0.5 EV. 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 Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei) 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 2021), with the population trend listed as decreasing. Source: IUCN Red List